Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1870-08-31
Correspondence Delaware. Co) Gazette.
LETTER TO THE YOUNG FOLKS,
From Berlin, Prussia.
RERL1N. July q, 1870.
BY A DELAwARE LADY.


more Jolly sight than the statues OF
the warriors, the palace Of the King,
OF the soldiers. And it Is not unlike
what one sees every day In Delaware.
1t is the-bOys and girls. They trOt
up and down the pavements and gar
dens, and they play and shout like
any other children, but as often as we
have scanned them to find one that
looks lust like an American, or like
any Charlie or Johnny or Mary or
Alice in Delaware, we have feiledi
until last Sunday when we met q lit
tie mischief dancing alongfrom church
in 'front.' of her mother, whom we
kne for an American about as well
as though she had told us so. When
YOU eat an orange you first dispose Of
the rind. We have not been in Ger
mainland long enough TO write q let
ter about the boys and girls as they
are, so we must write one about them
as they seem, and If we could, We
would like to do both before going
down TO such little subjects as the
wild animals in the Geological Gar
den. the handsome streets, and shops,
and dwellings, the King or his family.
For as to the King, he is seyenty-ftye
years old; the story Of his life Is al
most written, and you can read II
whenever you please; but IL one could
get at the life all these little boys and
girls are leading, we could guess at
what not only the future kings would
be, but what their objects will be, and
these last make the real grandeur Of
the nation. So you see that to write
about what the German boys and girls
wear, is to write about the very small
est thing that concerns them. Indeed
it is so small that I want to get it Off
my hands as soon as possible.
Some people say that all fashions
begin in Berlin-nOt in Paris. One
would think so for there are 80 many
Of them. At home you know, there
is a sort of style for children OF GER
tain age, and you can guess at the age
Of a strange playmate by the cut Of
their clothes. Well, it is not so here.
Little boys Of ten years often dress
like their grandfathers little girls OF
six have their dresses made plain
waisted and buttOned up before like
that coat of father Grimes. And the
worst Of it is, that thfs is not The style,
but only one of the styles. There are
so many Of them, as we said, that one
begins to think it is the fashion for q
person to be as different as he can from
every other person. And perhaps this
is the case. Our iandladJ has q son
thirteen years old who wears long
tailed linen coats, standing collars and
a black stock. He Is a very gentle
manly boy too. His name Is Paul
pronounced POWL-like on in house.
His Younger brother is named August.
He is four years old. he eats at q lit
tie table by himself, and is served
with q napkin like any other man.
But he grfns at us over the table like
any other little boy. On Sunday,
when August was dressed for prone
made. he wore spotted chintK or cOlieO
pants which reached nearly to his ank-
les. and a calico sack which looked
pretty much as if somebody had just
laid the cloth on the floor and cut out
a half circle with hole in eaeh size
for the arms. It was short sleeVedY
and when August went out, lhave no
doubt he cut fashionable figure. A
few days ago we saw boy about ten
years old with q coat on when also
resembled father Grimes, for Il was
very long. If am not mistaken 1t
nearly touched his heels, and he Was
Bell-dressed boy too. To make up for
this waste of cloth, Others wear very
long stockings with very short, mar
row pants which are fastened togeth-
er dbOUe the knee Then one sees lit
tie boys in dresses, big and little boys
in blouses all sorts of boys in rOunda-
bouts, and in military uniform. The
dresses, blouses and rOundabOuts are
cut almost anyway and hung in like
manner. The blOuses are loose or
confined with a belt or cord the belt
or cord is seldom fastened down. which
gives q Berlin boy an appearance OF
being somewhat short-Wasted. And
if one happens to have q goOd-sized
bow and ends tackled on his back he
looks as if he had on some part Of q
lady's pannier. Only very small boys,
however, are imposed on in this way.
These are all children Of well-tO-dO
trades-people, wealthy merchants and
perhaps, persons of rank. The very
poor are quite another thing. There
are many places Of amusement where
one can see all these classes except the
last. People go to the gardens, to con-
certs or to theprOmenades in famihesi
and they chat together without re-
straint; they hire q few chairs, SIT
down, order and eat their supper
there, as unconscious OF the crowd
around them as il they were in a
bowling wilderness. With any num-
Der Of such groups about one it iseasi-
er to form an idea Of each than 1t
would be in America, for in America
what q man is rated at depends very
much upon himself; in Europe 1t de-
pends rather more upon something
he cannot help, nor his parents be-
fore him. In America he is expected
to become of as much personal eOnse-
quenee as he can. In Europe he is
expected to behave handsomely in the
place where he finds himself. And
so it happens both that lines between
different grades OF society are sharper
drawn here, and that the people on
each side of them are better eOntented
where they are, less anxious to seem
to belong where they are not, than in
America.
These are the reasons why it Is so
easy to judge Of people here, that is
in such outside matters as dress.
There are so many kinds Of uniform
worn here that it is not best to try to
describe the bOy-soldiers until we can
distinguish them better.
The little Berlin girls are still more
un-American than the boys. They are
very fresh and neat, and happy look
ing, however. Perhaps, one reason
why people here are apt to have nice
compilations even when they are old,
is that, to begin with, they have fine,
soft, fair skin that goes with pale,
brown or sandy hair. Such a COM
plexiOn does not easily look aged or
sallow or withered. Many travellers
say the reason why the Germans are
so fresh looking is that they drink
beer. Nearly all the little girls have
a peachy complexion; that is, until
they are half grown. Two out Of three
we meet wear lOw-necked and short
sleeved dresses and If not far from
home, have nothing on their heads
So their necks, arms, and finally their
faces, are very much sunburnt. On
holidays, against a handsome white
dress, tied with blue ribbons, they
make q fearful contrast. But even
then they are sweet looking, because /
they are not heavy-eyed and pale
Then, as said, they are dressed with
extreme neatness. They wear Light
calico or muslin dresses, fine white |
stockings and light cOlored gaiters.-l
It is true their dresses are not stylish /
according to our way Of thinking, but
our way Of thinking is only one way |
YOU know and they have quite IS
good a right to theirs as we % OURS