The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1874-03-20

Hauenleu, walters are moro numerous au(
accomplished, there is a better supply O
| newspapers there is no CAST thinner, ant
the prices are somewhat higher. But tn
cafes are the most comfortable places o
resort in Vienna. Their arrangement j
much the same as that of the restaurants
but the only eatables they keep on hant
are bread and cold cuts. Black coffee, tina
is strong coffee without cream, is their sta
pie, though the various kinds of schnapps
brandy, gin and even whiskey are usual.
to be had. Supplied with card and bill
lard tables, they are the great gathering
places of the gentlmen of the place, ano
although they are very numerous they arr
nearly always full. can not understand
how SO many peple can find time to LOAF
in cafes as they do here. Of course il
is no more than natural that the officers
should pass much oftheir time in this way
for they have nothing else to do in these
peaceful times, But leaving them out Of
the question there are hundreds of Others
who seem to have no other business on
hand. The cafe is an excellent place to
spend an odd half hour or SO. Usually
quiet and orderly, and profusely supplied
with newspapers in all languages, with a
good cigar to smoke and a cup Of choco.
late or coffee to sip, one can ne as cosy ana
comfortable as if he were at nome IN his
own Lriyate room. Though cafes and res
taurants are very much lrequehted ny ladies,
| you see nowhere the obnoxlous mo omok-
ing" which is so common at nome. In
fact the Vienna ladies seem TO nave taken
rather kindly to this wea kness OF the strong
er sex, and they sit with nerfect comfort
amid clouds of the fragrant fumes. Every
| body smokes here; it is almost as hard to
find one who drinks no beer, as one Whe
does not smoke.
The religion here is universally, Roman
Catholic, though in reality, as far as my
observation goes, it is about null. They
celebrate all the church feast days with
stye, ring many bells, and every one takes
holiday; but the priests are the principal
participants in the religions feelings OF the
occasion and the people lay themselves out
to have as good time as possible. sunday
is not treated as holy day, but as holi-
day. 1t is the best day in the week for the
restaurants cafes, theatres and ball rooms.
| Every one puts on his best clothes and con-
siders himself morally bound to have as
good time as he can. The women, as
| seems to be the case in most all other civil
lized and enlightened countries, do the
church going and praying for all the rest.
Vienna is great place for the drinking
| o. schnapps, in which class belong all the
stronger and more fiery alcoholics, such as
brandy Of the common kinds, gin, rum and
| various other compounds. And among
the votariss of this class of potables there
| are none more devoted than the ubiquitous
hickman. The reputation of this individ-
ual is by no means an enviable one any
| where, but those the Vienna variety are
supposed to exceed all Others in some
points. He will make greenhorn pay
double or triple fare of course-any civili-
| zed hackman would do that he will of
course lie, as a natural consequence, and
swear to it with all the oaths known to
the German language. But his most char
acteristic trait is the avidity with which
he Furnishes schnapps. In the immediate
neighborhood of every hack stand are one
or two gin mills, and the noble drivers,
while waiting for fare, collect in tie bar
rooms and fill themselves with the ardent
but is always in condition to drive his team.
He usually sleeps in a stable, when he
sleeps at ALL and his mode of life in gener-
al has such an effect on his physical appear
ance that some of our acute professors of
diseases of the skin can diagnose his pro-
fesson as soon as they lay eyes on him.
lie has, however, one redeeming trait.
When you engage him to take you any
where, he does it, and that in the shortest
possible time. The horses do not belong
to him, and having no more care for your
neck than for his own, he dashes through
the street at such rate that were he in
Baltimore the police would be down on
him like thousand of brick.
They have about the liveliest funerals in
Vienna, ever saw, and their method has
some good in it, for if it should happen that
their man was not completely dead, they
would certainly raise him before they got
him to his last abode. The amount of style
is naturally regulated by the sum of the
corpse's previous worldly prosperity, but
the principle is the same in all. A bier
borne by men, or hcarse drawn by horses,
according to the wealth of the surviving
relatives, is the means of transportation.
This is preceded by band ofmusic, COM
posed chiefly of brass horns, blown by
tall stout fellows dressed in gay uni
forms. with cooked hats and tall white
plumes. The corpse is escorted by num-
Der of men dressed in the same fashion and
bearing torches or big candles, and follow
ed by the friends on foot or in carriages,
according to circumstances. In this order
they parade through the streets to the
church, making the day bideous with most
lugubrious dirges. The corpse is carried
within to receive the rites of the church.
In the meantime the assistants remaining
1,as, fono ic1x ,y,t 1,
each other, smoke cigar or perhaps step
into aneighboring establishment for glass
of schnapps. AS the body is again brought
out the faces lengthen, they blow doleful
blasts and march slowly along toward the
grave yard. / don't know what kind of
wakes they have, but if they bear any
kind of proportion to the funerals, that OF
the renowned Tim Finnigan could not
hold candle to them.
don Know much about their marriages,
but think they are conducted in much
more orderly way. If several very suspi-
cious looking parties which have seen go
into church looking rather scared, and come
out looking very happy, were, as suppos-
ed, bridal parties, they do their marry ing
in very quiet way. In fact, as far as
have had an opportunity of observing,
think they mako it family matter alto
gether.
Street conveyances in Vienna vary as they
do in other places, and look very much like
those ofsther European cities. In compar-
ing them with those of an American city,
the great difference is the absence of the
two wheeled dray and the stately high
bodied express wagon. But Vienna has
one specially in the conveyance line, which
could, to some extent, be proftably imita
L Ial h,r liz aa Ii hrinus intn LOO ON aniina