The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1873-10-04
OUR VIENNA CORRESPONDENCE
SpITAL AM SEMMERING,
Auuust 1 1874


Groaning, languishing and pcrsplrlng;
They see and sigh they praise, they swear
Their grumblings stir thestngnant air;
Standing before some work ofOrt,
Whose grace might move the stoniest heart
They stand MS rooted to the spot,
And sigh, alt Is so confounded hot!"
But there are places few hours dis
tant from Vienna where, even in the
hottest weather, one can live comfort
ably, and such spot has youl
correspondent sought, wherein to pass
Il few hours of rest and quiet. Tn,
railroad from Vienna to Trieste passes
through mountainous country, and
one portion of it, called the Semmcr.
ing railroad, is carried up the Sem
mering Alps by means of numerous
tunnels and bridges to height OF
about three thousand feet above the
sea, and then avoiding a further ascent
by means of a straight tunnel fifteen
thousand yards in length, begins tho
descent.
We bought tickets to Scmmering,
the highest station on the line and
soon had the pleasure of finding cur
selves surrounded by green fields
which gradually grew into hills, and
these into mountains, among which
we wound, now crossing a magnificent
viaduct nearly thousand feet in
length, now plunging into eternal
night, and laundering along through
the bowels of the earth, and emerging
into daylight, could see, hundreds Of
feet below Us, nestled in Il lovely valley,
the little station at which we had
stopped some time before. This part
of the road, twenty-five miles in
length, cost upwards of seven millions
and a half dollars.
AT Semmering we found the depot
building, and little eating house,
"Only this, and nothing more"
The hotel was Il half mile farther up
the mountain, aud is situated at the
highest inhabited point, though the
mountains around it still tower up
nearly two thousand feet higher, their
sides covered with forests of pine trees
their tops treeless but covered with
grass and clover.
The "ShonncnWiendstieh" mountain
lies just back of the hotel Il climb of II
couple OF hours brings one to the
top, where one has an extensive view,
especially in the direction Of Styria or
Steiermarii as it is called. Our present
home is in farm house in valley
about three thousand feet above the
sea level and about two hours walk
from the station of Semmering. The
farmers here, rs throughout large
portion Of Styria, own their farms aud
are therefore quite Independent. They
are quiet, Industrious folk, with good
common sense though lacking educa-
ton. They seem also to have better
appreciation of the meaning of The
word honesty than we have found
among the people In Austria.
Their soil is light, and the principal
crop is hay, but oats, wheat and rye
are also raised. The mountains are
full of ore of the best quality, and are
covered with heavy growth OF pine
and other soft woods, from which to
make the coal for smelling purposes.
About half mile distant from here
is q large smolting furnace, which gives
employment to seventy men, and turns
out, every twenty-four hours, five tons
of the best of iron, and this it has done
for the last two years without cessa-
ton; and tho little mountain stream
let which furnishes this furnace power
continues to gid mankind by turning
the busy mill wheel or driving the
noisy hammer So, even here the law
Of compensation holds the earth has
too much wealth garnered within these
mountains to be very lavish of other
good gifts, and while the sturdy peas
ants have enough to eat, to drink, and
to wear, they are contented, having
no daring ambition, no deathless long
ings. They are not
"Forever longing, forever signing,
For the far-oH unaitained and dim"
Their life is too full of ceasclcss activ-
ity for that. The principal article of
diet is ''black bread" made Of rye, and
TO those unused to it very unpalatable,
being not only hard but sour. Baking
day comes not oftener than once q
month, and the solid dark brown
loavcs, looking as if made of pig Iron,
are in few days LEFT In baskets, each
loaf having It's own basket. They are
then piled up in some convenient place,
on a shelf or on the floor, as the case
may he.
Fresh meat is a rarity. Their meat
is cured by first lying in salt several
days, and then drying. From this
they make soup occasionally, but their
every day soups are made of boiling
water favored with sour milk, thick
ened q little with nour, and then
poured over black bread; OF lard is
heated, then thickened with flour and
allowed to become brown, when boiling
water is poured upon it, acquiring thus
both color and flavor. Among the
poorest, this is the nearest approach
they have tomeat. Coffee is nowadays
quite generally used, and thin, sour
wine or beer is to be found among the
wealthier farmers.
They are not great eaters, but eat a
little all the time; a small piece OF
black bread and a half glass of wine
diluted with water; now another piece
of bread and some coffee. AT the table
one dish serves for all, though each
one has his individual spoon and knife.
1t is seldom they all sit down ct once;
there will always De some one around
ct work. Among the good Catholics a
prayer is repeated in unison at the
Il