Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-03
GIANTS OF GERMANY
Receive the Homage of Their
Admirers at a Great Ban
quet in Berlin.
MARK TWAIN ASSISTED.
Pen Pictures of the Medieval Co.'S
tunes of Corps Students.
STIRRING TRIBUTE TO MOMMSEN.
The Capital Is the Chicago Of the Land
Across tie Ocean.
MARK TWAIN ASSISTED,
STIRRING TRIBUTE TO MOMMSEN.
The Capital Is the Chicago Of the Land
Across tie Ocean.
CRANKY STREET NUMBERING AND CARS
WRITTEN FOR THE prsPArcH.l

WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPArcH.I
1 feel lost in Berlin. 1t mas no resem
blance to the city L supposed it was Their
was once Berlin which 1 would hav,
known from descriptions in books-the Ber
lin of the last century and the beginning o.
the present one; dingy city in a marsh
with rough streets, muddy and lantern
lighted, dividing straight rows of ugly
houses all alike, compacted into blocks as
square and plain and uniform and monoto
nous and serious as SO many dry good.
boxes
But that Berlin has disappeared 1t seem!
to have disappeared totally and left no sign.
The bulk of Berlin of to-day has about it nc
suggestion of former period. The site il
stands on has traditions and a history, but
the city itself has no traditions and no his.
tory. 1t is a new city-the newest have
ever seen. Chicago would seem venerable
beside it, for there are many old-looking
districts in Chicago, but not many in Berlin.
The main mass OF the city looks as if it had
been built last week, the rest of it has a
just perceptibly graver tone, and looks as if
it might be six or even eight months old.
The City of Wide Streets.
The next feature that strikes one is the
spacicusness, the roominess of the city.
There is no other city in any country whose
streets are so generally wide. Berlin is not
merely a city OF wide streets, it is the city
of wide streets As a wide-street city 1t
has never had its equal in any age of the
world. "Unter den Linden" is three
streets in one; the Potsdamerstrasse is
lo-l -
are themselves wider than some of the his
toric thoroughfares of the old European
capitals: there seem to be no lanes or alleys.
there are no short cuts; here and there,
where several important streets empty into
common center, that center's circumfer-
ence is Of magnitude calculated to bring
that word spaciousless into your mind
again. The park in the middle of the city
is so huge that it calls up that expression
once more.
The rext feature that strikes one is the
straightness OF the streets. The short ones
haven't so much as a waver in them: the
long ones stretch out to prodigious distances
and then tilt little to the right or left,
then stretch out on another immense reach
as straight as a ray of light. A result of
this arrangement is that at night Berlin is
an inspiring sight to see. Gas and the cleo
trio light are employed with a wastetul
lberality, and so, wherever one goes, he
has always
Double Ranks of Brilliant Lights
stretching far down into the night on every
hand, with here and there a wide and splen-
did constellation of them spread out over an
intervening 'platz," and between the inter-
minable double procession of street lamps
one has the swarming and darting cab lamps,
a lively and pretty addition to the fine
spectacle, for they counterfeit the rush and
confusion and sparkle of an invasion of fire.
flies. There is one other noticeable feature,
the absolutely level surface of the site of
Berlin.
Berlin, TO recapitulate, is newer to the
eve than is any other city, and also blonder
of complexion and tidier; no other city has
such an air OF roominess, freedom from
crowding; no other CITY has SO many straight
streets; and with Chicago it contests the
chrome for fatness of surface and for phe-
non eAal swiitness of growth. Berlin is the
European Chicago. The two cities have
about the same population, say ], 500, 900.
cannot speak in exact terms, because only
know what Chicago's population was week
before last; but at that time it was about
100000 Fifteen years ago Berlin and
Chicago were large cities, of course but
neither of them was the giant it now is
But now the parallels fail Only parts of
Chicago are stately and beautiful, whereas
all Of Berlin is stately and substantial, and
it is not merely in parts but uniformly
beautiful There are buildings in Chicago
that are architecturally finer than any in
Berlin, 1 think, but what 1 have Just said
above is still true.
Healthiest City Next to London.
These two fiat cities would lead the world
for phenomenal good health if London
was out Of the way. As it is, London
leads by point or two. Berlin's death |
rate is only 19 in 1,0O0 Fourteen years ago |
the rate was third higher Berlin is a |
surprise in great many waTs-in a multi |
tude of ways, to speak strongly and be ex-
act. 1t seems to be the most governed city |
in the world, but one must admit that it /
also seems ID be the best governed Method /
and system are observable on every hand
in great things, in little things, in all de-
tails, of whatsoever size, and it is not /
method and system on paper and there an
end-it is method and system in practice.
1t has a rule for everything and puts the
rule in force; puts it in force against the
poor and the powerful alike, without favor
or prejudice. 1t deals with great matters
and minute particulars with equal faithful
ness and with plodding and painstaking
diligence and persistency which compel ad-
miration-and sometimes regret. There are
several taxes, and they are collected quar-
terly. Collected is the word; they are not
merely levied, they are collected-every
time. This makes light taxes. 1t is in
cities and countries where a considerable |
part of the community shirk payment that
taxes have to be lifted to a burdensome rate.
Here the police keep coming, calmly and
patiently, until you pay your tax. They
charge you or 10 cents per visit after the |
first call BY experiment you will find that
they will presently collect that money.
Incomes Based on House Rent
In one respect the 1,5O0, 900 OF Berlin's
population are like a family. The head of |
this large family knows the names of its
several members and where the said men,
bsrs are located, and when and where they
were born, and what they do for a living,
and what their religious brand is. Who
ever comes to Berlin must furnish these
particulars to the police Immediately; more
ever, if he knows how long he is going to
STAY he must say so. If he takes house he
will be taxed on the rent and taxed also on
his income, He will be asked what his in
come is, and so ne NAV save some lies for
home consumption. The police will esti-
mate his income from the house rent he
pays and tax him on that basis.
Duties on imported articles are collected
with infiexible fidelity, be the sum large or
little; but the methods are gentle, prompt
and full of the spirit of accommodation.
The postman attends to the whole matter
for won in cases where the article comes by
mail, and YOU have no trouble and suffer no
The other day friend OF
mine was informed that there was package
i'm the postoffice for him containing a lady's
XII IL With cold CLASH and a rold chain |