The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-01-07
German Village Life.

cheap in any one of the taverns which
usually line the main street of German
village. They are easily recognized by
the sign of stag. a lion, a star, q sun,
or tree, cut in metal or wood. and sus-
pended in the street. Latterly, however,
the custom has come into vogue Of print
ing the name Of the tavern on the house,
so that the guests are no longer in dan.
ger of mistaking. lion for an OK, or OF
imagining they are in the tavern "Zur
Linde" when they are in the Sun. "
The room you receive is clean and COM
Portable. but if you 90 TO bed with tie
intention of sleeping late you will GER
tainly find yourself. det eived. After
three o'clock in the NOR ling the streets
begin to get noisy in a decidedly un-
pleasant manner. In larger cities coach
men and OK drivers are forbidden to
crack their whips without occasion, and
it seems rs if in the villages they wished
to make up for lost times. Drivers OF
all sorts vie with each other to see who
can crack oftenest in half q minute
and while sor,e apcear to Initiate the
rifles en- a battlefield, set off by the oc.
casional boom of q cannon, Others, moro
peacefully inclined, show their skill in
cracking littl" tunes-that is, the
rhythm of them-in manner which
under other circumstances would be
WORTHY of all admiration. Under such
regime you will be apt for the time to
become convert to tho theory of early
rising, and to while away the first hours
of the morning you may put your head
out of the window and observe what is
going on ut the fountain across the
street, whittier the water is conveyed
from neighboring hill. Here the ser-
want girls bring tIcir salads and their
potatoes TO be washed for dinner, and to
carry back - bucket or little tub of
wafer for home consumption. This is
always carried on the head, balanced
with great skill, and it is most amusing
to observe two or three of these women
gossipping for five minutes and longer,
without ever thinking OF meanwhile
taking the heavy load off their heads.
Some of these girls are rather handsome
for girls of their class, not so plump as
the Bavarian or so angular and plain as
the North German women. In fact,
next to the Rhine provinces, believe
the finest looking girls in the empire are
to be seen in and about Stuttgart-the
reference being here chiefly to the better
classes of society. A peculiar element
Of beauty here which has often struck
my attention is that so many of the Ia
dies, be they blondes or brunettes, have
very long and dark eyelashes. a custom
which is worthy of imitation by the sex
in general. In brightness and vivacity
the Saubian girl is something deficient,
and her chief mental chara steristic, rs
of the men, is still her Gemuthlichkeit,
a word which has no English equiva-
lent, but may be described as mixture
of genuine kind-heartedness, naivete
and a certain amount Of greenness or
optimism based on want Of experience.
But if the Saubian girl seldom reads the
newspapers and takes more time to attain
her social qualities, she is more indus
trious than her transatlantic cousins.
Indeed have often wondered what be-
comes of all the stockings and other
things they are always busy on, day and
night, while the men. less industriously
inclined, devote the afternoon and even
ing to old woman's gossip in the tavern
over half a dozen glasses of beer or wine.
The common notion that wife and chill
dren usually accompany the husband to
the tavern is incorrect. This happens
on Sundays or on festive occasions, but
generally the men 60 alone and return
late in the evening. not infrequently in
m exhilarated condition. That such q
practice, the temperance and economical
aspects aside, cannot have g pleasant
effect on home life is evident. True, in
South Germany more weight seems to be
attached to near and remote relation
ships than anywhere else m the world,
but of genuine, sympathetic family life
believe there is more in an American
than in q German village, in spite of all
Gemuthlichkeit of the latter.-New York
Nation.