THE CROWN PRINCE AT CLOSE QUARTERS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 43, 15 November 1918, Page 8

THE CROWN PRINCE AT CLOSE QUARTERS

AS HE APPEASED TO AN AMERICAN. . Mr. Arthur N. Davis, the Kaiser's American dentist, describes the German Crown Prince in a chapter of his book, "The Kaiser' as I Knew Him for Fourteen Years." which appears in "The Times." The following are some extracts, — I first saw the Crown Prince professionally in the spring of 1903. a few months Ijeforo his marriage. He was then 25 yc.irs old. He wns in the uniform of a German Ariuy officer, but looked -nore like a corps- student, except for the fact that his face was not marked with a scar from duelling, as is usually the case with most memlwr.s of the German fraternities.' He had a. habit of placing his hands on his hips, and his coats were alwavs flared in at the waist, which, with

Hie nporty angle ,at which_ ho lvore his onp, gave him a ewngßer quite foreign to the rest, of the officers of tho Army, lie was of slender figure, which wns nccentnntfd by his luight.- Ho was nearly 6ft. tall.. ' Perhaps, ihe. quality cxhiliited bv him that impressed me most on that first visit was his excessive .nervousness. Fe trembled all • over.. ],t -was plain to seo he wns ■divadiully afraid of pain, and he evidently, realised that I had noticed his condition. "I suppose the Crown Prince and (he future'ruler

of (rp'-many oiieht. to lx> brave flt all times,"- he remarked, "but I just hatn *a have to go to a. dentist!" Tho Crown Prince awl T ('.id no,t* get along very well at Hint time. Apart from the'fact"that lie wa* such a physical coward that it whs almost-impossible lo work on him satisfactorily, he seemed to have no idea of the meaning of an apppint.ment. Wliile (he Crown Prince b'bejnft<l lo respect military requirements, he paid little attention to the civil regulations. He wns the ilespnir of Hie traffic policemen ami the taxi drivers and private chauffeurs, us were i.lso the Kaiser's other sons. They all insisted upon driving round safety zones to the left instead, of the right, and usually came within mi ace of colliding with other cars. Tho Crown Prince was a .reckless driver at best. Op one occasion he was , going so fast through a-city street .that-his car climbed the sidewalk,, and he crashed into n lamp-post. His far. was* smashed, but. lie iscnped injury. . , ~ Among other qualities wmch he inherited from his fnther wns a lovn for posing in public. He never allowed an op'portunity to pass to wake a'favourable impression with-the people, .ml one rend almost daily of his activities. "Wlioii ; the Crown Prince called to sen me again I was surprise'] to find a considerable change in his. general-appearance. Although, of course, he was 10 years older, lie had agod more Uinn. 1 would have expected. Tllwe were 'ines on his face which made him-look (kler than his 33 yenrs.' Tu the outer wcr'.d he was genera'lly believed to be one iif the leading spirits of the Military party in Germany, but among his own people !;e. was not credited with sufficient ability or influence to be much of a factor. During'his vnrious visits to me I tried to draw biin out a little en different aspects of the international -ituation, but .the ideas' he expressed were :.ot of much moment. ■ . ■ "The Allies think we will run ehorc ot

Man-power," he sail on <ne occasion, "but we've sot 2.000,000' youths prowmu up, and we'll soon be able to put the-u in the war. There's no gamier of ■ onr ruunin? short of men; but, really, I wish it were all over. This war n> a lot ct damned nonsense, you Icnovl". • Many of the more.sober officers told me that-they were disgusted wnii the manner in which the' Crown Prince was aetin? at his , headciuarters. "It is really a disgrace," they complained. "lor. the Crown Princfi tohavp so ;nany qiieslio'ivisitini,'.him; H certainly doesn't set iraie'i of an example for. the rest of the staff." ■ The. "hole situation anppa.rcfl_ to Hie. Crown Pr.ncß veryniiich hi the li"ht ni a ioke. "T'vc just coinr from he .Western fi-O'it," he. told me. "My men are up to <lieir Vnec? i?i watt". , and :nud. .'tte'-e been having lots of fun piimninc; the filter out of our trenches into the ■frwoii ■ti "ji'ches." •■ ■■ . "Veil,' T surirsp t'l" I? ''»nr>'> pump it -Tiplit back again, don't rheyr". "You're nuite "Kht, "iiite "itr'!.t. Tnats exactly what th«y do. Hcally, it's a great' l.irkl" ,