The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1898-04-20
AS IF 1T WERE GERMANY.
The SaterIand Life In New York
tfty-Beer and Dominoes-

From the New York SUM-
A few wards down a cross street on the
east side Of Third avenue stands 10"
gray building. II seems to be staoie
AT first glance. but the German friend
who is with you pushes open a swinging
door and YOU find yourself in moment
transported into his fatherland. A room
stretches out before you filled with tables
of dark wood Around the walls are Gu
rious old German tapestries, ana sheiNes
holding quaint stems. On one side In
the middle of a disk Of carved wood are
spigots which "a waiter is manipulating
with easy familiarity. Your German
friend seats YOU at table. He IS a
scholar. and stoop-shouldered from por-
ing over books. His eyes are near-sight-
ed and dim with incessant use. In the
outer world he seems coiorless and re-
mote but now he straightens himself and
is a changed man.
The waiter comes to the table, theh
centuries with the spigots. and returns
nrasent,y with two stems of dark. fOamy
German beer. You notice that the sohu
wooden chairs match the tables, ana
your friend tells you that they were
brought. every one. from Germany. ana
YOU could not buy them for love OF
Nancy. The backs curve up IN slhlple
lines and an opening IN the center OF
each does honor TO the card pack ior ~
is heart. club. diamond. or spade An oid
sattee nut back against the wall matches
the set and in its spacious back mas 'ne
four designs I'm the chairs repeated IN
regular order
The hour is early. and German women
walk in who have been tending store all
day or washing clothes which are not
their own or keeping their own houses
| and watching their own kinder Iheh
4 husbands are with them. or, rather' oe-
| fore them. for the women follow meek
| " and obediently. Little children with
| empty pals creep in and scurry ouA
| again with pals full and foaming- In the
| corner in little mist Of tobacco smoke
men are playing dOminoes. and at inter
walls one of them counts elm. zwei. drei
x,iar IIp To sieben und zwanzig. Then ne
/ is silent again
Every night they play so. play and
play and play your German triehd as
| sures you.
| Meantime. you have been slipping your
| beer and waiting for the pretzeis. "A
\ great many people have come IN, ana
| the one waiter is so busy that you must
| have a little patience and take your
| nretezls gladly when they come Ihey
| are worth waiting for. these goOd-Sized'
| genuine pretzels, where you bite through
p delicious soft layer of coating before
Won come to the crisp pretzel ltseI. lou
| ten your German friend so and he nous
| .sDo Won know what the Pretzei form
| represepts?'' he asks
| You shake your head ana ne says
| Arms folded in prayer
| Won look surprised, and when he asks
| Won If YOU would like to hear its h1sto-
nv Won are alert. The stems are hiied
| again. then Just a suggestion OF accent
| YOUR German friend begins.
| There are two versions OF the Story
| You can take the one you like. Pretzei
| may have come from word meaning
| jftie arm. one meaning little present
| one meaning little prayer. There Is ie-
| oend that the pretzel originated IN the
| cIoisters and was eaten during IaSts. II
| was made of -four. water ana salt' anu
| vas round then with cross INSIDE, SYM
! hoIic of Christ on the cross one oiu
/ nriest in the first Catholic church Is salo
| 70 have given the pretzel TO little chill
49,, as n reward for saying their prayers
| and for that reason 1t had the prayer
| form. ,,-. ,-,-o
| credible The pretZel may go back 10 the
| Romans and may have had It's origin III
| the cartwheel cake with the cross INSIDE
| to represent spokes, used for Ihe leaS'
| Sunmanus Then when the Germans
| conquered the Romans they duopIeu y
| and baked it in honor of Radgott Donor
| tbeir wheel god But when the Germans
| became Christianized this custom
| MS forbidden; they were called Drldis-
| chen cakes. heather cakes. But WHAT .,iu
| NV countrymen do then but cnahge th ',
| sbane of the pretzels little ana en- ~,
/ then, arms folded i'm prayer Ihey coutI
i GA
| without pretzels to German Is IKE" na ~
| III sav-iike breakfast without pie 10
a New Englander. -
There is a twinkle in the speaker eSo
| ard YOU are just about 10 enter hi'o
defense of your kin when party OIL zen
| or a dozen men file noisily through tle
main room into little ante-room opening
off on side. Then the German peer no" 7
| fast and free The waiter runs between
| The rooms and his spigot as If he were
| S,o.,,,an Pegasus on winged feet Sooa
| Sean-toned drinking song breaks forth III
| tho little room, and all the custoineIs ~
| ~ h;a room stop to listen to the meio-
ats voices. When it Is over sIhsle
| To;ce is heard, evidently proposi"9 "
| toost Then conversation oecoiiles 800
| rraI. and you talk to your Ger 1l t,rad of
elai. IL osks YOU IL you are tlreu Vi
| asaI-, ,>;act of pretzeIs, and when you d s-
.ne ~, that YOU are not. ne tens Soe -
| SUI r,o,bpr form of the wheel cahe VI
,ha Romans still survives in the Geri, nnd
| tD.,,rie made at Christmas f-a arr
| ether festival occasions or,or,har -,
ot NV mother made them. | rem nslna en-,
| Wy W. .She made them with eggs anu
sugar ae ar and flour and ciron Ia and a rsS lit
and currants. Sometimes sne I MAJ s ~.
anu as when / was home last she
tle cans kleine one showing you
ma lhaos Size with his thumb and forefinger.
..for her and me. But when l was e'n
Kind and my ten sisters were an a,
| home. she made 1t gross gross,
,han looks at you and smiles. and does
not forget his English words again
"some ines. as 1 tell you. the cake
was small. but sometimes as Dag as
| real cartwheel. and 1t always had the
| two cross pieces for the spokes. She
| made ii in a long strip. like molasses
1 candy when they pull it, Then she pue