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Page 47
The sensation of the afternoon came at the close when Admiral von Tirpitz
bought a coat of Russian sables offered by Mrs. John R. Fell for ten
thousand 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 had
been made the official German organ with daily editions in German and
English. The Crown Prince himself selected this paper, I was told, on
learning that the author of one of his favourite stories, "The Lady or
the Tiger," by Frank R. Stockton, was once a reporter on the _Press_.
A few days later at the Wanamaker store on Chestnut Street the Crown
Prince figured in an incident that became the subject of international
comment and that throws a strange light upon the German character.
It appears that the Crown Prince had become interested in an announcement
of the Wanamaker store that half of its profits for one week, amounting
to many thousands of dollars, would go to the relief of American soldiers
wounded in battle. His Imperial Highness expressed a desire to visit the
Wanamaker establishment, and arrived one afternoon at the hour of a
widely advertised organ concert that had drawn great crowds. A special
feature was to be the Lohengrin wedding march, during the playing of
which seven prominent society women, acting on a charitable impulse, had
consented to appear arrayed as bridesmaids and one of them as a bride.
The Crown Prince and his staff, in brilliant uniforms, entered the vast
rotunda packed with men and women, just as this interesting ceremony was
beginning and took places reserved for them as conquerors, near the great
bronze 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 height
struck the inspiring chords, and a moment later the wedding procession
entered, led by two white-clad pages, and moved slowly across the white
gallery, 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., a
tall and willowy auburn beauty and a bride herself only a few months
before, while Wagner's immortal tones pealed through the marble arches.
As the music ceased one of the German officers, in accordance with a
prearranged plan, nodded to his aides, who stepped forward and spread a
German flag over the American eagle. At the same moment the officer waved
his hand towards the organ loft, as a signal for Dr. Morgan to obey his
instructions and play "The Watch on the Rhine."
The crowd knew what was coming and waited in sickening silence, then
gasped in amazement and joy as the organ gloriously sounded forth, "My
Country, 'Tis of Thee."
"Stop!" shouted the Prussian, purple with rage. "Stop!"
But Irvin Morgan played on like a good American, thrilling the great
audience 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., in
boy-scout uniform, did a thing that will live in American history. He had
been taught to rise when he heard that music and sing the dear words that
his mother had taught him, and he could not understand why all these
Americans were silent. Why didn't they sing? He looked about him
anxiously. He had seen those Prussian officers spread the German flag
over the American eagle, and it suddenly flashed into his mind that it
was his business to do something. He must tear down that hateful flag. He
must do it if he died and, springing forward before any one could divine
his purpose, he dragged the German banner to the floor and, standing on
it, 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 forth
its accompaniment.
As a match starts the powder train so this boyish act fired the whole
gathering of dumb patriots and straightway, Germans or no Germans, ten
thousand American voices took up the words while the youthful leader,
with eyes flashing, held up the Stars and Stripes there by the eagle.
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