Berlin has been the scene of a prodigious hoax. According
to the general instructions of the German Army, private soldiers when not under the command of officers of their own regiment must instantly place themselves at the disposal of any officer who happens to requisition their services. Relying on this order, a clever swindler, arrayed in the uniform of a Captain of the 1st Foot Guards, took command of a dozen soldiers whom he met in the streets on Tuesday afternoon, proceeded by train to Xdpenick, an industrial suburb of Berlin, arrested the Burgomaster and treasurer "by order of his Majesty," and having seized the cash-box containing 2200, despatched his prisoners to Berlin under military escort, and then levanted with his spoils. The details of the hoax, as given by the Times correspondent, are extremely ludicrous; but the whole episode, though it has come as a welcome relief to Berlin after the disquietude inspired by the Hohenlohe Memoirs, is not without its significance as a satire upon militarism.
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