Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1893-11-03
DELIGHTFUL VIENNA.
DR.. Porter Writes That He Likes
the Austrian City About as
Well As Par.s 8.
A Visit To the Royal Stables Where
$50 Horses and 500 Car.
riages Are Kept.
The Hotel Rates In Europe and
How the Fee" Business Is
Worked.

The editor of the TRIBUNE has re-
ceived another personal letter from DR..
Porter and parts of it are SO u%npersonal
and interesting as to deserve publica-
ton.
VIENNA, Austria, Oct. 9.-***Am hav-
ing a very nice time in Vienna which is
a very fine city, and comes very near
being up to Paris. Left Dresden on the
9Th inst. arriving here the same day.
Passed through q beautiful country
very highly cultlvated-and followed
the valleys and the winding course of
the river E,be for nearly one half the
distance. Saw more women working in
the fields than men. They were blowing,
digging potatoes and doing every kind of
work. Never saw a COW hitched up to a
pillow or harrow and made to do a horses
work before. \ COW and a women do
not have a fair shake in this country. 1
wish you could see some of the pictures
and other works of art here. Great, l tell
you.
l visited the emperor's stables to-day,
where there.h and fifty
horses and five hundred carriages-all
for the roytr family. Royalty comes
high, but they must have it. This
Ringing is pretty good business after all.
You don't have to set up the wires for
reelection every four years, and then
It's a close corporation; you keep the
thing right in the family all the time.
Must tell yon a little joke on myself.
While in Saxony l went up the river
Elbe on a steamer one day, to visit the
royal vineyard and the kings chateau.
After having seen everything else, my
attention was drawn to a nice place-the
kings Restaurant'-where 1 strolled
Inland the same looked fine to a hun.
cry Bismarcker. Well, with the aid of
a conversation dictionary, l ordered a
good dinner. AS l did not want to
drink any cholera water l ordered a
bottle of "Herdseick Monopal" and of
course everything went very lovely for
a while. After the repast was over l
motloned the waiter to bring me the
bill, and "Ye Godsw What did 1 see?
"One bottle Herdsieck 1,OOO'' and a mark
that looked like a So sign. You can
just imagine that I thought the "King,s
Restaurant" prices were way up and
that the Dutch were trying to ruin me.
l soon found, however, that the $1,000
was not dollars, but ptennigs, and a
thousand pfennigs is only about $3.50.
My dinner went right on digesting
again Immediately.
Wines are so much cheaper here than
in America. Poor wines are cheap and
dreadful to drink. The best qualities
are about the same as our prices. If
you want a good cigar you must get a
Heory Clay from New York, and the
cost is II cents each. The best
and finest shoe store in all Paris
has a nice little gold painted sign in the
window which says: "These shoes i'm
ported from New York" Hotel rates
are So to 81 a day, by the time you pay
for candles or electric lights-when they
have them-and fee everybody who is
hanging around the door when you
leave, expecting it. Here is the way they
work it. One man will bring down
your umbrella, another your grip, and
the third your trunk, and the boots-he
is always there-and the charming
chambermaid with her clean, white can
on will inquire very sweetly if you
haven't left something in your room.
Then last, but not least is the porter, all
dressed up in fine, dark blue broad
cloth trimmed with gold braid and gilt
buttons AID looks like a major general.
Why, at first I thought it would be an
insult to offer him money, but I soon
found that he was insulted if you did
not. Everyone expects a fee in this
country who does the least thing for
you and some who do not-the cabman.
the waiter, elevator boy, etc., etc. If you
stay q night at q hotel and have
supper and breakfast and your bill is
$l.73, why you will have to pay out
about 81 in fees. OF course this is not
compulsory, but fees are expected and
some of the servants get no other pay,
Americans have the name of being better
than any other on the feeling business
The native fee about S cents a day. or
v less. Some of the hotels make an ex-
ira charge for ice and for writing paper.
They all charge extra for tea or coffee
for every meal except breakfast. A
breakfast in Europe is a mighty slim
affair anyway. Just bread and butter
and cofee-simply that and nothing
more.
The distances here are not like the
United States. You can not travel six
days and night continuously and still
be in the same country. In going from
Paris to Berlin, a ride of twenty-five
hours, I started in France passed
through BEGUN and Holland and
landed in Germany, which makes n re-.