It placed him
in the merchant class. I asked him what sort of a _Kaufmann_
he was. He then told me he was president of a large electrical
company. Of course, with us he would have answered first that
he was president of the electrical company, but being a German
he simply disclosed his caste without going into details. It is
a curious thing on the registers of guests in a German summer
resort to see Mrs. Manufactory-Proprietor Schultze registered
with Mrs. Landrat Schwartz and Mrs. Second Lieutenant von Bing.
Of course, there is no doubt as to the relative social positions
of Mrs. Manufactory-Proprietor Schultze and Mrs. Second Lieutenant
von Bing. Mrs. Manufactory-Proprietor Schultze may have a steam
yacht and a tiara, an opera box and ten million marks. She may
be an old lady noted for her works of charity. Her husband may
have made discoveries of enormous value to the human race, but
she will always be compelled to take her place behind Mrs. Second
Lieutenant von Bing, even if the latter is only seventeen years
old.
Of course, occasionally, officers of the army and navy condescend
to marry into the merchant caste, and if a girl has a choice
of three equally attractive young men, one a doctor, earning
ten thousand dollars a year; one a manufacturer, earning the
same amount; and one an army officer with a "von" before his
name and three thousand dollars a year, there is no hesitation
on her part: she takes the noble and the army officer.
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