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Richard O‘Brien Chronicle Staff Among the things we can be most certain of concerning the First World War is that the whole thing got going when a Serbian Archduke named Ferâ€" dinand was assassinated in 1914. Going back a few months, Kaiser Wilheim II had a birthday, his 55th, and it was celebrated in Berlin (Kitchener) at the Concordia Club. Wilhelm II, son of Wilhelm I, was described at the time as the "guiding star on the firmament of world history,"‘ in this, the last birthday party for a Kaiser in what was known as "Canada‘s German capital." O -lil_fi the war that was to cause years of conflict in Europe also caused conflict in the city that was called Berlin before being renamed Kitchener in 1916. In August, Canada entered the war in opposition to Wilhelm II‘s Germany and tensions were high locally. German Canadians were accused of being slow to enlist for the conflict and this resulted in street fights and antiâ€" German sentiment. As it woul out, an Eby who was the gr%t grandson of Berlin‘s pacifist founder would be the first hometowner to die overseas. But anger was the prevailing mood and local militia members saw fit to take it out on a highâ€"ranking German. Wilhelm II wasn‘t available, but a bust of Wilhelm I sat on a pedestal at the David St. entrance to Victoria Park. . i r C i( ReEsSe$ Repuee o L © SINGLES . ... DOUBLES . ..... QUEEN ........ Foam available in medium & firm, plastic wrapped and ready for pickâ€"up. â€" Perfect for Cottage Use â€" Ideal for Home! MATTRESS SALE ON DURING THE MONTH BEAM BEDDING s50~88 _ _ OF APRIL â€" While Quantities Last. Box Bases also available for sizes above 48 William Street West, Waterioo, Ontario Mon. â€" Fri. 1:00 p.m. â€" §:30 p.m. Sat. 9:00 a.m. â€" 12:00 p.m. +129 2o gg es The bust was recovered from the lake, perhaps by police, perhaps by German Canadians, perhaps by German Canaâ€" dians who happened to be police. The Berlin Journal, the local sheet at the time, said the bust would soon be restored to its rightful position. That was not the first or last time a newspaper has been wrong. The bust of Old Bill took refuge at the Concordia Club, which was located on King St. between Queen and Frederick in the heart of what is now Bingoland. If police really rescued the Kaiser, how did he get to the Concordia Club? â€" Old Bill‘s whereabouts must have been one of the best kept secrets of the time. It wasn‘t until the winter of ‘16 that word leaked about the whereabouts of the bust. On Feb. 15, 1916, soldiers from the 118th Battalion broke into the Concordia Club and took Old Bill on a parade up King St. Behind them, other soldiers and civilians are said to have gone into the club to destroy artifacts and throw furniture into the street. No charges were laid. But if the Kaiser‘s whereabouts were a wellâ€"kept secret then, what about now? Where did the bust go? It was considered only fitting to put the question first to Queen Victoria, the lonely lady near one of the cannons in Reg. $£308 Call 884â€"3498 BUG CONTROL CHINCH Victoria Park. Her reply was drowned out by a muscle car in bad need of a mufflier and in any case her lips didn‘t move at all. ‘"*We are not amused,""‘ she seemed to say. She must have been including the pigeons at her head and the lion at her feet. There is a picture of the bust being rescued from Victoria Park lake and one copy of it is in Chadd‘s Greenery at the Hotel Waterloo. Hotel Waterloo proprietor Peter Cadâ€" man lives in a house in Crosshill built in 1861 and the hotel itself dates back to 1840. Through that, he has a sense of history, mostly Waterloo history, and the walls in Chadd‘s reflect this. "I‘ve tried to capture the old Waterloo spirit with the exception of Kaiser Wilhelm because it‘s so unique," said Cadman, who has taken his old pictures to senior citizens to learn more about what they represent. "The old folks I spoke to assume the bust was hidden away in the Concordia Club cellar for safekeeping," said Cadâ€" man. ‘"‘That was the rumor on the street. That kind of rumor would spread." BOWLING 18 A FAMILY AFFAIR. AVE YOU BEEN LATELY?! Hote! Waterloo proprietor Peter Cadman points to a picture documenting the rescue of the bust of Kaiser Wilheim from the lake in Victoria Park in 1914. If the bust ever found its way back to e yb P3 It S rat 1% it n! ©8 King St. East, Kitchener (510) 745â€"5058 14 St. George‘s Square, Gueiph (5109) 821â€"7982 (Across from the Wabper Terrace Hotel) (Next to the Royal Bank) necklaces in town. _ ! P 1¢) KNAR JEWELLERY April is Jewellery Month. Now is the time to save on fine jewellery! the Concordia Club, it‘s unlikely to have remained there. Both a present employâ€" ee of club and a former employee have never seen it. ; Author Edna Staebler mentioned the bust of the kaiser in a book of local history called Enterprise and Sauerâ€" kraut. She also wrote an account of the mystery of the disappearance of the bust at least 30 years ago for MacLean‘s, but the magazine had regional issues and the story didn‘t circulate locally. "I knew people who lived through that period and they said they thought soldiers took it with them to London (where they were billetted) and melted it down and had serviette rings made," said Staebler. "And then there was another story that some people had it in their baseâ€" ment. I don‘t know which rumor was Soldiers were said to have used buttons and badges from their uniforms to make the serviette rings along with the meltedâ€"down bust. If it‘s true, perhaps somewhere, in some antique store, there are pieces of local history that would come as a surprise to some people. u The showcases are fully stocked with our hest goid necklaces, bracelets, earrings and much more, all on sale throughout the month of April Come into the store and see the quality, then look at the price OFF M