New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1883-12-05
Life in Germany.

One misses ice water and our vari-
GUS cooling appliances very much; it is
possible, with good deal of trouble,
to get glass of water with few pieces
of dirty ice IN it, but it always seems
to excite so much surprise, alarm and
horror in the spectators that one has
to seek out secluded corner of tho
restaurant 20 drink it. do not know
which they regard as the worst, drink
ing ice water or eating raw tomatoes.
Now, | am very fond of the latter, and
always eat them when can, but from
seeing a crowd around my part of the
room every day begin to have some
suspicion that the proprietor uses me
as an advertisement, and that crowds
come daily to see the great American
tomato eater. Ice water especially
seems to be regarded as deadly poi
son, the cause of all the dyspepsia in
America.
1t is a fact that we do have more dys-
pepsia than the people here; but
think it is due rather to the quantity of
food we take than to the nature of it.
For many reasons the quantity taken
here is limited, the chief one being that
everything is SO badly prepared that no
man living could eat what we would
call respectable meal; then also the
habit of paying separately for every
individual thing one eats, even to the
bread. is not conducive to a large ap-
petite.
The ordinary midday meal here for
the better classes is about as follows:
First, a soup which has whole legion
of names, which are given to it accord
ing as to whether it contains sausage,
potatoes, liver, or some other abomina-
ton, the body always remaining beef
soup. This soup is, on the whole, not
very bad, Next comes the inevitable
''Rindf1eisch," the boiled meat from
which the soup has been made, a dark,
dry looking substance, easily chewed,
but, as all the salts hav gone over to
the soup, having absolutely no taste;
it is easily digested, and, though not
palatable, is perhaps as nourishing as
any other meat. Next comes the
''Braten,' and glow of satisfaction
comes over the face of the diner, for he
has eaten his 'Rindfeisch" to live and
now lives to eat his ''Braten." This
consists of baked, or more generally
fried, veal or pork, and is served swim
ming in gravy and onions. A salad,
made either of lettuce or cucumbers,
which have been soaked in salt water
several days to take all the collie out of
them, is generally eaten with this.
After this comes the dessert, or s'Mehl-
spaise, which may consist of anything
in the world, providing we exclude ali
that is good. With this dinner quart
of beer or a pint of wine is generally
drunk.
You see by this that the most fertile
source of dyspepsia, overlooking the
stomach, is practically excluded. Pos
sibly another thing which helps to keep
the eater braced up is that he eats
everything with his knife, and in this
way must take a not inconsiderable
amount of iron into his system. True,
dyspepsia is very uncomfortable and
uninteresting disease, but, even if I
were obliged to get dyspepsia from our
manner of life, l do not know but that
it is to be preferred to the German
dinner. In some of the larger cities,
where higher degree of civilization
has been reached, as in Vienna and
Berlin, one can do better.-Praque
Cor. Medical NeaUs.