Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-06-30
LETTER FROM AUSTRIA.
INTERESTING CORRESPONDENCE
FROM A SACRAMENTAN.
Trade and Protection
Question.

Special Correspondence of the REcoRD-U UNION. !
VIENNA, May Is, 1888.
There is a marked transition noticeable
even to the casual observer, in entering
Austria from Italy via Venice. Pontaba is
the frontier town of Italy and it differs
little from other Italian towns On the
Austrian side of the boundary line is the
town of Pontafiel, and though only short
walk from Pontaba, it in no way bears any
resemblance to it. The houses are differ
ent, the signs are different, the language is
different, and the dress, habits and customs
are different, and as soon as the train leaves
Pontafel for Steirmark the most noticeable
difference of all will be oberved. The
mountains which in Italy are generally
barren are here covered almost to their
summit with thick growth of timber.
The scenery between Pontaffel and Vienna
may be ranked as among the finest in
Europe.
THE CITY OF VIENNA.
Vienna's boast is, "Sgibt nur Elm Kaiser
Stadt; S'gbt nur Elm Wien" and for aught
! know the boast NAV be in order. The
city presents the most orderly array of
handsomely built houses to be found in
Europe. If there is any defect noticeable
at all it is in the monotony that even fine
buildings will produce if uniformity in
style and color is insisted upon One
street Is generally a sample of many, and a
stranger is apt to believe that he must be
near his hotel when in fact he may be sew
eral miles away from it. So uniformly
smooth and even do the buildings appear
that one is apt to believe that they were
constructed and designed by the same
architect The outside finish and material
would, at first glance, appear to be of a
yellowIsh limestone, or brownish sand
stone but on a closer analysis it will be
ascertained that the supposed blocks of
hewn stone the columns, bas reliefs and
statues are made of a mixture Of sand,
lime, cement, glue and other ingredients.
Attempts have been made to introduce
this method of building into the Eastern
cities of the United States, notably New
York. After a short but disastrous trial,
however, it was abandoned because it was
found that this composition was far from
being durable in the moist atmosphere of
the East. | am of the opinion, however,
that for California it would be found to be
excellent, rs our climate is even drier than
that of Vienna.
Any Of our enterprising architects or
contractors may obtain a workman skilled
in the art of its preparation and applica-
ton at salary of about 81 so day. The
American Consul here would no doubt Sc
lect Il worthy and competent man on APP
plication.
Vienna, although as large as New York,
presents the appearance of holiday town.
Music and soldiers are almost everywhere
to be seen and heard. The heavy-laden
trucks that are to be seen almost choking
Broadway and the many arteries of the
thoroughfares of New York are here con-
spicuous by their absence, carriages rattle
over the well-paved street in innumerable
numbers at almost all hours of the day or
night, and a steady stream of people APP
pear to fill the numerous cafe" at all
seasonable and unreasonable hours.
The "Prater" is a resort for the Niennese
and the stranger. In the afternoon throngs
of people come TO the "Prater," and at
the main entrance the crowd breaks up
into two divisions, one going to the "peo-
pies" avenue, and the other to the no
tAAALJ dNNuAlC. 4llG DtODlG dNCuut
contains a series of dime museums, Punch
and Judy shows, cheap restaurants, and
beer stands The mobility" avenue is
and observation-disclosures The chief attrac-
tons, however, are the three places of re-
sort known as "Cafe Haus No. l." No. .
and No 3. At these resorts may be seen
thousands Of people seated around small
tables, on which may generally been seen Il
half dozen, more or less, of beer glasses,
containing the principal beverage of the
Nicnnese, viz: Vienna beer. There are
almost constantly to be seen around these
tables hawkers and vendors of brown
bread, cheese, and sausages, and they APP
pear to he well patronized, although not
near as well as the beer Kelner."
Each Of these cafe" houses furnish first
class music by military bands, and the
people appear to appreciate it. No one
seems TO g1e in 4 hurry, and the chief aim
Is 20 get q good seat in one of the three
fayorite cafe houses. Almost everyone
YOU meet and see is dressed neatly, and
almost the entire population have an air
Of holiday style about them to be met
with nowhere in Spain or Italy or even the
United States. You wonder where all
these holiday people get their living from
and after trying hard to solve this prob
lem you give it up" have several times
asked the guide to show me tie poorer
portion of the town, expecting, when
there, to see somewhat of the "Barbary
Coast" of San Francisco the Five Points
of New York, Seven Dials' of London,
or the "Pazas del Peopolo" of Italy, but
could find no such places here. Poor
quarters there were, but all looked clean
and respectable.
Occasionally phase of humanity could
he discerned, that indicated only too
plainly, however, that behind this seeming
Arcadia Of placidity and abundance there
Is Ahard, cruel and stern reality among
the people whose misfortune it is to be IN
need of bread, and whose only means fer
satisfying that need is by daily labor. In
feature they resemble more the carved
wooden faces of some clumsy wood-worker
than they do the noblest work of God"
There is scarce a ray of intelligence in
their stolid, stupid look, and it seems to
me that it would take generations of recla-
nation work before these people could be
brought up to thinking point" The
women who Garry the hod," the women
and men who are employed in the fields,
the day laborers, The factory hands-what
of them? What? The Indians scalp
their enemies; but the enemies of these
people-what have they done? They
have tapped their heads and extracted
their brains; and these poor folk go
around, "having eyes, see not )" having
ears, they hear not" Who are their enc
mics? Who, indeed Soldiers to the
right of you, soldiers to the left of you.
Soldiers are the omnipresen. grasshoppers
that devour the brains and scar the souls
of the poor. Whosoever has Emperor,
nobleman and soldier, must be satisfied to
be robbed and abused. 1t costs money to
support these luxuries, and Emperors are
not bashful.
What a howl there is raised among our
citizens at Sacramento if there is an issue
before them of raise of an extra quarter
cent for school, levee or street improvement
purposes. Our interpreter Ia well-informed
Austrian) told me that in Vienna real
estate is taxed 40 per cent. of its real
value Forty per cent" | repeated.
You must mean 4 per cent" NO" he
reulied. | mean what | said-40 per