The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1873-06-28
OUR VIENNA CORRESPONDENTS.
VIENNA, Austria, May 12, 1873.

10 inc EultOr OF Inc DulluS lteralu:
> The Welt Ausstelling is now formal
ly opened and visitors are admitted
but departments are by no means il
readiness, and month of hard labo
will scarcely bring everything to com
pletion. The American department a
, yet makes no display, and is in fact, il
quite chaotic condition, owing partl,
to the displacement of the men whit
had any knowledge of what ought t.
be done, and the installment of thos,
PERFECTLY ignorant, not only Of wha
what ought to be done, but of wha
had already been done. TO be sur<
they are doing their best and eventual
ly order will arise from chaos, but the
whole affair is, to say the least, nfortu
nate for us. The Swiss and English
are perhaps in advance of all other ma.
tions and arc proving themselves to be
practical people, and also by no means
devoid of artistic ability.
The Swiss division is respondent in
silks and ribbons, and the Swiss EN-
broideries and musins ore here dis
played in costly profusion. Curtains
adorn the walls so exquisite in design,
so fairy like in fabric as to remind us
of the delicate creations of Jack Frost's
magic touch upon our window panes,
and yet they are the work of human
fingers which have the
delicacy of lace and are nearly as cost
ly. Basel displays gorgeous case of
ribbons, some covered with heavy en-
broidery, Others bearing woven por-
traits of royal personages. A hand
kerchief with the Votive church en-
broidered upon it, the gothic arches
and spires accurately copied, is marked
20 guldens, i. e., SO, And another, at
the same price, has upon it the Belve-
dere or royal picture gallery.
Switzerland also sends pianos, shoes,
clocks, stoves and fabrics for every day
wear, and of course large display Of
watches of all sizes, from the tiny one,
the size Of q ten cent piece, up to the
largest stem-winding hunting case.
The machinery by which. watches are
made is also displayed. One firm sends
some beautiful etching on gold.
A watch with portrait engraved on
the case, and the photograph from
which it was made lies beside 1t so that
the beholdcr may Judge of the accu-
racy of the copy. In the court belong
ing to the Swiss transcript is erected
Il Swiss chalet, and within it are dis
played some of the wonderful wood
carvings for which Switzerland is
famous, A fan is here seen carved
in wood so delicately that it rivals
the wonderful ivory fans displayed by
Berlin. One is almost afraid that look
ing at it will break it.
Music boxes are innumerable, and
most of them bear the form of Swiss
chalet, With clock in the gable. They
usually represent an ideal chalet, new,
clean and artistic, but ono artist has
adhered strictly to nature. His chalet
is one that really exists, such one as
you may see In any Alpine pass. The
stones lay thick upon the roof to keep
the wind from blowing it away; the
| little balconies are half blown down;
the windows are half broken and
patched; some feather beds and pill
lows hung over pole, are receiving
their morning airing; a heap of knotty
wood lies under one flight of stairs,
and two roosters are fighting on the
riolety fence OF course, a fabulous
| sum is demanded for this work of art,
which is perhaps three feet wide by
two feet in height.
Paper cutters made of wood with
carved handles, and carved picture
frames are so plentiful as to attract
little attention, more interesting are
the figures of animals, lambs with the
wool as "natural as lifc," deers, dogs,
birds with every feather perfect, and
work-boxes so bewitching as to compel
the most idle woman to feel an impulse
towards industry. Leaving these beauti-
full creations we ascended to the upper
story of this same building where we
found all the apparatus for teaching
which are used in the Swiss schools.
AS many of these are similar to what /
have already described in the Austrian
exhibition of the same character will
not recapitulate.
The policeman in charge of the build
ing, although an Austrian, found in
the Swiss schools some things which
he thought better than the Austrian.
This was especially in the department
for girls. He opened large album in
which were displayed the work of girls
in the schools, stockings, caps, shirts,
with patterns for cutting out under
clothing, all most exquisitely made.
Crocheted lace as fine and beautiful al
most as thread lace, baby clothes,
crocheted caps and shirts, embroideries,
and the most interesting, and / am in
clined to think, the most artistic of all
patching and darning in all varieties,
so beautifully done that it was truly or
namental.
"This," said the policeman, "iswhat
we do not have in Austria, and il is
what women need to know. We have
a few schools which some benevolent
individuals have endowd for the pur-
pose of teaching such work, and then
there are the cloisters. But what sort
of an education do girls get in the nun
neries? When they come out they are
so glad to be free that they won't do
anything but seek amusement, and If
they have learned anything they won't
make any use of it.n "Yes," said an
other Austrian, who stood by, "the
cloisters are only pretenses of schools !;