Conquest of America: A Romance of Disaster and Victory, U.S.A., 1921 A.D.

by Cleveland Moffett

  CHAPTER XV

  THRILLING INCIDENT AT WANAMAKER'S STORE WHEN GERMANS DISHONOUR AMERICANFLAG

  During these peace preliminaries Philadelphia accepted her fate withcheerful philosophy. In 1777 she had entertained British conquerors, nowshe entertained the Germans. An up-to-date _meschianza_ was organised, asin Revolutionary days, at the magnificent estate "Druim Moir" of SamuelF. Houston in Chestnut Hill, with all the old features reproduced, thepageant, the tournament of Knights Templars and the games, Germanofficers competing in the latter.

  In polo an American team composed of William H. T. Huhn, Victor C.Mather, Alexander Brown and Mitchell Rosengarten played against a crackteam of German cavalry officers and beat them easily.

  In lawn tennis the American champion, Richard Norris Williams, beatLieutenant Froitzheim, a famous German player and a friend of the CrownPrince, in straight sets, the lieutenant being penalised for footfaulting by the referee, Eddie von Friesen, a wearer of the iron cross,although his mother was a Philadelphia woman.

  Thirty thousand German soldiers crowded Shibe Park daily to watch theseries of exhibition contests between the Athletics and the CincinnatiReds, both teams being among the first civilians captured on the victors'entrance into Philadelphia. The Reds, composed almost entirely ofGermans, owned by Garry Hermann and managed by Herzog, were of course thefavourites over the Irish-American cohorts of Cornelius McGillicuddy; butthe Athletics won the series in a deciding game that will never beforgotten. The dramatic moment came in the ninth inning, with the basesfull, when the famous Frenchman, Napoleon Lajoie, pinch-hitting forBaker, advanced to the plate and knocked the ball far over Von Kolnitz'shead for a home run and the game.

  Another interesting affair was a dinner given to German officers byeditors of the _Saturday Evening Post_, on the tenth floor of the CurtisBuilding, the menu comprising characteristic Philadelphia dishes, such aspepper pot soup with a dash of sherry, and scrapple with fishhouse punch.Various writers were present, and there were dramatic meetings betweenAmerican war correspondents and Prussian generals who had put them injail in the 1915 campaign. I noticed a certain coldness on the part ofRichard Harding Davis toward a young Bavarian lieutenant who, in NorthernFrance, had conceived the amiable purpose of running Mr. Davis throughthe ribs with a bayonet; but Irvin S. Cobb was more forgiving and drankclover club cocktails to the health of a burly colonel who had orderedhim shot as a spy and graciously explained the proper way of eatingcatfish and waffles.

  The Crown Prince was greatly interested when informed by Owen Wister thatthese excellent dishes were of German origin, having been brought toAmerica by the Hessians in Revolutionary days and preserved by theirdescendants, such families as the Fows and the Faunces, who stilloccupied a part of Northeastern Philadelphia known as Fishtown. HisImperial Highness also had an animated discussion with Joseph A.Steinmetz, President of the Aero Club of Pennsylvania, as to theeffectiveness of the Steinmetz pendant hook bomb Zeppelin destroyer.

  The German officers enjoyed these days immensely and made themselves athome in the principal hotels, paying scrupulously for theiraccommodations. General von Hindenburg stopped at the Ritz-Carlton,Admiral von Tirpitz at the Bellevue-Stratford and others at the Waltonand the Adelphia. Several Prussian generals established themselves at theContinental Hotel because of their interest in the fact that Edward VIIof England stopped there when he was Prince of Wales, and they drew lotsfor the privilege of sleeping in the historic bed that had been occupiedby an English sovereign.

  The Crown Prince himself was domiciled with his staff in E. T.Stotesbury's fine mansion on Walnut Street. Every day he lunched at theRacquet Club, now occupied by German officers, and played court tenniswith Dr. Alvin C. Kraenzlein, the famous University of Pennsylvaniaathlete, whom he had met in Berlin when Kraenzlein was coaching theGerman Olympic team for the 1916 contests that were postponed, owing tothe war, until 1920. He also had a game with Jay Gould, champion of theworld, and being hopelessly outclassed, declared laughingly (the CrownPrince loves American slang) that this young millionaire was "someplayer."

  A few days after the _meschiama_ fetes, his Imperial Highness gave adinner and reception to some of the leading men in Philadelphia and,despite prejudice, was voted a remarkable figure like his father,combining versatile knowledge with personal charm. He talked politicswith Boies Penrose, and reform with Rudolph Blankenburg. He wasinterested in A. J. Drexel Biddle's impartial enthusiasm for Bibleclasses and boxing matches. He questioned Dr. D. J. McCarthy, famousneurologist of the University of Pennsylvania, about mental diseasescaused by war. He laughed heartily on hearing a limerick by OliverHerford beginning: "There was a young prince Hohenzollern," which wassaid to have delighted the British ambassador. Finally, he listened whileNed Atherton and Morris L. Parrish explained the fascination of _sniff_,a gambling game played with dominoes much in vogue at the Racquet Club.His Imperial Highness said he preferred the German game of _skat_, playedwith cards, and James P. McNichol, the Republican boss, made a note ofthis fact.

  As I passed through a gallery containing the magnificent Stotesburycollection of paintings I heard a resounding voice saying with a harshGerman accent: "Ach! I told you! Your form of government is a failure.People need a benevolent paternalism. There is no chance for militaryefficiency under a republic."

  Turning, I recognised the stocky form of Commandant Price of the LeagueIsland navy yard, who was listening to a tirade from Admiral von Tirpitz.The latter, it seems, was marvelling that the United States navalauthorities had lacked the intelligence to cut a 1,700-yard canal fromthe naval basin to the Delaware which would have made it impossible forthe Germans to tie up the American reserve fleet by blocking theSchuylkill. This canal would also have furnished an ideal fresh-waterdry-dock.

  Commandant Price had informed the admiral that this very plan, with anestimated cost of only three million dollars, had been repeatedly broughtbefore Congress, but always unsuccessfully. In other words, it was nofault of the navy if these battleships were rendered useless. Whereuponvon Tirpitz had burst forth with his attack upon representativegovernment.

  I was told that the Crown Prince had intended to invite to this gatheringsome of the prominent women of Philadelphia, particularly one famousbeauty, whom he desired to meet, but he was dissuaded from this purposeby a tactful hint that the ladies would not accept his invitation. Themen might go, for reasons of expediency, but American women had no placeat the feast of an invader.

  It happened, however, a few days later, that the Imperial wish wasgratified, the occasion being an auction for the benefit of theAmerican Red Cross Fund held one afternoon in the gold ballroom of theRitz-Carlton Hotel. Tea was served with music by the Philadelphiaorchestra under Leopold Stokowski and the tickets were five dollars.

  In a great crush (the gallery was reserved for German officers, includingthe Crown Prince) the most distinguished society women in Philadelphiastepped forth smilingly as manikins and displayed on their fair personsthe hats, gowns, furs, laces or jewels that they had contributed to thesale. E. T. Stotesbury proved a very efficient auctioneer and largeprices were realised.

  Mrs. G. G. Meade Large sold baskets of roses at twenty dollars each. Mrs.W. J. Clothier sold three hats for fifty dollars each. Mrs. Walter S.Thomson, said to be pro-German, sold a ball-gown for three hundreddollars. Mrs. E. T. Stotesbury sold one of her diamond tiaras for twentythousand dollars. Mrs. Edward Crozer, Mrs. Horatio Gates Lloyd and Mrs.Norman MacLeod sold gowns for three hundred dollars each. Mrs. Harry WainHarrison and Mrs. Robert von Moschzisker sold pieces of lace for ahundred dollars each.

  Mrs. A. J. Antelo Devereux, in smart riding costume, sold her finehunter, led in amid great applause, for two thousand dollars. Mrs. GeorgeQ. Horwitz and Mrs. Robert L. Montgomery sold sets of furs for a thousanddollars each. Mrs. Barclay H. Warburton sold her imported touring-car forfive thousand dollars. Mrs. Joseph E. Widener sold a set of fourbracelets, one of diamonds, one of rubies, one of sapphires, one ofemeralds, for fifteen thousand d
ollars.

  The sensation of the afternoon came at the close when Admiral von Tirpitzbought a coat of Russian sables offered by Mrs. John R. Fell for tenthousand dollars, this being followed by a purchase of the Crown Prince,who gave thirty thousand dollars for a rope of pearls belonging to Mrs.J. Kearsley Mitchell.

  All of this was briefly recorded in the Philadelphia _Press_, which hadbeen made the official German organ with daily editions in German andEnglish. The Crown Prince himself selected this paper, I was told, onlearning that the author of one of his favourite stories, "The Lady orthe Tiger," by Frank R. Stockton, was once a reporter on the _Press_.

  A few days later at the Wanamaker store on Chestnut Street the CrownPrince figured in an incident that became the subject of internationalcomment and that throws a strange light upon the German character.

  It appears that the Crown Prince had become interested in an announcementof the Wanamaker store that half of its profits for one week, amountingto many thousands of dollars, would go to the relief of American soldierswounded in battle. His Imperial Highness expressed a desire to visit theWanamaker establishment, and arrived one afternoon at the hour of awidely advertised organ concert that had drawn great crowds. A specialfeature was to be the Lohengrin wedding march, during the playing ofwhich seven prominent society women, acting on a charitable impulse, hadconsented to appear arrayed as bridesmaids and one of them as a bride.

  The Crown Prince and his staff, in brilliant uniforms, entered the vastrotunda packed with men and women, just as this interesting ceremony wasbeginning and took places reserved for them as conquerors, near the greatbronze eagle on its granite pedestal that faces the spot where William H.Taft dedicated the building in December, 1911.

  A hush fell over the assembly as Dr. Irvin J. Morgan at his gilded heightstruck the inspiring chords, and a moment later the wedding processionentered, led by two white-clad pages, and moved slowly across the whitegallery, Mrs. Angier B. Duke (dressed as the bride), Mrs. Victor C.Mather, Mrs. A. J. Drexel Biddle, Jr., Mrs. Gurnee Munn, Mrs. Oliver E.Cromwell, Miss Eleanor B. Hopkins and Mrs. George Wharton Pepper, Jr., atall and willowy auburn beauty and a bride herself only a few monthsbefore, while Wagner's immortal tones pealed through the marble arches.

  As the music ceased one of the German officers, in accordance with aprearranged plan, nodded to his aides, who stepped forward and spread aGerman flag over the American eagle. At the same moment the officer wavedhis hand towards the organ loft, as a signal for Dr. Morgan to obey hisinstructions and play "The Watch on the Rhine."

  The crowd knew what was coming and waited in sickening silence, thengasped in amazement and joy as the organ gloriously sounded forth, "MyCountry, 'Tis of Thee."

  "Stop!" shouted the Prussian, purple with rage. "Stop!"

  But Irvin Morgan played on like a good American, thrilling the greataudience with the treasured message:

  "Sweet land of Liberty,Of Thee I sing."

  At this moment a little fellow seven years old, from Caniden, N. J., inboy-scout uniform, did a thing that will live in American history. He hadbeen taught to rise when he heard that music and sing the dear words thathis mother had taught him, and he could not understand why all theseAmericans were silent. Why didn't they sing? He looked about himanxiously. He had seen those Prussian officers spread the German flagover the American eagle, and it suddenly flashed into his mind that itwas his business to do something. He must tear down that hateful flag. Hemust do it if he died and, springing forward before any one could divinehis purpose, he dragged the German banner to the floor and, standing onit, waved a little American flag drawn from his pocket.

  "Land where my fathers died,Land of the Pilgrims' pride!"

  He shrilled out, singing all alone while the proud organ thundered forthits accompaniment.

  As a match starts the powder train so this boyish act fired the wholegathering of dumb patriots and straightway, Germans or no Germans, tenthousand American voices took up the words while the youthful leader,with eyes flashing, held up the Stars and Stripes there by the eagle.

  A German officer, furious at this defiance, sprang toward the boy withlifted sword and would have struck him down had not his Imperial masterintervened and with his own weapon caught the descending blow.

  "Shame! Coward!" cried the Crown Prince. "We do not fight with children."

  And the end of it was that no one was punished, although concerts wereforbidden after this in the Wanamaker store.

  I have related this incident not only for its own sake, but because ofits bearing on subsequent events.

  "I'm going to write a story about that boy", I said to W. Barran Lewis,who stood near me. "Do you know his name?"

  "Yes," said the editor. "He is Lemuel A. Widding, Jr. Makes a good story,doesn't it?"

  Lemuel A. Widding! Where had I heard that name? Suddenly Iremembered--Kingston, Jamaica, and Lieutenant Ryerson and the lovely girlwho had told me about her brother's ravings. That was the name he hadcalled out again and again in his delirium. Lemuel A. Widding!

  In spite of my interest in this puzzling circumstance I was unable toinvestigate it, owing to the fact that I was hurried off to Mount Vernonfor the Peace Conference, but I wired Miss Ryerson in Richmond of mydiscovery and gave her the boy's address in Camden, N. J. Then I thoughtno more about the matter, being absorbed in my duties.