At his side is his porcelain tobacco jar, two feet tall, and on the stand are innumerable pipes, which in turn are filled and smoked, all day long. He holds a sort of tobacco parliament every day. Visitors must smoke a pipe or cigars, drink wine, meet the dogs, and hear the old man inveigh against these degenerate times. ¶ Those big Ulmar dogs are always around him. At meal times, no matter how fashionable the company, Bismarck pauses at the end of the dinner to throw "Sultana" or "Cyrus" a biscuit! Sometimes he wears his Cuirassier's uniform, this broad-shouldered giant with the thick neck and the grizzled mustache; his eyes glower under his thick white brows, and in the depths of his faded blue eyes is the old look of determination. The old man's face is ashen grey, but he still has the stamp of immense dignity, a colossal personality, unquestionably representing the first public man of his time. Folks bow to him, and he is master to the end; men are his servants, not his companions. ¶ He is always very deliberate; he has a peculiar way of stopping in the middle of a sentence to seek out in a moment of silence the exact word he needs. ¶ In the morning, he usually takes a stroll with his big dogs. It was a shock when "Old William" died, and the Emperor then gave Bismarck "Cyrus"; the Prince also had "Rebecca" and "Sultana." The Ulmar dogs, following the old giant, resemble tigers in their powerful slouching gait. At night they sleep in his bedroom. 69 Bismarck refuses to pass under the yoke--the octogenarian's last struggle of ambition. ¶ He has his superstitions to the end; about the number 13, about the number 7; and he believes that the moon has power to make human hair grow. "It is best," he says, "not to make scoff of such matters." ¶ Sometimes he goes over his orders of honor, forty-eight in all, and of great distinction; also, his learned degrees. University of Halle made him Doctor of Philosophy; Erlangen, Doctor of Law; Tuebingen, Doctor of Political Science; Giessen, Doctor of Theology, and Jena, Six-fold Doctor, that is to say Doctor of Medicine; and Goettingen, Doctor of Law. * * * * * ¶ They bring him a joint of wild boar, shot in Varzin forest, and he has a feast. His fondness for game he never gives up. Also, to the last he has his champagne. After the Franco-Prussian war Bismarck refused to drink German champagne, and told the Emperor, quite plainly, "Your Majesty, my patriotism stops with my stomach; I simply must stick to French champagnes." ¶ He tells how he used to drink Affenthaler and Merkgraefler, years before at Frankfort; these were first-rate, at one florin a bottle, or wholesale, the old man explains; by the 100 liters, only 14 kreutzers (8 cents) a bottle.