Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1899-10-04
!
VIEWS OF EUROPE.
The Danes and Their Capital.
Especial letter to the Tines epubli.

iis's s..s-is.s
Especial letter to the rimes-Republi-
4 always supposed that Copenhagen
was Copenhagen the world around. but
when reached the Danish capital II
found 1t to be Kjobenhavn. and the
country to be, as 1t ought to be, not
i'enmark, but Danmark. A successful
business man of the capital said to me:
lou Americans can not learn any
tnlng from us. We are 100 years behind
the times, but you never find us wor-
rying about 1t. You will not see any
one IN this city In a hurry. We all.haves
plenty OF time, take life easy and are
busy chiefly In being amused This
was during the first days of my stay
and replied that thought he mis-.
judged his people AT the end of two
weeks had come to be of his judg-
ment When you tell Dane that you
nave been in Kjobenhayn he is almost
sure to ask ii you saw the Tivoli. One
must see the Tivoli to understand the
people and the city. 1t is an immense
pleasure ground not far from the CEN
ter OF the city. 1t is enclosed and open
In the evening. There are many trees.
shrubs. flowers, paved avenues, nina
ture lakes and ponds. Here are aquara,
geological garden, bowling alleys,
tarket shooting stalls. swings, thea
ter and any number of cafes and beer
halls. The entrance admission to Tt
wolf is so ore, 12h cents. Within there
are additional charges. To the Tivoli
goes every man with his wife, rows,
shoots, watches the variety girl per-
form, listens to the band and the or
chestra, drinks beer and smokes ci-
gars. On an unfavorable evening the
attendance is from 5000 to $1,000 On
Sunday evening $4,000 of the so-called
better class of the population of the
city are there. A number of other places
on the same plan are smaller in size.
1T is not alone the young who go to
these places of amusement, the old go,
old men leaning upon their canes and
gray-haired grandmothers leading the
third generation by the hand. The
Danish people may be Incorporate in
their amusements; they are intemper-
ate in their drink The liquor laws of
Denmark are very lax. All grocers have
the right to sell liquors. The license
and there are practically no restric>
tons. Selling is upon seven days of the
week and until 1 o'clock at night. No
exception is made Of holidays and IL
quor may be sold to any one who will
buy, drunkards and minors not exclud-
ed In kjobenhavn there is one public
| house to every 296 of the population,
and ir addition there are 1.066 places
other than public houses where liquors
and spirits are sold. License receipts in
1895, including license upon bowling al
| leys and kindred resorts, aggregated
$4,000. and the per capita consumption
of beer was ffty-five gallons. 1t should
| be remembered that the beerof the Eu-
| ropean countries ss light. containing
| from to 6 per cent of alcohol. Per
\ haps a worse feature of the intemper-
ance is the drinking of rye whisky
| very nearly pure alcohol. 1t is com
monty mixed with the beer. but is often
| taken alone. and Is exceedingly injuri-
Gus in it's effects. A small glass of this
| whisky may be bought, at many places
for ore, X cent. Beer is also very
| cheap, a large mug costing 10 ore. 212
/ cents, or a glass, in many places, . ore.
1 The day laborers, many of whom re-
1 ceive but 20 cents per day. Very fire.
/ quently board at the public houses
| They buy two or three sandwiches,
| made of rye bread and cheese or ham,
and with these have a mug of beer and
| & glass of rye whisky. The whole costs
| 10 cents. These men are hard looking
| fellows, their manner of life telling on
| them in very short time. Tradesmen
| receive from 81 to s1.75 per day. The
wages of farm hand is from IS to 81
per month. woman servant usually
receives So to $3.50 per month. Many of
the women clerks in the large stores of
| the city receive a monthly wage of
| from 81 to $40 only. The street VEN
| doris, a great number. selling fruits.
I flowers. vegetables and fish. earn from
40 to so cents per day. Most of these
vendors sleep in the shelters provided
| by charitable agencies. paying for
| nights lodging to s cents. The con-
| sumption of beer is constantly on the
| increase, but owing to the work of sew
/ eral temperance societies the use of
| whisky and spirits is decreasing. The
labor unions are very strong in Den
| mark They are socialistic and anti.
/ Christian, bitter in their stand against
all churches. 1t is significant that of the
| daily newspapers of the city five are
radically socialistic. These have a daily
circulation of approximately 10000
each. The proportion of the population
of Copenhagen living IN tenement
houses is estimated at one-sixth of the
| whole l went through what was said
/ to be the worst tenement house in the
city. The building is comparatively
new. 1t is divided into two parts The
entrance to the rear half is from a
filthy alley into small square hall.
| From this four doors open on each of
the five floors. Each family has one
room and kitchen, or two rooms and
kitchen. Ceilings are low, the rooms
1Ox12 feet and the kitchen 6xS, each
with window. A widow with -four
4 children living on the fourth floor pays
| 81 per month rent. This tenement is
| better than many have seen in New
| York and Chicago. While there are few
very wealthy people in kjobenhavn, on
| the other hand there are not sa many
who suffer from poverty as in our larg-
err American cities. There are a very
great number OF families whose annual
income is from $3.50 to 5000. and upon
| this they live in comparative comfort
and Responsibility. How, can not say.
| remarked to a Scotchman who had re-
| sided in Scotland, England and the