Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-09-12

1t terrified merchant ship
shippers until they saw 1t in
nightmares.
He is intensely proud that the
Kronprinz Wilhelm took humane
care of the passengers and
crews of the Ii ships that were
sunk, and he is openly baffled
that in these days submarine
commanders fire torpedoes with
out warning into loaded oil
tankers, leaving the crews 10
leap into seas covered with
flaming oil.
But above all. there II the
message he received from
Poland.
my younger brother was
killed In the fghting," he told
me, "but not only that, his
family was killed, too. His wife
. and children, and one or two
)other women tried 20 escape i'm
an old horse-drawn coach when
they heard that the Germans
were coming.
"The coachman saw the Ger
mans approaching. He had heard
that the Germans killed all the
men but spared women and
children, so he ran away on
foot.
"The Germans fired at the
coach with their guns, and then
ran over the coach, people,
horses and all. with a tank. II
10 strange how these stories
reach US. The coachman got
away. and told a priest who was
fleeing 10 Rumania. Through
priests, l received the story"
In the end. the British had so
ships chasing the Kronprinz
Wilhelm. but they never quite
caught up. On April IL, 1915.
the raider slipped into CheSa-
peake Bay with coal enough TO
last one more hour: with her
hull rafting and leaking. and
with 100 men of her crew too
sick with beri-beri 10 keep on
sailing.
And why should Count NieZy-
chowski, one of Germany's naval
heroes, want TO fight against
the country which he once
served:
He told me why. 81 am not
German; I am n Pole. l was
born In GrAnOwko, Poland, In
1888. That part of Poland was
part OF Germany then.
81 went to sea as cadet
when I was Is, In the German
merchant marine, and was an
officer on the Kronprinz VIII
helm when war broke out.
''In 2Pl consecutive days Of
/. raiding. and we sailed $1,000
\miles. We never once killed a
IMAM"
There lie the two reasons. He
is a Pole Tor was; since 1924 he
has been a citizen of the United
States). and he is not a butcher.
Count NieZychowski's adven-
lures on the kronprinz Wilhelm,
which was called the mystery
ship because il eluded so many
traps set for il. would fill n
book. In fact, they do. H. L.
Mencken was largely responsible
for getting the count 10 write
the story in book form several
years ago. The Cruise of the
Kronprinz Wilhelm"
But past epics are Of slight
Importance 10 him now. He
wants 10 get into active service
TO help speed an American VIC
tory-a victory whi~-- he pre-
diets will come sooner IN
most of us anticipate.
His application 10 be assigned
10 service has been placed be-
fore Secretary Frank Knox, and
several members OF Congress
are trying to help him. The
difficulty is his age, somewhat
past so.
The count has lived In recent
years in Crosse Polnte, and Is
In the real estate, wine and
Great LakeS ship businesses.
His wife IN q native American,
formerly Nanine Ulman Of Bal
timore. great niece Of Thomas
jefferson.
BY good fortune he had last
look at Free Poland in 1899.
when he made a trip to Europe.
He was. incidentally. one of
the last Americans 10 see Kaiser
Wilhelm at Doom. BY virtue of
hts family lineage, he was able
10 lunch with the Kaiser about
h year before the exiled en-
peror died.
What did the Kaiser think of
the world? Il was instructed
not to speak of these things,
and had to promise not 90 pub
lish anything that passed In the
conversation" the count said.
But they especially asked me
not 10 mention the changes
coming over Berlin because they
depressed the old gentleman.
and I talked almost entirely OF