Let me say a word here regarding a Russian curiosity in the domain of preserving wild game. The Tsar, who had heard a great deal about the fine antlers of the stags at Rominten, wished to have some of the same sort at Spala, in Poland. Freiherr von Sternburg was sent to the Spala hunting lodge one summer in order to give advice regarding this project.
He was received very cordially by a general, who had charge of the hunting there and lived at the lodge. Sternburg noticed that all the apartments, even those not inhabited, were always kept heated. When he spoke of the enormous waste of wood occasioned by this, the general shrugged his shoulders and remarked that one never could tell, the Tsar might put in an appearance some day, after all. A gamekeeper, who was a German, was assigned to Sternburg, since the general did not know his way about on the reservation and was quite ignorant of game feeding.
In the course of his tours about the place Sternburg observed a number of places where meadows could be turned into pastures or good feeding places could be installed. He drew attention to the need of such arrangements, having noticed that the deer had already begun to shed their horns to a considerable extent, thereby causing much damage to the trees.
But the gamekeeper shook his head sadly and remarked that he had already reported all that, but in vain, since the hay for the deer had to be brought by rail from the Black Sea and the shipments sometimes either did not arrive at all or were greatly delayed and arrived spoiled. But nothing would be done to alter this, continued the gamekeeper, since too many people made a good thing out of this transporting of the hay, which was paid for at huge prices.
He also told how—after he had called attention to the many splinters of wood found in the intestines of the deer, in order to prove that they were insufficiently fed and that feeding places must be provided—a committee of animal doctors had been brought from St. Petersburg to investigate the matter. The said committee lived and ate for weeks in Spala at the Tsar's expense, shot many deer, examined them, and held sessions; and the upshot of all this was a report that the animals had wood in their stomachs, which proved that they could live on wood, for which reason feeding places would be superfluous and the hay from the Black Sea would suffice to supplement the wood. And there the matter remained, in spite of Sternburg's visit!
When I heard this yarn, I involuntarily thought of an anecdote which Prince Bülow especially delighted to tell in connection with his sojourn at St. Petersburg. While there, he had attended the salon of Madame Durnovo, where society used often to gather. One day a prominent general was complaining to the hostess that he had been trapped in a money matter, which had brought him much unpleasantness from "above." Apparently he wished, by his mournful description, to arouse sympathy for his bad luck, but Madame Durnovo retorted, in her rough way: "Mon cher Général, quand on fait des sâletés, il faut qu'elles réussissent!" ("My dear General, when you play dirty tricks it is necessary that they be successful!")
As Secretary of State in the Imperial Postal Department likewise, Herr von Podbielski, after I had chosen him and declined a number of other candidates, did excellent work, treading worthily in the footsteps of Stephan. Very practical; endowed with the business sense and a great knowledge of business; well versed and clever in financial matters; of innate administrative talent, and, at the same time, quick to fight; caustically witty; a good speaker and debater—he worked with zeal and skill, often as a pioneer, particularly in matters of world postal service, wireless telegraphy, etc. This former colonel in the Ziethen Hussars made a name for himself in the service of his fatherland which will never be forgotten.
An amusing contrast to his career is that of a Russian Hussar officer under Nicholas I. This Tsar, being full of anger against the Holy Synod, had driven away the man at the head of it. Shortly afterward he inspected the Hussar Body Guard Regiment, commanded by Colonel Count Protassoff. The immense satisfaction of the Tsar at the splendid appearance and maneuvering of the fine regiment found expression in the words, amazing alike to the commander and his men: "Thou hast maneuvered thy regiment magnificently, and, as a token of my satisfaction, I name thee Procurator of the Holy Synod, which thou must put into good shape for me!"
Mention must be made here of another excellent and worthy man, Minister Möller. He came from Bielefeld, like Hinzpeter, and was bound to my old teacher by lasting ties of friendship. In the legislature he was one of the leaders of the National Liberals, by whom he was highly esteemed, as he was in the Reichstag, on account of his upright, distinguished Westphalian characteristics and his great experience in the commercial-political domain.
When Imperial Chancellor Bülow suggested Möller to me as Minister I remarked that he was a party man and member of the Reichstag. The Chancellor said that the National Liberals would be pleased at Möller's appointment. I observed that the state Ministry of the Prussian King could not and must not be a party Ministry, but must stand above the parties in entire independence of them; that I esteemed Möller personally very much, but, should he become Minister, every member of the legislature would have the ambition to become one likewise; that, through Möller's appointment, the ambitions of the other parties to obtain ministerial chairs would also be aroused and nobody could foresee the consequences; that, moreover, Möller would be greatly missed in the Reichstag, from which I did not wish to take him on account of his influence with all parties.