.

At last points of light begin to flash by like meteors in the night.
They become more and more numerous, and finally come whole rows and
clusters of electric lamps and lighted windows. We are passing through
the suburbs of a huge city, one of the largest in the world and the
third largest in Europe--Berlin.

BERLIN

If we spread out on the table a map of Europe on which all the railways
are indicated by black lines, the map will look like a net with
irregular meshes. At all the knots are towns, large centres of
population which are in constant communication with one another by means
of the railways. If we fix our eyes on North Germany, we see what looks
like an enormous spider's web, and in the middle of it sits a huge
spider. That spider is called Berlin. For as a spider catches its prey
in an ingeniously spun net, so Berlin by its railways draws to itself
life and movement not only from Germany but from all Europe--nay, from
the whole world.

If we could fly some hundreds of miles straight up into the air and had
such sharp eyes that we could perceive all the coasts and boundaries of
Europe, and plainly distinguish the fine lines of the railways, we
should also see small, dark, short forms running backwards and forwards
along them. We should see, as it were, a teeming ant-hill, and after
every ant we should see a small puff of smoke. In Scandinavia and
Russia the bustle would seem less lively, but in the centre of Europe
the ants would scurry about with terrible activity.

Whether it was winter or summer, day or night, the bustle would never
grow less. From our elevated point of view we should see innumerable
trains flying in the night like glow-worms in every direction.
Ceaselessly they rush between cities and states, between the sea-coast
and the inland districts, and to and from the heart of Europe. For
during the last twenty years Berlin has become the heart of Europe.
London is situated on an island, and Paris is too near the margin of the
Continent. But in Berlin several of the greatest railway routes meet,
and whether the traveller goes from Paris to St. Petersburg, from
Stockholm to Rome, or from Hamburg to Vienna, he has always to pass
through Berlin.

In the city which is "the heart of Europe" we must expect to find the
main thoroughfares crowded with foot-passengers of all nationalities,
and vehicles of every conceivable kind--motor cars, electric trams,
horse omnibuses, vans, cabs, carts, and