The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1844-01-01
Berlin.
Correspondence Of the Herald)
BERLIN, Sept. 30, 1913.
Matters and things in Berlin Prussia.
Berlin

/ BERLIN, sept %, How
| Matter. and things in Boiin-P'rsssia
JAMES GORDON BENNETT, Esq.:-
As If to make up for the dulness of the earlier
part of the season, the last two months nave peen
rife with political and local excitement. Event mas
been crowdlng upon event, aud pubic atteh'loh
is kept continually upon the qm ptre
The first occurrence of general interest," was one
of disastrous nature-the conflagration OF me
Royal Opera House, which took place on me nlgh'
of the 18th ult A ballet, called" The Swiss Sol
der" had been performed that evening, ana IL
beral display of fireworks being introduced N me
piece, it is supposed some sparks must nave lalien
among the combustible materials OF the scenery.
The fire was first discovered In the roof, near Inc
stage, about 10 o'clock, and had been burning an
hour before the first engine arrived lhere Is
plenty of water close by, but through some mis-
management it could not be got into the engines
fast enough and the fire increasing rapidly In one
part of the building the heat became SO overpower-
ing that the fremen were driven back from tne
burning pile. On the whole the fire department has
proved itself very inefficient. Although they boast
of their arrangements for extnguishlng fires as
being as good any in Europe, 1t has been proved
to demonstration that they are tar behind London,
Paris and St. Petersburgh; the iremen not being
properly exercised at the engines, and the engines
themselves on the old plan without any OF the mod
ern improvements. The hose, as noticed, are 100
small, excepting that of one engine, which is work
ed by steam, and has hose OF the dimensions
used in the U. s.; but this engine had not got to
work till upwards of two hours after the fire broke
the whole interior of the building was IN flames
long before then. 1t was fortunate circumstance
that there was perfect calm during the whole
time, or the fire might easily have communicated
by burning pieces Of timber, to the Royal Library,
the Catholic church, and the Prince OF Prussias
palace. In the latter some of the windows were
broken by the heat, although at distance OF about
eighty yards from the fire.
The opera house was built in l742, by Frederick
the Great, and the anniversary of its erection was
celebrated but short time since I'm December
( last oIo hrttld tnn ntn
portions, although rather overloaded with orna-
ments. The king has ordered II to be restored IN
the same STYLE as TAR as regards the exterior, Du
it is supposed some alterations and improvements
will be made in the internal economy OF the
theatre, to suit the taste of the present age Ac-
cordlng to the newspapers a sum OF $oOOVOo mas
been appropriated to this purpose. The partitions
of several hundreds of operas were saved with
great difficulty; fortunately they were in remote
corner of the building, which had not then, been
reached by the devouring element The value OF
it would have taken that sum to replace them, the
expense of writing out the complete music OF a
grand opera being no less than $500.
The month Of September was ushered IN by
series of grand military manRuvres OF almost un-
| examped splendor and magnitude. About $1,000
men, the elite of the army, were collected and
formed into two corps, the first under the command
Of the prince of Prussia, and the second under that
of General Won Weyrack. There were upwsrds
of 5000 cavalry ofvarious descriptions, curassiers,
Dragons, hussars, lancers, besides several bat
with wondrous horsemanship'' All these troops
were attacking, retreatlng, marching and counter
marching for fortnight, on the space OF 81 Eng
sh miles, and approaching as near to real warfare
could be done without drawing blood. The
greatest fclat, however, was given to this magnif
cent spectacle by the presence Ct the Emperor OF
Russia, who arrived here quite unexpectedly on
the evening of the 9th. He came to Swinemunde
on board the Kamtchatka, which made the passage
from Cronstadt in four days, but as she drew too
much water to be able to get up the river ne took
smaller Russian steamer, the ilora, to Stettln,
from whence he proceeded to Berlin per railroad
His sudden appearance took people by surprise, az
it had been currently reported that he would not
come to Germany this year, but the King, 1T ,ap-
pears, knew better, for he met his brOther-ln-laW
at the railroad depot, and they Immediately drove
| out to Potsdam together. On the 9Th they both re-
turned to Berlin, and the whole following week
was occupied by mock engagements and various
The prancing of steeds, the flashing OF bayonets
the glitter OF breastplates and the roaring OF aril
| lery, all became familiar household words
At length the busnesslwas wound up by grand
review, which came off on the,l7th instant, abou
miles from this city, IN presence OF an immense
concourse of spectators.
The emperor is the nominal colonel Of Prussiar
regiment Of cuirasers = he appeared afheir head
on horseback, leading them past the king on the
reviewing ground, and, being one OF the finest
figures and talles probably Of the regiment, he
made striking impression. The whole army has
| been furnished with new uniforms of different
cut shaped like frock coats, and the caps they for
merly wore have been replaced by helmets some
what in the style Of those worn in the middle ages
| Those of the infantry and artillery are made OF
| japanned leather with brass eagle in front, ant
those of the cavalry of metal FURNISHED like gold
| the emperor wearing one of these, made his tai
commanding figure appear still more gigantic thai
it really is. 1t was noticed that he had got very
stout since he was here four years ago. and that h,
had aged more than could have been expected.
considering ne is not yet nifty; Besides the empe'
a numerous assembly of foreign princes and gene
rails had collected TO witness this military specta
Gle. Among them the prince Royal Of Sweden
created good deal of attentions you Will recollee'
of course that his father was one OF Bonaparte's
marshals, and elected king of Sweden by the voice
of the people. Oscar is a man OF talent and lnfor
nation, and was received with great cordially by
the king of Prussia and the emperor to whom n,
is distantly related through his brother in-law.
prince Macmillan OF Leuchtenberg, who IS mar
ried to one of the emperor's daughters, and by al
accounts is in high favor with him. He accompa
MED him to Berlin, and they appeared to be inse
parable Military dinners, court-galas, sources, &c
were matters of daily occurrence during these
meetings, together with plays, concerts, and ohei
alnusements too tedious TO mentlon-till at length
princes and potentates dropped off one by one, anc
the good people of Berlin relapsed into their usua
occupations, which had been partly interrupted by
| sightseeing.
1t is difficult to say what changes in politics are
likely to take place in consequence of this inter
view. Many consider 1t to have been mere fam
lily meeting; by others it is conjectured that mea-
have been taken to regulate the succession IN
Denmark and Sweden, and to place the CONNER
| cial intercourse between Prussia and Poland on
better footing. AS usual, in thr country, all poiti
| cal transactions remain profound secret, and time
alone will shew whether any OF these cOnjectures
are founded in trnh Ia -.s
The harvest has been got in now throughout
Germany the crops are not abundant, owing to
the drought in the early part OF the year, and there
seems to be doubt that the prices OF breadstuii'
will keep up; it is also expected that there will be
orders for wheat from England to the Prusslan
ports in the Baltic, vlZ.-Danzig, Konlgsberg, NC
Leipzig Fair has just commenced; but the &C
counts we have Shere are discouraging in the ex
IRENE. The purchases made by the country buyers
are triiIing their sales having been very light dur
Valachian merchants had arrived, but it was un
certain whether they would buy extensively or not
A heavy business was expected to be done in furs,
which are partly imported from Russia, and partly