The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-03-26
Viennese Manners.

Few things are more preposterous than
the vanity which prompts certain persons to re-
cord for the edincation of mankind. the i'm
pressions gained from jaunt of a few weeks
or a few months through the highways of
Europe. Sucn performances recall the assur-
ance and complacency with which sharp-wit-
ted but uneducated men attack in print some
knotty historical scientific problem. Not
only must a traveller possess the faculty OF
observation but his object Of study must lie
quite outside the beaten track, and be alto
gether hidden from the ordinary tourist. II his
recolections are to offer well-informed persons
anything novel. interesting. or instructive II
the little volume entitled European Breezes.
by MARIE J. PITMAN lee q Shepard) has
arrested our attention. IL is precisely be-
cause II differs from the ruck Of tourists jot-
tings by the fact that the author saw and de-
scrbes phases Of society with which Americans
are seldom brought in contact. She went
abroad it seems. with German lady Of good
birth and station. and thus had an opportunity
of studying the manners and modes of life Of
the aristocratc class, not only in Prussia and
the Rhine land but in the focus of German re-
fnement and luxury. Vienna In word. the
writer has something new to tell us, in so far as
her little book portrays the Austrian ladies'.
who are generally acknowledged to be the most
accomplished and fascinating in Europe it WIS
well worth publishing Before reproducing,
however. her impressions on this subject, We
ought. perhaps. to caution the reader that
what she says Of Austria is by no means appli-
cable TO northern or western Germany. and
that. as regards Vienna itself. her remarks ap-
ply to the nobility and not at all to the bour-
Geoisie. The wives and daughters Of bankers,
lawyers, merchants, and brokers in the Aus
ri al ma mi hn unys nd me-
tons as have the American ladies who are most
conspicuous in New York society. They dress
too much, or, rather. they dress at the wrong
times their education is SNOWY and superb
cial: they think it beneath them to make their
own gowns or cook a dinner, and they evince
delight in luxury which suggests that II has for
them the charm Of novelty. They and their
American counterparts present in these re-
spects a contrast to those liege women Of the
CAESARS whose ancestors had for centuries the
right of entrse at tho court Of the Holy Roman
Empire
The Vienna aristocracy. We arc told remain
ont Of town until Christmas. ENJOYING the coun-
try thoroughly and somewhat alter the Eng
fish fashion Hunting is a tavoritc amusement.
The season" in town insts from the middle Of
December till the first Of June and May is. Of
all months. tho one in which 10 visit Vienna.
Tho Prater. the beautiful ldrivc and park is
then n brilliant scene. and it is there and then
that even the casual tourist may src the hand
some Austrian women to perfection. They are
famous for their slender. willowy figures
though it is by no means the figure If the
Venus do Milo or OF the CapitOline
Venus. since with broad shoulders they
have long, slim waists. somewhat Of
the hour-glass type; but they are very
graceful. The author tells us that. with no
reason for feeling understood at homo, she felt
positively diminutive in IA Vienna drawing
room, where all the women We're half n head
taller than she. and had hands and feet pro-
portionntely large. but both beautifully shaped
II appears that the shopkeepers in Vienna
will sell you No. and 5x gloves much under
price. as there is so little demand for them
Great pains are taken with the physical train
ing OF an Austrian sentlewoman. One that
docs not know how to ride horse well is an
exception, and their pedestrian accomplish
ments put 10 shame the efforts in the same
direction which our Boston young women. in
their exemplary zeal to reproduce English
ways, have made during the present genera
ton. We should further note that well born
women in Vienna deem it well nigh ms shock
ing not to know how to swim rs not to know
how to read, and they almost invariably drive
in the morning to a bath in II river. whore the
water in a tank is carefully filtered. and there
for an hour, they swim. Our author acknowl-
edges that the Austrian lady. even Of the no.
bility, eats with her knife. but she does it very
deNtcrously and daintily. There is no greater
violation of table etiquette in Vienna than
to turn the sharp sido Of the knife
to the tongue She rnses her mouth
after dinner in rose water, which is
in glass placed in her finger bowl. The men
and women adjourn together to the library or
drawing room, where they Take each thmbe-
iull OF chartreuse and II tiny cup Of coffee and
the ladies light the cigars for the gentlemen
Our traveller tells us that nothing is more
absurd than the notion, given currency by
Americans whose acquaintance with the
feminine half OF the German race has been