Colonel House was invited to attend the Kaiser's luncheon on that occasion, and was informed that, after this function was over, he would have an opportunity of having a private conversation with His Majesty.
The affair took place in the palace at Potsdam.

The militarism which Colonel House had felt so oppressively in Berlin society was especially manifest on this occasion.

There were two luncheon parties--that of the Kaiser and his officers and guests in the state dining room, and that of the selected private soldiers outside.

The Kaiser and the Kaiserin spent a few moments with their humbler subjects, drinking beer with them and passing a few comradely remarks; they then proceeded to the large dining hall and took their places with the gorgeously caparisoned and bemedalled chieftains of the German Army.

The whole proceeding has an historic interest, in that it was the last Schrippenfest held.