telegrams are sent to the railway authorities concerned, and immediately a thorough inspection of the line the Emperor is about to travel over is ordered.  Tunnels, bridges, points, railway crossings, are all subjected to examination, and spare engines kept in immediate readiness in case of a breakdown occurring to the imperial train.  The police of the various towns through which the monarch is to pass are also communicated with and their help requisitioned in taking precautions for his safety.  Like any private person, the Emperor pays his own fares, which are reckoned at the rate of an average of fifteen shillings to one pound sterling a mile.  A recent journey to Switzerland cost him in fares L200.  Of late years he has saved money in this respect by the more frequent use of the royal motor-cars.  The royal train is put together by selecting those required from fifteen carriages which are always ready for an imperial journey.  If the journey is short, a saloon carriage and refreshment car are deemed sufficient; in case of a long journey the train consists of a buffer carriage in addition, with two saloon cars for the suite and two wagons for the luggage.  The train is always accompanied by a high official of the railway, who, with mechanics and spare guard, is in direct telephonic communication with the engine-driver and guard.  The carriages are coloured alike, ivory-white above the window-line and lacquered blue below.

All the carriages, with the exception of the saloon dining-car, are of the corridor type.  A table runs down the centre of the dining-car; the Emperor takes his seat in the centre, while the rest of the suite and guests take their places at random, save that the elder travellers are supposed to seat themselves about the Emperor.  If the Emperor has guests with him they naturally have seats beside or in the near neighbourhood of their host.  Breakfast is taken about half-past eight, lunch at one, and dinner at seven or eight.  The Emperor is always talkative at table, and often draws into conversation the remoter members of the company, occasionally calling to them by their nickname or a pet name.  He sits for an hour or two after dinner, with a glass of beer and a huge box of cigars before him, discussing the incidents of the journey or recalling his experiences at various periods of his reign.

The Emperor’s disposition of the year remains much what it was at the beginning of the reign.  The chief changes in it are the omission of a yachting visit to Cowes, which he made annually from 1889 to 1895, and, since 1908, the habit of making an annual summer stay at his Corfu castle, “Achilleion,” instead of touring in the Mediterranean and visiting Italian cities.  January is spent in Berlin in connexion with the New Year festivities, ambassadorial and other Court receptions, drawing-rooms, and balls, and the celebration of his birthday on the 27th.  The Berlin season extends into the middle of February, so that part of that month also is spent in Berlin.