AT DINNER WITH THE KAISER

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2714, 8 March 1916, Page 6

AT DINNER WITH THE KAISER

« THE FAMOUS BANQUET AT NISH TOLD BY THE "DAILY MAIL" SPY "Yest-orday week, Tuesdav, January 18, I arrived at Nish from Constantinople, The Constantinople pare is another story. What 1 have' to tell to-day is what 1 saw of the Kaiser. at closo range on several occasions at Nish, and what happened, at the royal banquet where he was the guest of the Ring of Bulgaria and the latter's sons, . Princes Cyril and Boris. "By a most fortunate coincidence the Kaiser had just made his state entry into Nish at the moment wlien our Irani from Constantinople reached tlio lave seat of the Serbian Government. Today Nisli is the headquarters of the German, not, the Austrian, army in '•be Balkans, and is a vast arsenal fn'l to repletion with munitions of war. a,id especially shells for big guns and 1110 guns themselves. The town is cram need with vScrbian military prisoners wlio are. allowed 'o roam about freely' and who make no compiaini of their lot. "But to f>e Kaiser. Nish was under flow. It was a brilliantly clear day such as one finds at Montreal or St. Moritz at tliib lime of the year 1 bad hoped to get a viow of th= Kaiser, but I_ had not imagined that I should see him...on several :occasions: during this day ;<)r,'~be;present at .that curious and historic 'royal -banquet, at which? the , vainglorious German'and Latin speeches whicn'.'.li'ave'.been telegraphed all over the '.world ;wer,e tot be made. Face to Face With the Kaiser, "As events turned I was faco to face, with the Kaiser directly I . loft. the train. King Ferdinand had only a few 'moments before -received him on his arrival ?from. the ''.west, and the royal couple wore walking up and down the. station platform without ceremony, arm. hr arm. I had never seen Ferdinand before, and it was eight years since I bad last seen tlie German Emperor. What a change! The Kaiser is not'the tall?man ho is represented to bo in photographs, aiid beside the great; massive figure of the hawk-nosed King. Ferdinand, who has a curious, duclt-likij waddle, the great' War Lord seemed almost diminutive. The Kaiser wore a long grey coat, a brown liur necklet, ■aiKl. a helmet covered with some sort of .Ichaki-like cloth. "THe place in which the monarchs promenaded was held by German guards. . The.people, among whom were a good many Austrian and one or two Dutch nurses, did hot evince that vast amount of curiosity which the Kaiser's appearance would arouse in most of the capitals of Europe. I particularly noticed that the Bulgarian Ministers obsequiously removed their hats at the sight-of the Kaiser and approached him in an attitude of humility, with bared heads. They did not seem to show the sama deferonce to their own King. I learned 'afterwards that tha relations between Ferdinand and his Court are of a very informal nature. . \ A Tired Man, How did the Kaiser look? Well, I will tell. Whether it be due to the fatigues of the war, the effects of a two* day journey,, or ill-health, I cannot say. So much is certain—the face is that of II tirod and broken' man. The hair is white, though the moustache is still suspiciously dark. There was an absence of the old activity of gesture, tho quick, nervous wheeling about and unstable manner of the man, all of -which I remembered distinctly irom niy previous encounter with him in 1908. The Kaiser was obviously out to make himself agreeable. - He examined tho medals of Bulgarian soldiers with apparent .interest, chatted with royal affa* bihty, and smiled Tight and left. None the loss, he is a greatly aged man. Ho held in his hand a handkerchief which lie was perpetually -using, and I noticed later .at the banquet that he seemed to require it to assuage his continual coughing. also noticed at the banquet that the handkerchief was ' a large Turkish affair of redj embroidered, v/rth the white Turkish Star and Crescent in the. corner. By dint of great good fortune I succeeded in making myself known to the head of the Bulgarian Press, Eomaskoif, who most kindly askcd me if 1 would caro for a seat at tho banquet. It would be simple, but historic. I was fortunate, therefore, to be one of only four reporters in the room, though, I doubt if there will bo any more 'surprised persons in Europe than that august company when they realise that I represented a newspaper that is oer--taiiily not particularly beloved by tho War Lord. I spent the intervening time walking about Nish with two members of the . Bulgarian Press "Bureau, who spoke excellent French. "Nish" had" but a few weeks before been gaily decorated with the flags of the Entente Allies who were expected to_ come to the relief of Serbia. Yet 'Nisk;. seems already. to have settled ;'.tlo,Wh:,tp.."a' '"comparatively contented frame of min3.' : . As.far as'l. could see, i -damage "was .done to the -towii, at, all ,\ in fact, practically none. .1 was! assured that business had not been so' brisk in the whole history of the. place; as it is at present. The Ger,'ioah'soldiers are spending money free,ly,;'and;,nearly..all the larger houses of •.^?£^P™':;h, av ' e been turned, into hospitals,-: whose- supplies are gathered from the surrounding, .country. I "As/we,strolled" along we noticed tho ' departure of the royal train and the arrival of a munition train, which included/numerous trucks loaded with Fokker monoplanes. I am not an expert as to tlieso machines, but, briefly, ■they , seem to have a very great wing .expanse-?'. For railway transport pur■poses'th'e" wings were fastened back and the engines carefully covered. A Fokker is so long that it apparently occu-i piea two large truoks. The Banquet, "The banquet took place in the town hall of Nish. Tho room was profusely decorated; 'with**.th<; :flags and colours of .the; Gennanic Powers, though Austria is not in great evidence at Nish, the Austrians apparently malting Belgrade their headquarters. The function was not largely attended.' There were in, deod many empty places, and the total number present did not exceed forty. ■The band of the Life Guards, about twenty in number, was ensconscd be-, hind palms. The tables, three in mini- . her, were simply decorated with roses and early spring flowers, yellow predominating. Tho repast' was well served by Bulgarian soldier servants. Let me do the German military authorities tho justice of saying that they thoroughly under-, stand the functions of the Press.' Wo had excellent seats, close to the royal party, where we could hear the speeches distinctly. ' ""The'Nish banquet, was of the usual royal stiffness. King Ferdinand sat at the Kaiser's right, and on the Kaiser's left was placed the Bulgarian Premier _ (Radoslavoff), On the Tight of Kintj Ferdinand sat General von Falkenliayn, the Chief of the German General Staff. Interested as I was in the Kaiser, I was .hardly less interested in the personage of von .Falkenliayn, who is tho brain of the great Gennanic armies. Although a man well into tho fifties, he.looks as if he had not .vet crossed the half-century mark. Ho is trim, alert of movement, has close-cropped grey'hair, and seems the personification of vigour, vivacity, and virility. At . any rate, ho is hearing the strain of the war and his tremendous 'responsibilities well.

"From the fact that the Kaiser ate and drank practically nothing at tho banquet I was led to believe tho story that lie' always' eats before proceeding to those state functions. Certainly lie spent more time in coughing than eating at Nish. 'The 'speeches, which have already been reported in England, tool; place during the banquet botween courses instead of at the end as is customary ill this part of Europe. 1 have seen it suggested in an English newspaper that the banquet speeches were delivered in English. That is iintruo. King Ferdinand's grandiloquent address to the Kaiser was delivered exclusively in German, barring the few phrases of .Latin, which he spoke off quite freely and did not read. Falkenliayn was the only other speaker. He rose to respond briefly and simply to a few compliments which King Ferdinand had made him. Cigars and Coffee. "At tho close of the dinner, which' was excellently cooked and of a varied character, the German and Bulgarian National Anthems were played. 'Bismarck cigars' were handed round with the coffee, and tho little gathering broke up quite ..informally. The whole seeno left on my mind the impression • of simplicity. Here, were the great actors in the greatest drama in the world's history, performing, not for the benefit of the Kaiser and King Ferdinand or for the forty people in the room,. but for. the whole of Central' Eiirbpe. I ran off with the other reporters to tho post, office to telegraph my narrative to a neutral country for transmission to the : 'Daily Mail,' onlv to .find the place already closed. Evidently the Bulgarian and German Press censors had determined that nothing should leave Nish before it had passed their cynosure. "So I wended my way back to the station and rejoined the superb new 'Balkan Train' for Vienna, the ultimate destination of tho train itself being Berlin. I have seen it suggested in British papers that the Balkan-Constan-tinople railway is not. working properly. That is absolutely untrue. Tne train, which consists entirely of brand-new carriages, specially turned out for the purpose' of impressing the Turks, is splendidly organised.