They are simply
strategical arteries kept up by the state for military purposes. The
heads of the transportation and railway corps in Berlin sit before the
huge glass-covered tables where the whole of the German railway system
to its minutest detail is shown in relief, and they by pressing
various single buttons can conduct an endless chain of trains to any
given point of the Empire.
To show the accurate workings of this system I shall relate an
incident. During the Kaiser maneuvers in West Prussia a few years ago
I happened to be at headquarters in Berlin delivering some plans and
records of the English Midland Railway system when a General Staff
Officer entered the signal hall and made inquiries as to the
whereabouts of a certain train having a regiment on board destined to
a certain part of the maneuver field. One of the operators through
the simple manipulation of some ivory keys in the short space of two
and a half minutes (as I was keenly interested, I timed it) could show
the exact spot of the train between two stations, the train being over
310 miles distant from Berlin.
As every class A1 vessel in the merchant marine of Germany, especially
the passenger boats of the big steamship lines, can be pressed into
government service, so can all motor vehicles, taxis, and trucks owned
either privately or by corporations be called upon if considered
necessary.
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