The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1897-12-10
EMPEROR WILLIAM.
As He Is Seen in His Home Life at the
Palace.

From the Westminster Gazette.
Not that the German Emperor would
BIS commonplace anywhere. His mys-
terious outbursts of rage, his officially
contradicted illness or illnesses, and his
genius for self-advert,sement would
bring him into notice wherever he was
But though we hear so much about his
love for show in public, few peop.e know
how simple his privalte life is. Yet It is
a fact that a great deal of The solemn
etiquette of the ordinary court life has
been done away with, the staff reduced
in several ways, and there have even
been economies in the kitchen. The
officsrs of the guard have to put up with
beer instead of champagne. 1t is true
the menu at the emperor's table must be
in German now, not French, but the
aristocracy generally have not followed
suit. There are things even German
emperor cannot do.
But any one who sees the royal pail
ace knows that the stories or extraVa-
gance are true. Restoring 1t was the
work of three months, and everything
that the best of science and art and the
tax payers money could do was done
Those three months turned out a palace
that eclipses in splendor almost any.oth-
the present emperor uses are those be-
tween the Pillar Hall" and the Star
Hail." or Star Chamber" whichever we
would call it in English, only in this
case the stare are in the ceiling. But
perhaps this most magnificent is the
front hall. the Treppen Halle, which
faces the Palace Square. A view can be
had without opening THE doors, for they
are each of one immense pane of glass,
and even in the daytime the white and
gray marble covering the walls is effec-
tive At night it is a marvellous sight,
the electric light flooding the hall, the
marble balustrades, and the red carpet
on the marble steps. You pass down
these, between, colossal mirrors on either
hand, and the Star Hall is directly in
front 1t is here the regimenta1 colors
are used as ornaments for the walls, on
a background of red damask. The pam
elling is done in rich rocco work.
The emperors and empress private
apartments are near the Pillar Hail.
which also faces the Palace Square
There is a private entrance and a public
one, for Populations and so on. One gets
as good an idea of the general extrava-
gance from the emperor'S workshop,
or study. as anywhere else. True. there
are the writing table, the leather covered
furniture and the bookshelves, but the
ceiling is in splendid white-and-gold ro-
coco work-done in Frederick the Greats
time-and late improvements have been
made in the same style and color. The
walls are in dark olive and gold brocade.
Here the inventions are made, pictures
painted dismissal of cabinets signed,
and kilograms composed. 1t will be an
historic room. The empress private
rooms are also very fine. Her recep-
tion room has more of the immense mir
rors and the walls are pane.led in green
ish gray marble. Yet she herself Is the
ordinary German Hausfrau, and Is what
she has been from her girlhood-a nom
entity.
All these apartments have been lying
unused for many years-since the time
of Friedrich Wilhelm III, in fact. The
court life in public resembles that of
most other countries; the dinner is the
most noticeable difference. 1t lasts
barely three-quarters of an hour; courses
come and go like lightning. and, as at
Napoleons table, a man VINO gives too
much time to talking may find himself
extremely hungry when 1t is over One
of the gerat entertainments is the time
honored ball at the end of the carnival,
where as many as twelve hundred guests
have been invited. The waltz is the
principal dance, and the minuet was
lately introduced. The emperor and en-
press just join in one quadril1, but the
bali Is for them more of a big recep-
ton; they make their rounds of the
guests in the white HalP'-before dane
ing begins