The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1874-03-21
EnaEIAN CORRESPONDENCE


jhflstmaa aud New Yenr's holidays, !
Jut they do not, ~ With ~, begin WIN
christmas aud end with New Year
bat they begin on the 9Th Of December
md continue, with of course some IN
ierriptions by working days, until
after Easter. This lntcrrupting of sc-
rlous pursuits by the lnterjcctlOn Of 50
many holidays Il very annoying TO lr-
religious and Industrious people, but !
notice that lazy folks here are very apt
to be exceedingly pious, and scrupu-
lousy observe every day OF rest-cX-
cept Sunday.
As the government Is Catholic, so
all public institutions, schools, hos
pitals and the university must also be
govern. ed by Catholic observances, and
all church and state festivals re-
garded. The professors and many
of the students find this not ut
all Objectionable, but there Is no
small amount of grumbling |
among these reckless iconoclasts, the
Americans, who are here for purposes
of study, and who, having noreverence
for Saint Stephen or the holy Barbara,
would gladly work on the days which
belong especially to these sacred per-
sonages, and which therefore ought to
be sacredly dedicated to beer drinking
and theater-going.
The Jews, too, who have few holt
days of their own, have reasons to COM
plain on account of interruption of
business; but they generally keep their
stores open ut least a part of the day,
and take their revenge in obliging
good christians to keep "Open shop Oh
Sunday or lose the Sunday trade,
which is by no means inconsiderable.
Old residents say that they can remem-
Der when the Sabbath was strictly OBJ
served here in Vienna, but since the
Jews have become so numerous and
powerful, the religious observance
of the Sabbath has declined,
and as result neithter Jews nor
Catholics observe, only partially, a
seventh day of rest, each sect thinking
that they can pray in their shops or on
the corners of the streets as well as in
the temple of the Most High.
December sixth is st. Nicholas day,
and is the patron saint of the children.
With us Santa Claus comes on Christ
mas to pay his respects to his little
friends, but here he has special day
for himself. In preparation for his
coming the market places are fitted UP
with booths. each one of which, has its
complement of childrens' toys, and OH
the sixth each child expects to receive
gift. ......
Many ofthe toys for this day are made
of black fur and resemble an infer.
nal individual with enormous ears and
a brilliant red tongue. These images
-. lao; ryl,t frnr CT inahn, IN fvT
feet. Another figure is that of an old
man in the dress of bishop holding a
book in one hand and staff
In the other. A long white patriarch.
al beard descends upon his breast, and
bishops mitre crowns his head. In
all cases the face is of wax, and the
hair and beard are usually of white
cotton. The dress varies in material
and in elegance, but it is generally
very ingeniously made of different col
ored paper.
After st. Nicholas day is past the
markets and booths take on an APP
pearance of even great gaiety and bril-
liancy. The objects displayed are
mostly gifts for children, though there
are many things suited for older peo-
pie. All of the open squares or mar
kets are full of life and business, but
the principal Christmas market is held
in the large square called Gam Hof.
Along one side of this square extends
the Civic arsenal erected by Jo-
seph III. and Maria Theresa, and
which contains sixteen thousand
weapons, flags of different nationaltties
and the skull of the Grand Viziel
Kara Mustapha, together with the
silken cord with which he was stran-
gled OH his return from the siege OF
Vienna. The building is grand in size
and palatial in appearance, and is
guarded by a body of soldiers and 8
number of cannon. In the center OF
Am Hof is O fountain surmounted by
two bronze figures representing fidelity
and agriculture. .
This square is about eight hundred
feet long and half as wide, and the
buildings around it are all fine, some
of them even grand.
Around tue center fountains and GOV.
ering at least two-thirds of the square
are the booths, arranged in rows so as
to form passage ways between, and
outside of the booths are displayed
the Christmas trees. A more lively
and brilliant scene can scarcely
be imagined than this market during
the days Immediately preceding
Christmas. The streets which border
the square are flied with an endless
train of carriages, wagons, omnibus,
each carrying its freight of merry peo-
pie, on bearing to their destination gifts
3 that have been purchased. Crossing
the street and entering the market we
see upon the outer edge number OF
market women seated on the ground
with their wares arranged in a large
shallow basket before them. These are
the itinerant dealers, who cannot af-
ford booth, but must carry their
wares home with them every night.
The contents of the baskets are of a
heterogeneous cliaracter-combs,b brush
es and hand mirrors lie side by side
with brass clippers, shining tin flour
dredgers; rosaries and bead bracelets
and caressing cakes of perfumed soap
and bottles of hair oil lie in dangerous
proximity to daintily embroidered
neckties. Some of these "squatters, !"
rs they might aptly be called, make a
specially of shoes, made of felt or rags
woven together in basketwork. The
soles are of leather or of coarse felt
half an inch thick. The shoes are
clumsy and inelegant in appearance,
but they are cheap-costing seventy
five cents for the cheapest-and are eX-
ceedingly comfortable. The hat dealers
throughout the city display very stylish
slippers and shoes of the same mate
rial, more extravagant in price and
not SO comfortable. A very gorgeous
border to the market Is made by the
brilliantly trimmed Christmas trees,
which form quite q forest as gay in
coloring as our own autumnal
woods. Long streamers of varied
colored paper, chains, and loops
and banners, blue, yellow, red,
are flying in the breeze, pendant from
every of the tall, symmetrical ever
green trees, which are almost hidden
under the redundancy of trimming.
Beautiful, bright-eyed children, gaily
dressed, fit like birds from tree to
tree, and the bird-like voices fill the
air with most musical chattering.