, 1877-09-02
EUROPEAN GOSSIP.
Extraordinary Dancing at Tyro-
tese Wedding.
A French Spendthrift Who Spoil
ed the Egyptians.
4 Russian Peasants savings-Bank-The
Funeral Of n. Blanc, Of Monaco
A TYROLESE WEDDING.
tAppittons' Journal for September.

Alr. baltlle GfOl{n2n gives us aQ aCcouuL u
wedding which he attended In Brandenburg.
little Alpine hamlet In the valley OF the sam
name. He had to traverse q narrow bride
path which was covered with snow to the dept
| Of three, aud, in some places, four or five feet
1t was seven hours battle with the snow bt
fore he reached the Inn Of the village, in whic
the weddings are always held. He was move
to overcome these difficulties, because he ha
promised to honor the wedding Of a charming
young peasant girl with special protege Of hi
own. "Countlcss outstretched hands, " he says
ssbrawny and muscular, small and plump, cfeal
anddirty, were Immediately stretched out to gree
me-" 1t was Sunday. and tho eve Of the wed
ding-lay, tho bar.room, or qaststNbe, was tlllct
witt young and old, fair and ugly Brandcuburg
crs. 1t is not usually the custom to dance OF
the eve OF wedding-lay, but at his special re
quest bis old patron, the 81 Herr Vicar" vcr1
soon put the musicians at work. In the dancing
room he was Immediately surrounded by group
of young fellows offering him, as q mark o1
courtesy, their bright-eyed l2sses. Finding q
choice easy, he was soon dancing the pa, sent, =
other couples line the walls and fall in at its
termination In Brandenburs, aud in some
i other valleys, the male dancer encrclcs the
| waist Of his partner with both arms, white she
embraces him with both arms round the neck.
For the first few minutes OF every dance the
motion Of the whole group is slow, and the floor
trcmblcs beneath the iron-shod shoes OF these
immense fellows, Suddenly the music
| c@tangcs, and with it the entire aspect
1i nsnar the room n:ns Ths man. letting 60
capers and jumps; their heavy frames display
| all unlooked-for agility. One Of the common
| est movements is to throw ones self OH one's
| knees, fold both arms over the chest, aud bend
| backward till the back Of the head touches the
floor, IND gives few sounding raps on the hard
boards; then, with one jerk, the man regains
his erect position without touching the door
| with his hands. In another movement the man
! kneels down and with his bare knees beats
| sounding rat-ta-t2-tat Oh the floor. To Jump high
in the air aud come down upon the knees with
| full force is very common. All these capcrs are
| accompanied with loud. shrill whistling aud
| peculiar smacking sounds Of the lips and
| tongue, in imitation of the sounds made by the
black-cock and capercailzie. The sounding
staps on the muscular thighs and on the IRON
shou solcs Of the heary shoes BY their great,
horny hands, the Growing. loud shouts, snatches
OF cong intermingling with shriil whistling and
furious stamping Of the feet with the greatest
possible force upon the floor, produce prodfg-
ious din.
In Brandenburg and one or two other Tyrolese
valleys which have particularly muscular fair
feats. catches him by his braces, and, aided hya
corresponding lerEy action OF the man. hoists
with both hands on her shoulders, treads the
cE4fnE 01 LuE l0N TOOut u LuE IuuSlC, Nlll4C Sut
continues her dance round the floor. The men
are str2pping fellows, and 1t must be muscular
Young women who perform this feat. There
arc sometimes four or five men hoisted at
time, and the singular spectacle adds much to
the striking appearance Of the ballroom. The
girls are fond OF smoking, and are seen treading
the PAGES of the dance With cigar or pipe be-
tween their lips.
The dances are short, and follow each other
closely The intervals between them are filled
t,rff rf,.r1 ehnrf rrCr
OF rhymes, sung by.a1nan expressive OF deEision
or defiance toward some rival. 1t is sung by one
of the dancers standing in front OF the slightly
raised platform upou which the musicians sit;
his sweetheart stands by his side with doWncast
eyes and profuse blushcs on her cheeks. The
object OF this affront will compose his rhvmed
reply with great rapidity. In this way rival
bards will continue to throw contempt On one
girl, if there should be no refrain to her lovers
song, has to stand in silence by his side. Love
is the subject OF most OF these songs 4 girl
changing lovers, or refusing the hand Of an
ardent wooerr,. forms, frequent and welcome
subject for Scjt,,aderhupttl: The songs are gen
orally Of very dubious morality. It is not every ]
young fellow, however, vino has skill enough to
improyisc one OF these compositions. good
many hare to be satisfied with singing one
Of tho usual national lays, aud in this the sweet
heart joins.
4 RUSSIAN PEASANTS SAYINGS
BANK. ]
In one of the small provincial towns OF |
Southern Russia savings-bank. has recently |
been established, the second clerk Of which, |
while lounging at his desk on & fiat day u in
summer, was startled be the entrance OF a I
hcavy-looking sant,-slouching, gritny, un-
very last man one would expect to
see in bank, except for the purpose Of rob-
bing 1t. The apparition came tfmidlv tip to the
and tine following dialogue ensued:
"Wcll, my good fellow, what may you want
here pray!"
"Ifit please you, father, want you to take
charge Of some money for me. Our folks say
that may be robbed of 1t, and that it will be
safer with you.'
money. eh' Why, how much money have
you rot thcn' Four roublcs1 Flve1 Ten:'
mo. it must b. more than that, fancy Ny |
wife and couldn't manage to count it all,
though we've bccn at it all morning."
So saying the gentleman in sheepskin pro-
luced tattercd, filthy leather bag, aud poured
out before the clerks astonished eyes perfect |
'ouble to fifty. The amazed clerk hastily sum- |
noncd his two colleagues, anu the three. after
, lone spell OF counting, satisfied themselves
hat the t. total Ian amount was not less than A),oO0
eoub!es (Sl5,0OO} The peasant, WHO had stood
Watching the operation with look OF childish /
curiosity, pockctc.l his receipt and walked off rs
DOLLY as il nothing had happened; but tile next
morning he rearncaret, anu again addressed
himself to the same clerk:
"GWi fc with you, father. Do you take care |
# gold: too, as well rs bank-hils!''
What, guild? Why, you'd better start a I
'ank yourself! How much gold have you got,
Il fleaGeB's uanct''
"tTwo boxes lull.''
at this point the banker himself, who had
ocen listening to tic conversation with the |
seepcst an't'se'lcnt, came forward and an
lounted ms mfcntion OF accompanying his
tFansc customer home, and takitI. charge OF |
lie I0lu himself The uIlw:lshc,i tlpifaIist inv