THE "BULLET" CHAMBER.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1055, 22 April 1882, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE "BULLET" CHAMBER.

In' a quiet nook of the Royal Castle at ■Berlir, not accessible to the general public, there-is a small; plainly-furnished room [known -for; more than two centuries past to jthe successive -custodians of that ancient pile by the quaint designation of the Kugelk-am-mer, or-"Bullet Chamber." >;The origin of this .title isjdue to the following curious historical incident, In the year 1631 Gustavus 'down; before Berlin-with-'his army and opened peace negotiations'with Goorge William, \then-Elector of! ! Brandenburgi -taking the pre'c'autibn;- Ho waver, to erect batteries incommanding positions within close range ofthe city enceinte with a "view'to exercising a wholesome pressure upon the Elector and his military advisers. 1 'Under these ; cireum-etances,'-George William promptly 1 came to term3-with his royal- adversary; and the King, delighted at tho success of this manosuvro, instructed his -artillerists beyond the walls to fire a-grahd feu-de-joie in l honor of i the treaty concluded' between himself ■ and the Elector. ''His ■ orders were at ''druse obeyed, ; when, to' the < consternation' of' the Berlinese, astormof missiles burst upon their house 'roofs/ : The gallant Swedes had forgotten to draw the' balls from their cannon, ' Four of these ponderous shot penetrated the walla l of the Royal Castle, and were sub-sequently-dug out'from their lodgments in different-portions of : the building, to be collooted, and ever after carefully preserved in the chamber wliiohj'to this day, is named: after them, ; ' l; '- ' :