The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-04-07
OUR FOREIGN LETTER.
A Tour Through Germany.
Especial correspondence of the PRESS
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| ing gave us Zest for fresh exploits, and we
were prepared to see primeval forests, In
whose depths wild beasts, and no less fierce
brigands were wont to crouch from Gods
sunlight and the sight of man. We took the
advice of our landlord to drive to Titisee,
which would take us through the best sec
ton of the 'Schwartzwald, but long be-
| fore we reached our destination we conclud-
ed the fairest translation of "Schwartzwald'
into simple English would be humbug, and
| when we reached home we should write a
| book warning our friends what not to see
when their turn comes to visit Europe The
views along the road are exceedingly tame
well enough for an afternoon drive at home
| to exercise ones horses, but not worth TAX
| ing day out of foreign travels. The only
excitement we had was the flight of poor
| little fox from the bad aim of hunter, the
wounding of an innocent lamb by our coach-
man. and the cruelty of the driver OF the
flock, who beat it terribly to make it walk
| with broken leg The last of the ride was
through glens covered with dark spruce trees,
where the government is laying out most
expensive railroad and highway. The fire.
| quent tunnels and bridges are built OF hne
red granite. which abounds in this region
| II seemed such a waste to fill up the ravines
| with material, which would cmbellish any
city. Our driver, quick-witted German,
| who could command buta half dozen English
words, made the children to understand by
gestures and grimaceS, that they would soou
reach Himmelreichen and then be hurled
/ into Hohenthal Fortunately he could not
understand their desperate talk about keep
ing him in Hohenthal as a just punishment
| for his reckless driving over the pet lamb
| We looked with much curiosity to see some
strange natural phenomena, which had sug-
| gested the names; but we found Himmel-
reichen was bit of country Lit up by the
sunshine, for we could see nothing extraord-
| mary, and Hnhenthal a mountain gap where
narrow pass and tall trees gave lonely
aspect We should have counted our day
worse than lost had it not introduced us to
| some new phases of life.
This region has been one of the very poor
est in Germany until recently the forests
have been cleared and a new highway opened
for commerce, which will develop the re-
sources of the country, and widen the oppor-
| tunities of the people, In the rude homes on
| tuCSt ulllolucS In6 COtIdScIS CdifG III lUuS
winter evenings the Noahs arks and little
villages, the play things of thousands of
| American children. AS we drove along we
| passed as often as each half mile, shrines
and crosses representing mostly the suffer
ings of the Saviour in all shapes of deformi-
| ty and repulsive attitudes. The purpose of
these is to keep their religion constantly be-
| fore the minds of the people and in the dark
ened spiritual condition Of these poor wretch
! es this may be the only glimpse of a spirit
ual being they can receive; but it appears to
US to utterly fail, as we have yet to see one
| native manifest the slightest emotion or pay
one sign of reverence A little boy was so
shocked by these revolving images of the Sa-
| yiour that he exclaimed with a good deal of
| fire. Il hate these things. 1 wish l could be
Cromwell and tear them all down."
As one might expect woman is most de-
graded here. She takes hold of the hardest
end in everything. At the roadside some
were digging bitches and others breaking up
rocks for macadamized roads, and piling them
up to be measured by the overseers, who pay
them by the cubic foot less than a mark per
day. On one farm the women were standing
| in the barnyard pitching manure, and near
| by was family group ploughing with ten
| yoke of CATTLE One woman guided the lead
ers by the horns, and another sister of toll
held the plough, while mein herr walked
| lesurely along in the path pricking the rear
oxen with his goad Wethought to what un-
homelike homes they must return at night,
| if, as most likely, the little ones had been
| left all day with older children. These moth
ers, with hands stiff with hard labor, heavy
| hearts and sour tempers, must tend the ba-
bies, prepare the evening meal, do the mend
ing and begin again long before daylight to
tidy up the cabins Little joy in such a
home. Perchance only the spinsters work
| out of doors; if so, whata direful calamity to
| be German old maid.
| TITIsEE.
We remembered the old adage, 'When you
must you had BETTER" and had resolved
when in Rome to do as the Romans do; so
| had made breakfast ON bread and honey
| which by this time worked as well as good
| dose of bitters to raise an appetite. We found
at Titisee the most woe-begone looking ho-
| tel, but hoped at least to get a plain, sub
| stantial dinner, and when we were presented
with an elaborate bill of fare we felt very
much like dear little American girl we met
in Paris, who having been terribly bored by
the tedious table d'hote dinners, said de-
spairingly, when she saw Leonardo da Vinci's
Last Supper at the Louvre, "Oh, mamma,
another table d'hote" One gets thorough
ly disguised with it. The moment you enter
hotel somebody accosts you, 'Will you
take table d'hote?" AS you leave the break
fac oc1yo holt fip,ac
before you start for morning walk if the
steward shall count on your party for table
d'hote. A new conner wonders why he can
not do as he likes, but soon finds it is the one
desideratum of all the proprietors, and the
acme of life's ambition, to which all the tai
ent and eXertion of the establishment is de-
voted but little experience convinced us
that unless one ordered liquors freely, and
enjoyed the long drawn agony of table d'hote
they were considered very plain and print
tive people. Drinking pays better than eat
ing, and temperance people get little atten-
ton, and are reckoned improbable guests
in European hotels. The Germans ought to
prepare viandS fit for angels, to mitigate the
distaste one feels in reading the gross
and crude names on their bills Of fare. Who
likes to think he is eating calves flesh and
swines flesh, hasSen braten, a vile coneoc-
ton of hare's flesh, and schinken, which is
nothing but cold raw bacon, and then add to
these for dessert curds SO sour they make you
crawl, or cheese which will crawl from your
plate. We passed immense canvas-covered
wagons, fitted with simple housekeeping ap-
pliances. We could see in the depths of
these whole families, whom we took for emf
grants going to the sea; but the next day at
Freibourg we understood the purpose of
these journeys. For this delay at which we
fretted we found compensation the next
morning in the novel sights of great Ger
man market day. We CHANGED to mix in the
thickest crowd of peasants, gathered in the
market place directly under the caves of the
cathedral. The square was lined with out
landish vehicles, and the arcades and shady
hooks filed with baby carriages, for the ba-
bies go to market in swaddling bands The
people for miles around come hitler ON great
days, put up booths and stalls, drop in at the
cathedral to dip their fingers in holy water,
kneel a moment if very devout, make sign
of the cross. and go forth forgiven, and