Evening star., 1920-01-25


the end of a rope having struck his
eye, it was claimed.
The ships doctors feared for many
days that the kaiser would lose his
left eye entirely. but their skill final
! ly overcame the danger.
Some days after this sensational in
cident there, appeared in German pa
pers a very unsuspiciouS looking no.
tice, stating that First Lieut.. Otto
Won Hahnke. aid of the kaiser. dur
ing bicycle trip in the mountains of
Norway had fallen off cliff and was
I instantly killed.
! BY the general public the truth of
this statement was not doubted. al
! though it appeared peculiar. enough
that the young officer should have
been bicycle riding in the mountains.
| But those around the kaiser knew
that Won Hahnke had taken his life
into his own hands and committed
suicide in preference to being shot
| for bodily attack on the all-highest
war lord.
Humfliating Test for Omcers.
| In fact. the former rulers personal
treatment of~army and navy officers
was often such as to humiliate them
| beyond endurance.
Frequently upon his visits to war
ships he would strut about the decks
and strike different officers across the
back with a cane. sometimes hard
| d u.
If the officer said anything or so
much as WINGED. he would upbraid
him as not being fit to hold a commits
| sion. because of his inability to bear
a little pain, and sometimes even
cancel his commission.
In the face of all his failures he
persisted in the belief that he was a
very great statesman. although he
| was utterly lacking in any of the
qualities which would have made him
such.
| The internal and foreign policies of
Germany he regarded as absolutely
his own province, and he would toll
crate no other god After the dis
| missal of Bismarck there was no i'm
perial chancellor in Germany capable
OF thinking and acting Independently
of the kaiser.
His vanity extended to his person.
In all the pictures of the kaiser taken
during the war you will see him COW
cred with medals and decorations One
would think that at such a time good
! taste would have forbidden him to
wear these honorary emblems which
outdazzled anything that was given
| for actual bravery.
On one occasion he designed for
| ofhcers of the navy a very. plain dress
| coat. which showed only kold stripes
as insignia of rank. but after a few
! days he tired of this somber attire
and appeared again with all sorts
OF stars. bands. crosses and what not
on his chest
pearances, rather than knowledge of
| character, often led to embarrassing
situations and even to international
insults.
Cost Sympathy of Americans.
/ recall the affair ofsthe highly ef-
ficient Z. American Ambassador Hill,
who. az the instance vof- the kaiser,
vas forced, to give up his post at
Berlin because he was, not a wealthy
man. The unbelievable lack OF tact
! displayed in incidents of this char
| acter have cost US a great deal of
! the sympathy of Americans. p
His public utterances. bombastic
Because of them Swiss friend of
| mine was able to say to me truth
fully:
"Your emperor threatens the whole
| world"
| The kaiser was a neurasthenic, and
! especially during the last months of
the war he vas often seized with
weeping spells. At HEADQUARTERS itself
| it was strictly forbidden to speak
about the war in the presence of the
emperor. It was the special duty of
the court clique to withhold all bad
news and keep him in a happy mood.
| Not a cloud was to be permitted to
! darken the sunshine in which the
Kaiser desired always to live.
At one time he asked a certain
general about his son. and was told
! that the lad had been killed in battle
| four weeks previously. The kaiser
| suddenly became very silent and pale,
| retiring at. once from the assem-
b1age.
| Members of the court clique Sc
vere.y criticised the general for hav-
/ ing given the emperor this bad news.
one of them declaring that, although
| his own son had been dead year,
| he had never told the ruler