Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-08-31
Thousands of Suicides.

The slightest provocation Is often suffl-
Client excuse for him to resort to the depri-
yation Of his life. There is probably not
another place in Europe where suicide is
80 prevalent and the causes for the same
50 trivial in Vienna. Several thousand
people kill themselves annually in the cap
ital, Not day. passes but four or five
deaths by suicide are reported. If the
three bridges which span the cana1-the
Augarten, the Elizabeth and Stephanie-
were to offer up the bodies of those who
have killed themselves by leaping from
their sides into the water below the spec
tacle would be as horrible as that Of a
battlefield strewn with its dead.
Week Days and Sundays.
On a week day. notwithstanding that
Vienna is a great commercial center. the
wheels of the city appear to move along
slowly There is no jostling upon the pave
fnents, no evidence of haste or activity.
Whether it be in the stores, factories or
the departments of the government, life
conforms to a slow pace, following a givan
routine maintained for years. The mer-
chant opens his shop late in the morning,
locks his doors to suit his convenience for
two hours at noon and closes early in the
evening. The laborer works slowly and de-
Hberately, interrupting his work six or
seven times during the day to eat, to drink
to rest. The freighter, walking by rhe side
Of his wagon, drawn by clumsy beasts Of
burden, calmly smokes his pipe, while his
horses creep quietly along. The officers
orderly, sauntering at every corner and
gazing in every window along his route, is
the sfowest of them all. But on a Sunday
or holiday there is a wonderful trans
formation upon the streets. Every one is
out of doors. The apartments are de-
serted and there is a rush for the theaters,
the concert halls, the operas, the suburbs,
the mountains. The street on these days
is the throbbing pulse of the capital. It
indicates the life going on within and with
out Its overcrowded tramways and omni-
buses show the direction in which the
masses are moving.
Soldiers Everywhere.
What impresses the stranger perhaps
more than anyt ling else is the great num-
Der of soldiers met with upon the thor
oughfare AS there are never less than
twenty-five thousand men garrisoned at
the seat of the empire, and as eighty thou
sand Is no unusually large number, the SOL
der is to be found In every part of the city,
This vast army, with it's complement Of
officers, has a great moral and social In
huence upon the mode of life of the Wen
nese. 1t is both good and bad Through its
maintenance millions of forms reach the
merchant which otherwise would remain
in channels remote from the imperial seat.
The soldier Is fed and clothed-the officer
paid his salary; the money so expended Is
to the gain of Vienna. This Is the financial
view about the army assembled at the cap
ital. The moral question is something far
different. Suffice 1t to say that the misery
wrought in the families of the middle and
1aboring classes by this degraded set of
men would make sad and mournful chap
ter.
Variety I'm Uniforms.
IT Is not only the number of soldiers
which enliven the streets of Vienna. but
also the variety of uniforms, with their ac-
companying accouterments. Unlike France
or Germany, there is no characteristic of
the color from which the wearing apparel
Of the army is made. AS a result there are
scores of different uniforms as varied in