Amazing Disclosures about the Kaiser's Health.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 272, 4 May 1917, Page 2 (Supplement)

Amazing Disclosures about the Kaiser's Health.

Tho Wasln ugum correspondent of the "Morning Post" lias received information in American financial circles closely connected with tho Gcrinan-Anier can bankers who are on intimate terms with the German Government to the effect that tho Ka'ser is fatally ill. suffering from Brigilt's disease. Hi s illness is ascribed to continued worry and mental depression. His physicians and entourage failed to rally Inn, and tne disease has now such a hold that his recovery is impossible. His death is expected witliin thy next few months. Cable published April G. Read in conjunction with that cable, this interview with Edgar M. Moore, of Indiana,' published in the New York "Herald'' of February 26, is truly remarkable. Mr. Moore's wife is a Dane, and by means of identification papers ho secured a, passport to enter Germany. What he saw and heard is here .set out.

P"pHE "German Emperor is a physical -*• wreck an dis constantly under the influence of morphia and coca ne, according to Edgar M. Moore, a real estate dealer of Layfayette, Ind., who returned reontly from Germany and 's stopping in New York City. Mr. Moore, because of the story ho tells regarding tho Kaiser, which he obtained from Otto Hclmuth, the chauffeur of W'lhelm 11., has asked that his New York address bo withheld.

Mr. Moore was in Germany with his wife, an invalid, about t-lireo weeks ago, and savs

"The German Emperor i.s considered to bo a madman, even in Germany. He is hopelessly addicted to the use of drugs because of chronic ailments in tho throat and ear, which cause com stant pain. The Emperor spends most of his time in the royal palace at Potsdam. He believes Germany lost the war in the battle of Jutland, and Jus most intimate advisers believe that the country must make peace bv July. The Emperor's one hope is that the submarines will starvo England and that peace overtures will come first from Great Britain. He docs not care whether America enters the war, believing it '.immaterial." Mr. Moore's passports show that he was permitted to enter Germany via Rotterdam and Simplefeld on the day after Christmas. He went abroad because Mrs. Moore had an ailment which could bo treated successfully only in tho baths at Aachen, which is a short distanco from the Holland frontier, and localise his wife's condition was serious ho way allowed to take her thero following a recommendation to that effect by a German surgeon attached to tho German consulato in Rotterdam.

CHATS WITH CHAUFFEUR

Mrs. Mooro was sent to a sanatorium. Sho speaks German like a native, her husband said. After the baths siie was placed in a wheel-chair and passod hours on a verandah of the hospital. Next to her on the porch for several days was Hclmuth, tho Kaiser's personal chauffeur for tho last e ght years.., Becauso of exposure Holmuth suffered an attack of inflammatory rnoumatism, which rendered him helpless, and on the personal order of the German Empress tlio chauffeur was placed in the baths at Aachen.

"Helmuth did not tniuk for an instant that inv wife was other than a German woman, and dining the long morning hours that th eir wheel-chairs wero sido by side he talked freely of li's mast, interesting master, tne German Emperor," Mr. Moore eo ntinued. '"Lie said that the Kaiser i.s in constant dread of a-seassination, and for that reason he takes the utmost precautions when travelling. There are threo automobiles in his retinue. I'l'rst there is an automobile with four aides in it, a chauffeur, and r'ding with the chauffeur is a soldier with a. gun and fixed bayonet. Then comes a hugo automobile of the limousino type, and on either side of it, fore and aft, are the 'mper'al arms. An armed guard sits on the front seat beside the driver, while a wax imitation <>Tthe Kaiser in uniform .its in the enclosed portion of tiie car. The third automobile is a snu'ill grey one. The Kaiser rides in it alone. There is a trunk ded beside the driver and another strapped on the rear, making it appear that the gray automobile is only a baggage van. " Helmuth said that the road is cleared 'n advance for ETie Kaiser's retinue, and that especially while suffering pain the Kaiser d» ves at a speed exceeding ,i mile a minute. Ho also is very irritable when In s ear causes pain, and lie and his ear and throat physician, who is one of h's rydes, are constantly quarrelling over the enormous quantities of cocaine an<! morphine wivch tho imnerial patient insists upon every day. The Kaiser carries a hypodermic syringe with him and ofton 'slips' an injection when hi s physician is not looking, Helmuth said.

EAST HOPE GONE,

I'liu chauffeur told my wife or the manner in which the Kaiser received the news of the Jutland detent. They were driving in the vicinity of Potsdiun at tlio b me and a staff officer m ii powerful aiitomobilo overtook tlio Un-)x-nal ears, which halted. Ti:e Kaitter read a. telegram which the staff officer handed to liim and his face clouded. '.My God!' he s;< d, "my last hope 's truly gone!' 'i ho Emperor believed tiiat the (ierinan fleet could destroy the British licet, and that with her food and munitions problems solved Prussia, could win the war. Helmuth said that (lis royal master had never l-eon the same since receiving that news.

" Helmuth heard many tilings, hecause frequently officer* would discuss matters with the Kaiser while they stood beside his aiitimohile. The Kmpcror does not do very much of the actual directing ol the cainpa'gn, and i oii-.ii!t ations witli li'm arc largely per-

it! bed, bill the herb ol Olympus, \\hen tlic tray comes up land don't forget il .should tie every three hours l Ii is no 1 mere lood, it. is niaiiua. You review al l your past, U)M s i n , nut l | H , pnv-ent. you vision the lut are. •i j revel, you wallow, you dose, you dream, you get up the next morning like a schoolhov, 111• I you go to work like a. Titan."

I lie depressed man shook hands

trust be oil' now ." ne h::id. 'Meet ne. again to-morrow." I suggested, "and I will linalv convert von. I can t, he said. "I am engaged to-morrow all dav " "What am von doing?'' I'm taking a day in bod.''

functory. Tho one thing lie insists on is that proper etiquette shall be shown him at all times. If he desired to go from Potsdam to Frankfurt by motor, Hclmuth s;xd, the road would be cleared for him. But en route he might change his mind and stop 'n some village. If tlio Burgomaster is not there to greet him he is apt to l>e offended, and, therefore, all village officials and all troops en route are kept waiting and the soldiers at attention until tile royal cortege pusses. The Emperor is gradually growing worse physically. An internal sore above his ear is the cause of Irs trouble, and when the sore is open lie gets relief, but if it doses ho suffers tortures, takes drugs, and often acts like an insane man. He finds some satisfaction in speed ng when in pain and often will drive all night rather than lie sleepless in tho palace. " Lately he has been practicallv confined to Potsdam. Helmutli said reports are frequently given out on the Western front that the Kaiser is on tho Eastern front and \foo versa, just for tho purpose of keeping up the spirit of the men. His chauffeur said that he was in tho Champagne district of France more than eighteen months ago, and that since then he has not seen a battlefield except on one trip to Austria."

Tho Kaiser is pitied in Germany by the people, according to Mr. Moore. They do not believe he started the war; they lay the blame for the most part on the Deutches Bank and on financiers and men with large shipping interests.

THE FOOD QUESTION

ueh of my time was idle in Aachen,'' Mr. Moore continued. "I speak German, and spent sonic of it in motion picture houses, and in public houses, where I talked with many soldiers. One was a Cincinnati GermanAmerioan. They believe they are defeated and are most eager for peace. Reports have it tluit the civilian population is starving so that the soldiers may have full stomachs, hut they aro not true. Tha German-American told mo that seven months ago the rations were cut exactly in liajf. I stopped at an hotel which cost me 5 dollars a day, and here is the menu I hadl every day : "Breakfast, two small pieces of dark bread mado of wood pulp and Kaiser kaffee, or coffee made of acorns and oats. Luncheon consisted of a small apple, a glass of dunkle beer (beer without malt.or hops in it), pancake made out of a chemically prepared flour with no wheat in it; and at dinner I had two small potatoes, a small dish of spinach, and once 1 had a small orange for dessert by paying a mark extra for it. There is no bread allowed in a German home except for one meal—breakfast —and that Isn't really bread." Mr. Moore also said that Von Hindenburg is no longer a national hero. "The women liato him," ho saLd, " and call him the butcher. They have discovered that he has uselessly sacrificed tho lives of thousands of men by his methods of fighting. Tho victories ho won have all been dear 'n human blood. Tlki campaign in Rumania was undertaken for tho sole purpose of getting food. They knew that Rumania waCa great granary, but when the German troops arrived there they found the grain either had been destroyed or tht,i oil iiad heen poured on it. All tho oil-soaked grain was sent back to Germany, where an attempt was mado to feed the hogs with it, hut the hogs wouldn't eat it; then it was cleaned and the oil used, but the grain was hopelessly ruined." Mr. Moo ro was in Du<isoldorf one day wiion there was a food riot. More than ono thousand women went to tho Burgomaster and demanded food. "He told them in an address that he had no food," said Mr. Moore, "that victory was in sight and taht 'further sacrifices must bo made. One woman, acting as spokesman, shouted that they had given tho lives of their sons, brothers, and fathers, and were themselves starving. The Burgomaster ordered them to disband, threatening to call the troops. T/io leading woman laughed and said they all wanted to be shot. The troops were ordered to shoot into tho crowd. This thev refused to do.

SAVING THE MEN

"At the beginning of the war refusal to obey such a m'litarv order meant dentil, but Germany ha.s learnt to conserve her men w/ien she can. Instead of t,hooting men who refused to murder their own wives, sisters and mothers, they were punished by being sent at once into the trenches or Russia, near Riga. Soldiers told me that that meant almost certain death, either from bullets or from pneumonia or freezing to death. The thermometer in those trenches stays thirty* or forty degrees below zero week ill «wiq week out this time of t-lio vcjir. Tho leaving of those troops for tho Russian tront noxt day was one of the most pathetic s'ghts I ever saw."

Mrs. Mooro w;ifj treated in Aachen >y Dr. van who j s j n char go ot thirty-eight military hospitals there Ihesu hospitals are aJI filled AV ith wounded In one there are 3000 men Wind, while in another there are 4000 men who wc.ro driven insane bv uhell lire, Mr. Mooro said. On .January IS, medical inspectors went through' tho other hospitals. Any man who could stand after being patched up was sent again to tiki trenches.

My wiio s physician was very anxious to get some real news of how the outside world regarded the war," lie said. "110 told nio that he knew the glowing accounts of victories, etc., and of revolts in India and Ireland were liction, and he wanted the truth. told him I was a stranger in a, .strange I I,'" a ! ul 'hat 1 didn't care to talk Alter he promised that what I said ■Mioiild'n t he used against nie 1 told hint ;i lew things that made his eyes open. J lien he told me some tilings, one of which was that Germany did not care whether America got in the war or not. Ie physician said that tho indemnity that America could claim would ho >o entail as to he unworthy of eonsiderat'oii. I li* also told me that the war party was playing its la.st, card with tlei siilima rines, :iml he «as positive that could ho starved

"I believe that when the (Jvrruan people real'se that they eannot starve hngland by sinking ships they will demand of the ruling classes that the war slia.ll cease. While I did not hear it openly, there were covert hints that the present, might be the last Kaiser, and ir wouldn't.surprise me il Germany, alter th» wvr. became a republic. The Crown Prince isn't- at all popular with the i-oop!o because of his nrlitaristic and autocratic .spirit."