On the other hand, as to his faculty for minute observation and
prompt action upon it: a captain of one of the great liners
between Hamburg and New York told me that when his ship was ready
to sail the Emperor came on board, looked it over, and after
approving various arrangements said dryly, "Captain, I should
think you were too old a sailor to let people give square corners
to your tables." The captain quietly acted upon this hint; and
when, many months later, the Kaiser revisited the ship, he said,
"Well, captain, I am glad to see that you have rounded the
corners of your tables."

He is certainly a working man. The record of each of his days at
Berlin or Potsdam, as given in the press, shows that every hour,
from dawn to long after dusk, brings its duties--duties demanding
wide observation, close study, concentration of thought, and
decision. Nor is his attention bounded by German interests. He is
a keen student of the world at large. At various interviews there
was ample evidence of his close observation of the present
President of the United States, and of appreciation of his doings
and qualities; so, too, when the struggle for decent government
in New York was going on, he showed an intelligent interest in
Mr. Seth Low; and in various other American matters there was
recognition of the value of any important stroke of good work
done by our countrymen.

As to his view of international questions, two of the
opportunities above referred to especially occur to me here.

The first of these was during the troubles in Crete between the
Greeks and the Turks. As I talked one evening with one of my