Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-11
A Washington Lady's Impressions of
Unfrequented Points.
CHARMING HOSPITALITY SHOWN
A Visit to the Home for the
Daughters of Officers.
GU Amt SUPPER PARTY

! leIt tflideSneim and came on for one little
visit to this beautiful region, which Heine
has written of in his Pictures of Travel"
At Halberstadt We left the main line of
railroad and took the little branch which
| comes to Thale and stops. and then by car
rage to whichever peak one wishes to see
first of those In this immediate neighbor-
| hood. AS We have only few days, and do
not wish much climbing, chose this love-
| ly place. The clouds had hung low all day
when We arrived, so We had no hope what
ever of fine sunset. but after looking at
our comfortable rooms We at once went
out to get the views before dark We went
to the most preciptous point. overlooking
the valley of the Bode, which is narrow,
winding about a mile and a half for miles
along the border Of the stream, when sud
denly there burst from the clouds as bril-
liant sunset as ever beheld. which g.ori-
| fed everything and kept us exclaiming I'M
| til it's sp'endor faded. and the twilight
came on in somber tones after the gorgeous
co.oring gone before.
| Our party is made up of four, two English
| girls. whose acquaintance l had made in
Bueckeburg. and who asked me to join
| their family party for a week in the noun
| talns. and their brother young curate
whom we met at Hanover. direct from Eng
| land We have an alcove in the dining
! room to ourselves, and find 1t very cosy,
| while the Germans. who are all about us.
seem to be enjoying their holiday to the ut
! most.
| Walking Express Service.
The days are beautiful. not too warm. so
we can walk about with pleasure leaving
| the real climbing to one young man, who
revels in it. Today we saw typical Ger
man walking party; the father was walking
care-free, unburdened in every way; the
| mother had a few minor packages disposed
about her person. but the daughter. a
| strong, hearty-looking girl. was the bag
gage bearer for the entire group apparent
ly She wore one of the walking dresses
one sees here. with buttons and loops to
| shorten 1t sufficiently for mountain wear
and on her back, strapped across was a
! Dig bundle containing wraps of all kinds,
unit: she looked bent under it. but she step
ped off with such freedom and lghtness 1t
| could not have been as heavy as it looked
one gets accustomed to seeing the men
waited upon in every possible way over
here, so such procession causes no re-
mark. except among us foreigners. My
room is so German like to go into Il when
we come indoors for rest; ii has the in
evitable sofa with round table in front of
II, and both are nearly covered with huge
pieces, crocheted of white cotton The sofa
back is fully yard and a half long and
three-quarters OF yard wide very solid
design: while the table cover is round and
probably yard in diameter.
Too Much of n Good Thing
I can imagine what a resource this work
Is during the long winter. for one sees
quantities everywhere. / have a German
friend in America who has expressed a
| feeling akin to loathing for hand crocheted
lace. and can understand something of it
now, when one sees everything so loaded
down with 1t here. Large pillow cases
have the corners and a border done in
crochet inserted in the linen. Curtains
have yards of it, and many other things
about a house.
Where / have been visiting the sheets
have bands of inserting and edges of hand
crochet. some of the beds being arranged
with a down feather quilt as outside
covering, and the upper sheet made large
enough to turn back and button onto the
down spread, thus displaying the lace TRIM
mngs better
In wardrobes. which are much used a
number often being ranged on the sides of
wide halls, the shelves will be edged with
crocheted lace, sometimes with ribbon
run through for color effect.
The Feather Comrorters.
I am quite devoted to the use of the
feather comforts, or really small beds, over
me, and on a damp, chilly night, of which
we have so many here, it is greatly to my
taste.
Through the Bodethal. which we look
down upon and see en- miniature, from the
hotel here, is a very pretty walk to take.
up and back about three miles. 1t goes
without saying that the roads are good. for
they always are in Germany. and large
trees shade the way, while the Bode runs
along. sometimes quietly, sometimes in little
rushes but always pretty. Coffee houses
and booths where souvenirs sold are
numerous. The attractive stones which are
found about here are made up into hat
pins &c, often quite tastefully. to catch
the eye of the tourist. We can look up
from this valley 1,450 feet to our witches
dance-place," as We saunter along, and
think what cozy evening We will have
when darkness shall have covered the
heights and valleys. and we gather in our
little sitting ROOM and reads aloud
while the others listen, and forget that
everywhere else on the mountain top only
German is being spoken probably, for En-
glish and American visitors are not COM
mon here
English Sounds Best.
1 don't get to liking the>sound OF German
any better for having heard it almost ex-
clusively these last two months and am
glad to drop into English as often as pos
sible. Still I enjoyed much all the social
occasions which fell to my lot among them,
even though conversation was somewhat
restricted at times The most unique ex-
perience had of this kind was in response
to an invitation to take coffee and supper
at a stiff some ten miles distant from |
where l was staying.
OF course, 1t rained-it does here on a |
gala occasion invariably. We had to drive |
and what might have been a charming ex- |
curSion was spoiled by having to be shut |
in a close carriage.
Was Once a Convent.
This Stiff is an institution where la
dies have a home, something like our Lou
Use Home. only instead of being a private |
affair. the gift of one man. it is under the |
direction of the emperor. This was a nun
merry, when Bismarck confscated such |
properties. and it converted into a |
home for officers daughters, where ladies |
Of rank only are provided for. under the |
superintendent of the Frau Abtissen, as
the lady at the head is called. 1t was upon
her invitation We went, and were re-
ceived by her. her sister, former lady-in-
waiting at of the smaller German
courts, and their sister-in-law, who was
visiting them. and the only one of the three
who would venture to make use of her
English with me. These ladies occupy a
building apart from the nunnery proper
where the beneficiaries live
The two drawing rooms are odd and in
teresting. A few years ago the interior of
the church connecting with the nunnery
was restored and some of the old carved /
ratings have been used quite picturesque
ly to inclose part of one room. near the
l&vo .lraf-