Morning journal and courier., 1884-10-04
AROUND THE WORLD.

I
 day of the Emperor-An Interesting
 CelebratfOn-ssLotsss of Fun-Amer1-
 can Enterprfse-An IIlumtnatfOn- l On for Lfnz-UP the Beautiful Mud
 dy Danube-Linz-To SaIzburg.
 1 SALzBURG, Austria, Sept. 1.
 l To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 The eighteenth day of August was the if l ty-fourth birthday of His Majesty Franz l Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, King of Hun gary, Bohemia, etc. In view of this fact I 1 modified my plans and remained in Vienna 1 longer than I had originally intended, think ing thus to add to my round the world ex- l perience a royal pageant in Austria I was
 disappointed in my expectations, but per
 haps some of the other things which I did l see are worthy of mention.
 The first exercise of the day was military
 review held in Schmeltplatz at five o'clock in
 the morning. I do not think I am sacrificing
 my reputation indefatigab1e tourist
 when say that I did not get out to witness that demonstration. Had the Emperor been there I should certainly have been on hand. But he was off at Ischl or Bruek on the 1 Leitha, or some other place in the empire l dodging about hither and thither without 1 giving any notice of his intentions in advance "a proceeding which feel justified in con
 struing as personal affront. His Majesty is l an early riser, and it is said that very ire 1 quently when he is here he conducts the re- views at five o'clock a. The Crown ] Prince Rudolph was at Bruck, where he was ! the recipient of quite an ovation at the hands 1 of some of the local societies He was 1 obliged to appear on the balcony of his lodg- I mg-place in answer to the applause, and | thereupon committed himself to the follow ! ing rash speech: 'I thank you very many times. The vereins have done themselves l proud. thank you again-its all so very ! nice" l am not on intimate terms with the l Crown Prince, and perhaps there is better material than this in him waiting for some 1 supreme exigency to develop it. It may at l least be said that the speech was exhaus- tive one-as regards the speaker if not the l subject under consideration. Yet you can not shake the implicit confidence of these people in the inspiration of their royalty.
 At eleven o'clock I swarmed over to St. Stephens, where there was to be high mass l in honor of the anniversary. Several battal- ions of infantry were drawn up about the three entrances, and extended in double rows down the cathedral. The customary sights were to be witnessed about the great church.
 gorgeously-robed priests going through their endless religious gymnastics, scores of peo- pie lowing and mumbling before images un- til the candle at their side which they had purchased should burn out, small boys swinging censers, novices arranging the pIll- pit furniture, etc. There were also signs that some event out of the usual routine was at hand. The pews were covered with red cloths; thousand candles and gas jets were burning, despite the fact that it was broad daylight. The full cathedral chime was sending abroad it's call to prayer. The veri- ous ministers of State, military officers and municipal dignitaries were alighting from their splendid carriages and marching up to the chancel, arrayed in all the panoply of their respective offices. Some wore high hats with great white plumes. Others had black plumes, still others green. Many were at tired according to the English fashions of the Elizabethan age with knee brooches, i'm maculate stockings and powdered hair. Some had boots that reached up almost to their arm-pits. Some had dress coats loaded with gilt braid. One fuEctionary, equipped with a fur trimmed silk cloak would have made an excellent Richard III if he had only re- moved eight or ten of the excessive badges which decorated him and adopted halting gait. The services were of the characteristic Catholic order. The great organ was not used, but another of respectable tone and | power nearer the chancel did service, assisted 1 by full orchestra which was provided with l a gallery fitted up, for all the world, just \ like an orchestra-p place in theatre. A choir !
 
 army of magnifcently dressed priests and novices furnished the oratory and chanting.
 The chief exercise of the day was a Kai- serfest in the Prater. This Kaiserfest used to be great celebration, but latterly it has been ruined by rain two or three times, so that the popular enthusiasm over it has mod erated. This year the fest planned and ! carried out a rather moderate scale by the proprietors of restaurants and places of amusement in the Prater. Each man clipped in few horins to advertise the affair and pay for decorations. The Prater is public park of over four thousand acres, formerly royal hunting lodge which is shaped like a fan, with three avenues radiating from the place where the handle should be to serve as fan-ribs. It was in this great enclosure that the Universal exhibition of 1873 took place, and the Rotunda is still standing. The right hand section of this fan park is reserved for the wealthy and those whose tastes are some what elevated. The lower parts of the other two sections fitted up with reference to the less educated tastes of the great mass of Austrian humanity.
 To the Prater I wended my way at three o'clock, the hour announced for the begin ming of the Fest The main avenues, lined with quadruple rows of noble chestnuts, were gay with thousands of Chinese lanterns, which were to be lit in the evening. A great multitude of people, filling all the spacious walks, and even the streets also, focked to-
  Here were panoramas, little theaters. aquari- ums, circuses, wax figure exhibits and vari- ous side shows of greater or less importance. The prices of admission were suspiciously low, usually ten kreuzers five cents), and frequently only half that sum- There were gigantic swings that would fairly take your breath away when you looked at the other people manipulating them. There were huge teeters adapted to tickle the fancy of the youngsters. A species of windmill worked by hand, with attached to the paddles, which would retain upright position all the time, was very popular So also was circle of balloons, into which you climbed by stairs in order to enjoy the elevated mo- tion Devices for making you as dizzy as possible, especially by means of motion
 that was more properly celestial than terres-
 trial, seemed to be the great desideratum.
 The merry o-rounds were a great feature.
 There were score of different kinds, inclu- ding ordinary horses and carriages, swans,
 s1eighs, street-cars, fully equipped railroad trains with outside projecting wheels which actually did run a stationary rail- and steamboats. The steamboats were so bal anced on pivot as to produce in addition to the circular motion a rocking motion akin to that experienced by real ship at sea; so that the rider enjoyed the exhilarating sensation of seasickness on land if they stayed in long enough. noticed. some of these steamers bearing such goodly names as Philadelphia, New York and America. Everybody seemed bewitched to ride in these merry -go-rounds, even adults. I saw plenty of women sitting astride of mock roosters or swans, enjoying an artificial canter; while many young rus tic and his best girl beamed at each other in supreme joy as they mutually held on to their seats in tempest-tossed ship, his arm having unconsciously passed in the general vicinity of her waist while searching for something to grip. Though there were scores of these merry go-rounds, all more or less elaborate, there actually did not seem to be enough to meet the demand.
 The crowd surged hither and thither; now stopping to survey a specially artistic display of decorations; now stopping to gaze at some harlequin who sought to inveigle them into his little show. Many were eager to test their lifting abilities on the machines provi- ded for that purpose, while more sought to display their skill in the shooting galleries These galleries were only second to the mer ry-go-rounds in popular favor The targets were forest of images constructed automat ical1y, so that successful shot set certain machinery in operation. You could help a dog to catch rabbit, man to beat drum, dentist to pull tooth, 8 boy to play nine pins, a soldier to blow horn, or bell-ring- ar to tinkle miniature cathedral chime. In