The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-09-28
BY S. D. wEYER
Copyright. 1922. by 1. N. 81

tC0pyrlgnts l3Z% Dy 1. N. 81
J Castle Saabor, Silesia. Sunday (via
Berlin). Sept 28.-This is being
written in the library of the Princess
Hermine of ss-Schoenaich-Carol
yath, the bride to-be of the ex-kaiser
of Germany On couch lies Captain
Ludwig Hassenpflug, former German
staff officer, nursing a wrenched hip
and bad Commissions. Besides him
kneeIs Tons Raab, famous German
war "ace."
! Now and then the door opens and
the princess softly enters with whis-
pered inquiries as to how the patient
| is getting on. In freshly ploughed
field. a few yards from the castle,
lies the wrecked afrplane D-S2, which.
after circlinS the castle, suddenly
turned turtle.
| At the home of the castles chief
forester lies Captain Wilhelm Strunk,
former Austrian army officer and
German soldier of fortune.
F! Captain Strunk was the more Sc
riously injured of the two. He suf-
fered from a bad confusion of the
brain.
1t is now growing late in the after
noon and the princess has just en-
| tered the room
Insists That Guests Remain.
Insist" she said, that you shall
| all remain here overnight. 1 have just
/ had a wing of the castle fixed up for
YOU. There are four beds and any
thing else that you may desire you
| have but to ask for. Please consider
my castle as your home"
The invitation was then extended
by the princess to her unexpected
guests to take tea with her.
The princess nanny" that is to
say her cook who, in this instance,
was white-prepared a wonderful dim
ner Before the guests sat down to the
table, the princess ordered her butler
to fetch some rare old wines from the
cellar.
! After some general conversation, the
talk naturally turned to the betrothal
of the princess and the ex-kaiser-
now an exile in Holland.
Much has been written about my
engagement to the kaiser" exclaimed
| the princess with some warmth.
Much has been said about it and still
| more is being whispered by gossips
who have nothing else to do but stick
| their nose into the private affairs of
| other people.
Wedding to Be Simple.
Surely our engagement and we'd
ding are private. We both desire to
be left alone. We wish to avoid need
| less publicity. We want to make the
whole thing as simple and unostenta-
"All 1 can say is thatsno Of the
stuff published in connection with our
engagement is silly nonsense. The
affection and the friendship between
the kaiser and myself are by no
means new. We have been chums
since my girlhood. have always
| looked up to the kaiser and admired
him.
THE tragic events in both of our
lives probably deepened our mutual
understanding and affection"
The princess's eyes were moist with
tears as she glanced at a portrait on
the wall-the picture of her late hus-
band. He was dressed in the uniform
of the Dragons, with which he
served in the great war. AS a result
consumption. Turnout his illness, the
princess constantly and devotediy
nursed her husband, altho her young
est child was then only a baby of two
years.
Has Williams Picture.
Upon a desk in another corner OF
the room stood a picture of the for
mer kaiser, evidently a recent one. II
shows William with only mustache
which makes it appear that he has
| again shaved off his beard. 1t was
evident from the photograph thai
| William with only musrache looks
| younger than William with a beard
The above remarks were all the
| princess would say regarding her in
| innate affairs. She is a beautiful wo-
man in the prime of lire, radiating
health and cheerfulness. She does not
| look her SO years nor does she betray
the fact that she is mother of five
/ children. She speaks English and
French fluent!y and is Wen versed in
! literature.
| A survey of her library showed
books in English and French as wei
/ tho hnnES oh.
served by the writer were Hero and
! Hero Worship" by Thomas Carlisle
! the works of Lord MacAulay; the
| works of Charles Dickens and those
/ of Mark Twain.
The International News Service was
! the first reporter ever admitted to the
| castle, altho it must be admitted thai
| only a near-fatal airplane crash
! opened the gates. This is an ancient
feudal homestead with nothing il
common with the inquisitive hurry
| burly of the modern reporter. The
house of Reuss is one of the oldest IL
! German nobility and the traditional
4 claim is that the family is equal to the
Hohenzollerns.
To go back to the accident.
Spotted a Hearse.
AS Strunk hobbled away from the
scene of the crash past the huge castle
barns he spotted a hearse among the
1t is the custom of estates. employing
many hundreds of persons to have
their own hearSe.
Strunk, who is an old hand at mar
row escapes and adventures, grinned
as he beheld the hearse.
Il guess" he remarked casually
that the village undertaken was ready
for us, but we fooled him this time
! Later on at tea Hassenpflug sud
denly collapsed from his injuries. The
princess gave a little gasp of dismas
and pity, jumped from her seat ano
insisted on giving aid while the in.
i Jured man was being taken from the
room He was taken to the wing o.
! the castle which had been transformed
into hospital room" and put to bed
The princess ordered hot tea and
lcosnac and stood by the patients sid,
urging him to rest easy and not t.