The Minneapolis journal., 1902-08-16
Rolandseck on the Rhine. July 21. 1902

and those which are not. The occasional
visit Of royalty or some high court Of
hcial will make a place. however OBJ
scure, smart at once. and the cure be-
comes an adjunct to the mild frivolity OF
the modish world, as at the Saratoga and
White Sulphur Of generation ago. HON.
burg and Carlsbad are the ultra types OF
the dominating influence Of the court and
social world Of Europe and Weisbaden
stands IN the middle ground, and at the
other extreme are Bad Nauheim and Ems,
where the cure is all essential, and the
pomps and frivolities Of the town are cast
aside for the time being, along with dress,
horses and the newest dancer at the
opera. With this essential difference the
life is much the same at all these places;
the towns are attractive; women find
the shops mildly fascinating, and the
hotels are uniformly good. At Nauheirn,
Duke Of Hesse in beauttfying the town
makes a pleasant background for the ser
ious nature of the cure, they claim to heal
almost all the incurable ills that flesh Is
heir to from the waters Of the three
springs. Bad hearts, weak hearts, In
fact any kind Of heart but a marble
heart Is warranted not to balk and be
six weeks. believe the theory runs that
while heart troubles are sometimes
hereditary they come from many
causes, heart complaints being hand maid
ems Of love and first cousins OF apoplexy.
Bad circulation may be brought on by your
creditors who hold too many OF your
notes; weak hearts by the stock market,
and feeble hearts come to American busi-
ness men who work themselves to
standstill physically and mentally. How
ever as soon as people get money enough
together to learn they have hearts they
seem to drift to German water cure,
and as q natural result the local physf-
clans have villas filled with watteaus,
drive about in carriages, and spend their
winters III Paris or Vienna.
A Busy Time of It.
The tourist who follows the regime,
however, has q rather busy time of 1t.
Up at seven In order to get in the pre-
scribed number Of glasses before break
fast, the water being served in dainty
clean glasses by maids in uniform, which
surprises the American accustomed to
having 1t ladled out in a cracked glass,
thick enough to have done time in the
penitentiary.
They do not gulp the water down, but
sip It leisurely, taking from ten to ff-
teen minutes to glass, strolling through
the park and listening to the music the
while. From one and q half to two glasses
is the average, three the limit, though
as those with hearts do not drink the
waters but conf1ne themselves to the
baths, the springs are never overly
crowded. Then after an interval Of half
an hour breakfast: another hour Of rest,
then the bath: complete quiet for an
hour or 30, and then an elaborate course
dinner at O'Clock. This completes the
routine Of the day Unless you wish to
spend the afternoon in a beach chair in
ha1ing the fumes from filtered black
thorn, which Is said to be most beneficial
for catarrhal affections. Everywhere you
go, however, you suit your Individuality
and become number. The attendant at
the doctors hands you one as he ushers
you into a reception room as dull, dreamy
and comfortless as such places usually
are, where your fellow sufferers In half
q dozen tongues with unblush1ng frank
ness are discussing aches and pains which
would never as much as be limited at
elsewhere. Again at the bath houses you
go by number, and though they give 1000
baths day, II you are not early, you
must wait an hour or two watching the
board where the numbers being called of
are hung out like winning horses at a
race track. Finally, when the very glass
at the spring IS numbered, you begin to
| feel like a cross between a keno caller
| and train dispatcher.
| AS for the amusements, they are much
the same at all Of the cures. Whether
you wish to or not, you pay q nominal
fee for Kurhaus tax, which entities you
to all the privileges Of the place except
the particular things you. most wish to
see. The Kurhaus is as dull as Lon
don of Sunday, as the yawning American
and the bored Britisher lounging all day
on the really beautiful terrace can testi-
| ~. There's bi1liard-room with two
| lonely tables, d smokeroom sprinkled with
Germans and Indifferent pictures, and q
reading-room filled with notices printed
in all languages enjoining that strict
quiet which after a single visit one has
| no intention of again disturbing. The
popular concerts on the terrace might
be worth while were they popular in any,
thing but name; but Wagner Is eight
and Weber Is simply ragtime to these
music-loving Germans, and unless you are
really an educated musician, you soor
have a surfeit Of Bach and Beethoven, ant
| sigh for Sousa. One number, however
! every afternoon. IS waltz, and the Ger
mans have the swing Of 1t, and certainl!
play waltz time better than other musi
| clans, even though they scorn any. dance
music less than twenty years old. II
| fact, a disregard for all things new char
| acterizes German musicians IN general
| and the musical Joe Miller Of a band
master at the Kurhaus is particular tt
such degre ethat I've heard Carmen" 81
many times in the last month I begin tt
! feel like matador, or a picador at tht
| very least. did hear one musical nov
| city. however; composition by thu
kaiser, who may have ordered 1t played
but must have forgotten to order th'
applause, for It was received with tha
| awful death-like silence which in theatri
cal parlance Is known as "frost.'
| fancy it rather easy to be royal com
/ poser; all an emperor has to do is to p1cl
i out the tune with one finger, and thel
i cali in some musical hack to polish
!! orchestrate and generally Ak it up.
A New Comic opera.
was also "among those present" a
1.-The first production OF a new comic oper;
lby Dellinger, a we11-known German com
Euoser, some OF whose operas have beel
tnroduced in America at various times.
went Off with considerable eclat, the com
noser leading the orchestra with spiri
and skill and being decorated with laure
between acts. The opera Itself Is Of tn
"Nanan" type. being built up around on
waltz song, and, Judging from its recep
tion. seemed to achieve a fair measure Q
success. But the book Is absolutely I'm
| intelligib1e, ard when It is all over on
wonders what 1t was all about, althoug
that is in no wise remarkable in comi
onera. But what impressed strange
chiefly was the absolute lack of move
mant, II "Jadwiga" be taken as a typ
~ ti1e usual operate brand made in Ger
MANY. From an american viewpoint, tn
comedians were absolutely funereal IN tn
faw nlaces where they were given rein
IA nrincinals stand in one spot an