Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-04-11
WAS MODEL WIFE AND MOTHER,
AND KEPT OUT OF POLITICS

Colansc of the Central Powers and
! the vicissitudcs Of war that drove former
| Emperor William of Germany and his
| consort INTO practical exile IN Holland
! in November 1918 was the lowering Of tho
| curtain in the life OF the once beautiful
! Empress and Queen of Prussia Augusta
! Victoria who. for nearly 10 years, had
| been the most beloved hausfran OF the
! German people In the Netherlands.
where she and her husband resided first
at Amcrnngcn and then ut Doorn. The
| former kaiserns long continued illness
WAS made morc grave by her ycarnIng
to return 10 Berlin and Potsdafn. On
several occasions. sIuce her residence IN
Holland members OF her family had been
summoned % her bcdsidc IN anticipation
of her death. hut she rallied and survived.
The ex-Emprrss gravest cloud, next
to the abdication of William II was the
tragic death of her sor, Prince Joachim.
who committed suicide bv shooting HIM
self ~ Berlin IN 1920 She WAS never in
formed It Is said that Joachim had taken
his own life Another depressing event
which haunted her Was the Russian revo-
luton and the fate that bcfel Emperor
Nicholas and his family with al Of
whom. before tho war. she had been on tho
kIndhest terms
Augusta Victoria was notable chiefly
for her keen into rest IN charitable work
and IN the hcttrrnCnt Of the living con
dhlons ot the German poor II has been
sa'd of her that she Was not an especially
gifted woman and that she cared more
for the simple duties Of life home than
for roval functions
II IS not known that she exercised any
considerable influence politically ar that
she desired ~ do 80 Her talcnts seemed,
instead. to be directed to the task Of
becoming a helpful wlfc and devoted
mother 10 her SIX sons and one daughter
That she achieved this ann the former
Emperor attcstcd frequently lie onoe de-
serihed her as the ideal Of tho virtues
OF a German princess. She Il Is, hr de-
Gland, to v hom owe that am able to
bear the wciehtv responsibilities OF my
position in joyful spirit
Concerning the attitude of the former
Empress tow ard the war httle is known
Some indication Of her point of view
was given in her reply in July, 1918 10
n letter written by the wife Of the Dutch
Minister of War In responding. the then
Empress declared that Germany rcpcst-
cdlv had manifested her r'adlnxS for
peace which, she declared. had not Icen
rntPTtAitttsu igN me opposing FrtNtife.
That she subscribed u the contention
Of military leaders that Germany was
fighting defensive war, was shown Inv a
statement she issued at the beginning Of
the great conflict in which she said that
Germany WAS arming itself for a fight
which It did not cause or begin and
which IL Is carving on only Ia defend
itself In this appeal she asked German
women 10 aid III caring for the German
wounded
Numerous instances IN which the former
Empress visited German hospitals and
expressed lively sympathy for the wounded
soldiers were reported during the war.
! On one OCCASION she was SAID 20 have broken
down at the sight of great numbers Of the
Gerrnan wounded sent home after one
Of the greatest battles in 1918 For more
than II wears she was semi-lnvsld
Her sympathy with underpaid workers
of Germany was disclosed on q visit
which she paid some wears ago to an e1I-
hihjtion of home Industries IN Berlin
where II was stated that she was deeply
moved hy the evidence she saw there OF
| the fact that many German workers
| earned only starvation wages. What can
| be done to stop tins misery" she in
quired
Her tenderness IS mother WAS re
| vealed during the illness Of her second son,
| former Prince EItel whom she attended
| day and night Arriving at the house
where ne was under physicians care at
| 6 a. n. one morning she refused 10 rouse
| anv one for fear of disturbing him and,
| with her maid, walked up and down for
| an hour in the wlntry morning until the
| doors were opened by the servants.
| One of the stories told Of her is that
/ she enjoyed visiting schools In country
/ districts, selecting one Of the pupils and
! promising the child 10 fulfill any wish the
| child might express A disconcerting in
stance happened when she did this in
/ Alsace where the schools were being
| Germanized and the French language
suppressed A little girl, receiving the
! promise OF the Empress to grant her
/ wish. asked that her schoolmates be
/ allowed to study the French language
/ The Empress was taken aback but French
| lessons were given in that school after
| ward
Born October %, 1858 at Dolzig
/ Augusta Victoria was the oldest daughter
Of Grand Duke Frederick of Schleswig-
| Holstein-Sonderbur -Augustenburg and
/ ranked as . princess of Schleswig- H0l-
stein. Her early childhood was spent al
| Kiel. She married to the then Prince Will
/ lam of Prussia on FEBRUARY 81, 1881 They