The age-herald., 1898-09-18

can never tell when the emperor will
 visit the barracks and call the men out. No other ruler in the world is so
 cratic as Emperor William. From the
 day he became the head of united Ger
 many the daily press has chronicled his
 queer doings until now nothing affords
 a surprise. Court gossip is all about
 William and the ridiculous things he
 has done and those which he may at
 tempt. It is never necessary to wait
 long, for, whatever else may be said of
 him. it must be admitted that he is
 man of resources and is never at loss
 for something with which to startle the
 world or amuse diplomatic and court
 circles.
 Of Williams ambitions and peculiari- ties-and he has many of each-the prin-
 cipal one seems to be to deplete the inn
 perial treasury as rapidly as possible.
 This has been one of his marked suc- cesses. and it is well known that he is the most extravagant Hohenzollern that ever sat on the throne. He is fond of display and indulges this trait in no small degree. Anything that will startle i the. people or cause sensation is sure to find favor with him, and this fond ness for pomp and show has many times brought about strained relations between him and the official who has charge of his purse. His purchases or crowns and gold and silver plate reach enormous sums yearly, while the amount expended by him for paintings and statuary in the course of twelve month would be sufficient to run small empire He is a lover of art, and | if is said that the beauty of Berlin, so far as the monuments and >statuary | that adorn the public squares are con- cerned, is in great measure due to him. | If is also said that the collection of fine | paintings in the royal gallery was got together through his efforts. William has himself painted several pictures that have elicited favorable comment from the connoisseurs of Europe. In fact. there is little of the art that beau- tifies the larger cities of Germany In the securing of which he has not been instrumental. Not only has he spent large sums of money on paintings and statuary, but the opera and other forms of amusement have been literally pat | ronized by him. He takes an interest | in them. and 1t is said that when he finds time hanging heavy on his hands land this seldom happens-he spends 1t in getting up new ideas for the play
 house or innovations for the receptions at the palace. In fact, there is little that goes on in the empire that Will liam is not aware of, and usually he is the prime mover in everything, from maneuvering the army and navy to containing a fire company and giving l the members instructions in the best methods of fighting fires.
 He never stops to figure the cost of
 anything he wants to do. He is an ex-
 pensiye traveller and much unlike either
 his grandfather or his father, the late
 Emperor Frederick, in this respect. For
 his special pleasure on one occasion he
 had a train constructed that cost the
 government about $S00,000. When he
 goes to pay visit to one of the other
 crowned heads, he carries scores of serv-
 ants and hundreds of trunks, besides
 other luggage. His presents to foreign
 potentates and the members of their
 courts are usually of the most expensive
 kind, while his household expenses and those for the dinners and receptions
 given at the palace amount during .