HOW I SAW THE KAISER.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15612, 9 June 1916, Page 8

HOW I SAW THE KAISER.

PASSING GLIMPSE IX THE STREET.

The following is another of the articles supplied to the London "Daily Cnronclie" by tho correspondent of the Russian newspaper •'Ketch,'' who managed lately by means of false passports, to get into Berlin and stay there some time.

i had the goocl fortune, on the first day after my arrival, to catch a glimpse of'the Kaiser. It was a few days before the rumours about his iijness, which assumed such exceptional dimensions outside of Germany. _ The seriousness of this illness was denied in Berlin, and the papers only spoke of a slight indisposition duo to a furuncle on the neck. The canard made bv some sensational French paper, prematurely condemning AVilhelm to death, was greatly enjoyed by the German Press, which takes advantage of every slip in the foreign Press in order to discredit a.ll information appearing therc regarding internal life in Germany. This canard was on liar with another to the effect that the Berlincrs had planted potatoes iu Unter den Linden, and that during the recent disturbance hundreds of people had been shot down. I was walking along Friedrichstrasso in the direction of L liter den Lindon when, amidst the comparative quiet of the Berlin streets. 1- heard the characteristic sound of the horn of the Imperial motor-car. Together with a few other persans I ran to the corner of Friedrichstrasso, and near the Cafe Bauer the largo closet! . Royal motor rushed nasi.

The car was painted the _ field-grey colour, bearing the Imperial insignia. I caught a glimpse of two grcv figures in great coat' and covered helmets, in one of which it was not difficult to recognise the Kaiser with his characteristic moustache, turned strongly grey and somewhat cut.

1 couid judge, by the portraits which I arc exhibited in abundance in the shops of Stockholm and Berlin, that Wilholni has changed and looks older and worn. Durk circles beneath the hollow eyes, deep wrinkles, his face emaciated and more stern than ever, have not escaped the camera, and no touching-up could smooth out the imprint of cava and deep weariness which stares ono in the face from all these portraits. A LIVING MASK. But tho living face behind the glass of tile motor-car, the earthen, green-ish-yoJlow colour of the skin, aggravated bv the grey background ot his coat and helmei. the eyes iixed on the back of the chauffeur as if lie did not notice the salutes of the passcrs-bv who quietly lifted their hats and sometimes waved them in the. air. and/the | mcchanical gesture of his arm as if some automatic tin soldier was raising his hand in salute —all these made an exceptional impression. The impression was as of some intricate terrible machine endowed by some inexorable will with the power to destroy and devastate human lives, thecreation of centuries of human thought, dreams and aspirations. Perhaps this is because ono is involuntarily under the influence of the terrors and horrors of tife present time. _ rightly or wrongly ascribed to the Kaiser. I saw him for the space of one brief second, but this- mooting face to face with the Kaiser on this day in tho Unter den Liuden, Berlin, will remain for ever in my memory. " ALL THEATRES OPEN. - Almost all the theatres in Berlin arc running 'as usual, only some of the "Tingle Tangles" and "uacht Lokale" and dancing palaces and such like places of "amusement" have closed down. However, tho theatres, and even the cinemas, are not doing much business', and the "houses" cannot be compared with the crowded theatres in Russia. 1 visited all the principal theatres and varieties, and never saw a full House. Even the Winter Gardens and the Apollo, where formerly one could obtain a seat with difficulty were now half-empty, and in ,thc"Kammerspiele of the popular Bernhardt I counted an audienceof 42 people, of whom three were in civilian dress, including myself, eight in military uniform, and the remainder were women.

However, the operettas and the more serious theatres with a classical German and foreign repertory are drawing tho largest crowds. Specially cooked patriotic plays, pieces by Kotzebue and other like autnors, who have been dragged out fiom under the 'dust of oblivion, fare the worst of all. The tendency to drive out all works of art and literature of enemy countries has now completely disappeared, and at the present time in Berlin, on the stage of the Royal Opera, French. Russian, and Italian composers have the run side by side with Wagner and Richard Strauss. At the concerts one can hear Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsa-koff, and young French composers. Recently, in the "Little Theatre," they gave Gogol's "Revisor," and at tho "Deutsches Teater" Shakespeare's plays were given. The most crowded liouso I saw in Benin" was drawn by "As You Like It," in tho really magniliccnt staging of Reinhardt. After Shakespeare the most popular authors are Ibsen and Strindberg. "The Miracle" is running continuously at Reinhardt's third theatre. Of the new German writers, two are oneact picces by Schnitzler and Sudermann, and it is interesting to note -the new tendency of the German drama under war conditions, viz., the predominant number of female parts over the male parts. At one of the cabarets still alive in Unter den Linden there was complete dullness, monotony and—no people. It is interesting to note that, together with the soldier and patriotic songs, little by little couplets appear where more and more the word "peace" is mentioned and references are made to the dearth and shortage of foodstuffs; of course, all this is within the limits of the censorship. In the cinemas first place is given to comic films; the shows of current topics, military events, scenes and pictures of life in rear of the fighting lines are of little interest, as. for instance, how soldiers are raising chickens. There are no pictures from the front. Together with German, Austrian. Turkish, and Bulgarian military films one can also see English, French, and Russian military pictures, some of which I had seen in Moscow before mv departure. Tho German films evoke no enthusiasm, and even the Kaiser on the screen is received silertly, whilst enemy films raise no protest.