New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-04-02


home. never mi nd on how grand scale things are.
And so in Austria all noble young ladies learn these
| things in another kitchen than their own.
1t may happen that never afterward are they
obliged to make practical use OF the kn0wleug99
thus gained but 1t is nevertheless invaluable ana
| housewife there cannot expect the respect OF her
servants if she is incompetent to judge of the man
| ner in which they perform every duty NY own
observation does not lead me TO think that AUS Aus,
| tran and German ladies in the cities suHer very
much less from i'll health than do American a1les'
who have this unhappy reputation OF being invaHs,
| Those who are strong and well perform remarkaple
feats of redestranism; hut one hears something
| about headache" ana being tired Ill almost
every draw ing room, even as at home. ,r,o
| The Austrian woman does not dawdle, as uocs
| the American too often. She is brought up from
! childhood TO be busy. and she has happy faculty
of converting every task into pleasure 40 not
like to think of the women of the laDorlng classes
bronZed and brawny, working in the streets ana on
! the roofs In way can associate them win ihe
! grand DANES of the salon, though both are caneu
tcOmen.
The ncedlework of the vienncse is something Won
derful They make whole carpets by piecins TO-
gether squares of Berlin stitch, and so deity
piece curtains ont of colored bits of silk that they
| are easily mistaken for stained glass windows.
Such curtain copied by fair Viennese from one
| of the windows Of Cologne Cathedral was seen by
the Emperor as he rode through the street at night
He stopped his carriage with an exclamation OF de
light at the beauty revealed by the light that shone
behind the silk picture, and Oh the next night asked
to be driven past the window again. He was sur
priscd 10 hear that it not of glass, and not an
antique but made by the fingers Of one OF his fem-
nine subjects He sent messenger to buy the
beautiful curtain for the palace, but the loyal lady
in graceful note presented it to her sovereign, and
it now hangs in his apartment.
In her sparkling sketch of lIomburg Mrs. Pitman
gives with entire franknesS her impressions OF Ger
man manners:
As at all German watering-places. the life is ont
of doors. Families select spot in the park. place
their bonnets and hats on the grass and are speedily
at home" They read. knit. smoke, drink ana eat
at intervals rs it pcases them; and II pe&Scs inc III
to eat and drink very often. II the music IS good
| IL does not suit them they also let 1t he known
| They comment freely on passcrs-by; ana the men
! know no reason why they should not stare at a
! woman. especially if she be a foreigner while she
remains within the range of their vision. They
! consider ii complimentary. .
The German standard of good manners is entirely
unlike ours. l do not want TO say anything to ave
! offence. and am free to admit that we Americans
must often shock, and indeed 10 often shock, Euro
! peans since our customs permit us to do many
! things ut which they stand aghas:. have great
! love for the Germans whose hospitality has made
my visits so delightful. There Is a great zeal IN
| their character | admire TcveTcntly. Onder the
plaincst exterior have often found refinement
that charming, and n degree OF sentiment that
rare. They are great-he?rted ana generous.
and usually frank. sometimes lngenuousY 50. let
they are full of inconsistencies "White lies" to
speak very mildly, they certainly cannot believe ~
bottom of my heart that they are not. 10 tell
fasehool without evil intent is no SIN.
According TO their etiquette il is cmlnently proper
to nut the elbows on the table. rise and reach rs
far as the arms will permit though a servant stands
by in gorgeous livery eat with knife ana pick the
teeth at table or anywhere else without any pre-
tcnce of dsgusuS the necessity, II 1t be one. ms
last they Will argue is quite the proper thing: and
So II is in Germany, where custom makes 1t 50 as
is also the Tnsing of the mouth at din
ner which, however is simply disgusting all the
same. At the most elegant dinner-paItles IN
Vienna found always the wooden or gun tooih-
pick laid at each Plate, and it was freely used he
tween the courses The manners OF the lower classes
who 90 about their land are better not recalled
by travellers who wish only to remember pleasant
things.
To eat seems to be the chief end of man. and
woman too, in GeTmany,-to eat and smoke, and
eat and knit One never ceases to wond that such
music and such poetry come from such Il nation of
eaters, drinkers and smokers
It is the universal belief on the Continent that
all Americans are wealthy l am not surprised at
this; since many seem to be peopie Of leisure,
and travel so extensively. /" | suppose. said little
German baroness to me one day, that you are rGy
rich like all your people. Would you mind telling
me lust how much money you have got p The in
qnistiveness of the German Is sometimes very
amusing and often trying. In polite society II is
ingly on the ears and steamboats, The most minute
questions were put to me by strangers, as to my
home and my worldly goods till III despair manu-
featured such stories as startled them INTO silence.
For the same reason that knew my countrymen
mile Oft | suppose the natives always knew me to
lie American and they all have the liveliest in
Ii never ceased to be surprising to hear the inno-
cent abuse of each other III which German ladies'
INDUCED. | say innocent, because IT seemed to
make no impression on ANYBODY. so you have
dined with the Baroness X. today And was she
pair ted red and whiteY and did she fight with the
poor old baron while you were there = asked
Frau \. Neither lady had i seen or heard OF TIL
that day the Baroness i. had said. And 80 you
drive with Frau ~ to-day She is hateful thing.
vi Re q
night a blonde little bride, with a face like an
angel. said to me- 4ch how hate both of those
very conceited?' And the next day someone was
sure to insinuate that the little bride nothing
but chatter-boX. and would without doubt lead |
her Mann "a dreadful lie
There is little love lost between the Prussian and
Austrian women, who are in appearance and in |
thought entirely unlike. The first Mrs. Pitman de- |
clares, have more heart, the others tact aud
taste. The Prussian woman grows stout very early |
and does not like it because the Austrian remains |
slender and preserves her remarkable figure into old
age. The graceful Austrian sneeringly calls tie |
Prussan " fat" and the Prussan retorts that the
Austrian woman "laces" and their strong antipathy
seems to grow ont of this difference in physique.
The ignorance and bad manners of some of our |
ntrypeople abroad struck the traveller as forc
bly, did the unpleasant peculiarites of the Ger
mans, and she expresses fervd wish that Congress
would pass law prohibiting certain class of peo-
pie from going to Europe. One anecdote she relates
concerns lady from Western city, who at the |
home of Walter Scott was suddenly struck with a |
brilliant idea which she let loose after this manner |
her flashing diamonds emphasizing her speech: |
" Why Scotland must have been named for Waiter |
Scott mustn't it. though really never thought of |
it re-" And again, another in the travel
lers hearing. at the Armenian monastery al Venice |
where Byron res,ed and wrote ChIlde Harold, re- |
marked with charming nGirete " Dear ne! I'd quite |
forgotten Byron monk! How stupid in HE :" |
Once in Rome the author sitting at table dhOte |
at the Costanzi when an American woman, longing !