Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-11-13
GLIMPSES OF GERMANY--XII.
BY CHARLES PALMER EMERSON.


sy.sss'S''Ss.sssSssss's'~''i''s'. -
Fifteen minutes before eight one
morning in October, our train pulled
out of the BahnhOf at Hanover and
started on a run through the rain for
Berlin. The train was called a
"SchnelIZug." because it went fast,
and the dOrf mentioned in letter nine
was passed while We were watching
another passenger. and / did not sue
coed in identifying it, The passenger
referred to is one of those individuals
who contribute so much to the joys and
regrets of acknowledgements, because
they are such jolly good travelling
companions; regret. because when we
separate that is the last of them so far
as our life is concerned. We fell to
talking about American and German
railroa1-trains. AMI spoke particularly
of the locomotives we passed, which
We're much larger than these We no.
tlced on the way from Brenlerhaven to
Bremen Herr y. said that these
heavy locomotives are on all Schnell-
zurge. Presently he began arguing
to show that under corresponding con-
hltltiS NftI iii'ii ''ili ''ti sI'SC' 10 al
least fully equal 70 that on American
railroads.
GLOW far is it from Hanover to Rer-
linz"
"Two hundred and nfty-fve kilo-
meters"
THAT is one hundred and ffty-eight
miles. and more. We shall arrive just
after tWelve-four hours and a third
That makes thirty-siX and a half miles
an hour. There are plenty of trains in
America that run faster than that"
eyes, but this is up grade, and there
are stops"
'Tt is little up grade here, but you
can't find a much more ideal country
for long continued speed than the
stretch between Hanover and Berlin
1t is as level as our western plains. Al
home we figure our speed from start to
finish, allowing the stops to have what
effect they may upon the average
From my home in Augusta to Boston is
enc hundred and seventy-one miles.
On June morning last year I left on
a belatcd train at about three o'clock
and reached Boston just ahead of
schedule time-seven twenty. That is
about the amount of time we are using
this morning from Hanover to Berlin
thirteen miles further"
"Our trains could run as fast as
yours" replied Herr X. "if they would
run them So. But they have some re-
gard to safety. 1t is dangerous to
maintain such a rate
Eyes" 1 admitted. "On the trip
mentioned. fellow passenger told me
that the same train jumped the rails
one morning the week before down in
New Hampshire: and when his car
stopped one of the porters kept right
on through the window
Zach, vaS!"
Then Herr Y. commenced talking
with lady about literature and the
charms of Fritz Reuters plattdeutsch.
Plattdtutsch-i is still too deep water for
serving the landscape. The fields
were planted in rows ut so nearly per-
feet 4 right angle with the track that
as we whizZed by, optical illusion
caused the long lines of green to as
sumo the appearance of a great revolv-
ing half-wheel or whirling fan. City
Germans often speak with contempt of
the stretch of country seen from the
railroad between Hanover and Berlin
They find it bleak, monotonOuS and UNI
interesting. Had I lad with me a
state of Maine farmer. however. who
appreciated the dignity of his calling
T., ct; To
am sure he would have been filled with
admiration at the appearance of the
soil. the crops, and the orderly ar
engagements of things. Especially
from the window of an express car one
can well obtain a comprehensive view
and realization OF the beautiful system
here visible. Where the land is low
long. long burrows for drainage divide
the meadows into great squares perfect
as if drawn by a draughtsman's square
Fruit and shade-tree- bOrderAl land.
strass5n diversity the landscape with
long lines of greenery. cOnverging here
and there at the red-and-green dOerfel
which are visible in the distance or
every hand.
AS we neared Berlin. Herr X. arose
and stood beside me ut the dOOr-win.
dow. He spoke of some peculiarities
in the English and German languages
Among the chief difficulties for the
American student of German. I tolt
him. was arbitrary gender of nouns
with which articles, etc, must in every
case agree. 1--WE do not have that il
English,' I added, in a tone which HI
instantly interpreted as an indication
OF pride in the grammatical simplicity
of our mother-tongue. Quick as ;
flash he replied: "Nein; aber dafue
naben Sic cine game Mengc andcr,
Ilncrar .lio mir L, icht Iiah sirai AZ