The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-04-13

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 Alliance for The Age-Herald.)
 This is the second of 8 series of
 installments, appearing in the Sum-
 day Age-Herald from the diary of
 Count zedIitz. who was court mar
 created a sensation in Europe. The I notes are not arranged in strict chronology but cover parts of the first
 two decades of the century. ! By Count Robert zedlitu- u-Tryetzschler Chamberlain to Emperor William H
 Talking with the Duke of Sake Coburg last night in the library the Emperor, with his fondness for prac tical jokes, kept on pinching and tweaking and punching the poor little duke until the latter was black and blue. It was exactly as if the Emperor s had given him a sound beating.
 This occurred in the presence of the Dukes fiancee and of her parents, and on the eve of the wedding. The duke was so unhappy and made such face that one might have imagined he was ] going to be hanged instead of married ] And after all his is an independent l princely house, and the duke will come of age this year and assume the gov. ernment of his country.
 Not that the Emperor means any l harm by his practical joking. But naturally people object to it and, be- ing forced to endure in silence, became his enemies.
 There was, for instance, that in- cident not so long ago at the time of the Silesian hunt when the Emperor in an excess of jocularity and animal spirits, manhandled Col. von F., who commands a crack cavalry regiment He knocked him down playfully, rolled him over and over in the snow, rub. bed snowballs in his face, and treated him exactly as if the other had been 2 younger, weaker schoolboy and he the older, the bully. All this in the presence of hundreds of prominent guests-who laughed dutifully-and of many Silesian hunt drivers, keepers and servants.
 An even worse thing happened to Count Roger SeherrDobrau and il is worth considering that the count is q great aristocrat, a Prussian chamber lain, life member of the Prussian House of Lords whose two sons are officers in the Hussars of the Guard gentleman B years of age who, through his large landed estates, is one of the most important figures in Silesia.
 The moment the Emperor saw him, he shouted Well, you old swine, who invited you here?"
 Everybody, even the women, heard it distinctly, and the count was so flu rious that he expressed his opinions rashly and vindictively to a number of his friends.
 puf fha Enoparor T,avar ;,oo1;pae how, many enemies he makes.
 Bit Of Unwritten History
 Once, quite suddenly, His Majesty confided to me that when he mounted the throne he received a sealed envelope which, by roder of King Friedrich Will helm ", was to be handed to each successive Hohenzollern when he began his reign. He told me that, on open ing the envelope, he found there a sort of political testament of Friedrich Will helm, who enjoined upon his successors to do away as quickly as possible with fhe constitution which the revolution of 1S4S had forced on him.
 His Majesty added with the single exception of Friedberg, no living soul knew anything about the existence of this document nor its contents, in spite of the fact that it has already passed through both my grandfather's and my fathers hands,"
 And then, with utter, dramatic sud denness, speaking half to himself, he murmured: What terrible evil this document might have. caused. It is in- conceivable. So I destroyed it!
 Here was one of the instances when too rare, alas !-he showed his politi- cal wisdom.
 Flattery and favoritism are the chief stepping stones in both the administra- tive and the diplomatic career. The entire state is rotten with it, and it has even affected the life and work of artists. At an inspection of the new Berlin cathedral somebody remarked that the Emperor had not liked an es- peeially beautiful mosaic.
 tWell?" I turned to the architect. What are you going to do about it?'
 Of course, I am going to have it removed and I shall order another one made"
 How much will it cost?" I went on.
 Forty thousand marks, or there abouts. But it makes no difference to me. The Emperor must be satisfied i; nothing else matters here"
 Similarly 1 remember how, during the same year, 1903, there was a rumor that the water supply of Metz was strongly tainted and that a typhoid epidemic had broken out. Easing his decision on nothing except this rumor, the Emperor immediately sent a sharp and condemnatory telegram to the city authorities of Metz, ordering that all the water mains be shut off. Of course, the order was obeyed.
 Some time later it was discovered that neither was the water supply con- taminated nor had there been a typhoid epidemic, but that, thanks to the shut ting off of the water mains, the city had been In danger of conflagration.
 Yields To Ladies
 People never contradicted him, Even the Empress was silent on more than one occasion when she should have spoken. Once for instance she herself planned the dinner menu and ordered certain dish which the Emperor had liked very much the night before. But he voiced his indignation at being served the same food two nights run ming. The Empress said never a word and the blame fell on the servants.
 The only people at court who oc- casionally have the courage of their oWa convictions are the Empress ladies-in-waiting. This is due to two causes: <: in some, to fanatical desire to tell the truth always, the result of strong religiosity in others, to a certain naivete.
 The Emperor treats them with an ex- traordinary patience. He enjoys life family circle.
 sa fe hn -hry ha -a1