Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-24

though not as luxurious in their appoint
ments as ours. The cars are after the
European fashion-frst, second and third
class. They are divided into compartments.
On the better trains there are lavatories,
but an extra charge is made for the use of
towel and soap. This is furnished by a
penny-in-the-slot box. You put in a 10
pfennig piece and pull out q little rag and
a piece of soap. The rag is too small to
dry you we'll, and the soap is just enough
for one washing.
The third-class cars haze no such accom-
modations. Many of them are without
cushioned seats. There is also a fourth
class, where most of the passengers stand
up. The rates of the frst-class are about
the same as ours, second-class a little
cheaper and third and fourth classes very
low.
Speaking of s'ot boxes, they are to be
found everywhere here and of every kind.
In some of the cities you can buy tickets
on the elevated railroads by dropping a
German nickel, which means 2h cents, in
the slot. There are slot boxes which sell
postal cards and slot restaurants where you
can get anything from a thimbleful of
benedictine or chartreuse to a glass of
champagne or a schooner of beer, and from
a chocolate cream to a slice of roast beef.
The advantage of the slot machine is that
it dispenses with feeling. There are no
walters and hence no fees, and this where
one has to pay from 2 cents to a dime for
every service, amounts to much.
The Germans appreciate small savings.
The richer among them spend a. great deal
sbut they know just where the money goes
and try to get the worth of it. The poor
get more for their money perhaps than any
other poor in Europe outside the French.
They know how to prevent waste. In cook
ing nothing is lost. The crusts of bread
and stale pieces of the loaf are kept to
thicken the next days soup and the waste
paper of the poor man is kept for fuel.
German stoves are economical. They are
made of porcelain and are often a yard
square and from six to Eight feet tall.
Each stove has a series Of fues, and a
very little fuel sufices to warm 1t. Once
hot II gives out a gentle heat all day, using
about one-third the coal of an American
base burner and nothing like that of a fur
mace. Every bit of coal is saved, and a
great part of that now used is in the shape
of ~briquettes or bricks made of coal dust.
so tightly pressed that they are as hard as
the coal itself and at the same time per-
fectly clean. This is a great business in
Germany.
The Germans have a better system of do
nestle service than we have. In Leipsig
and other German cities the people live in
flats, so that the most of the work Is con-
fined to one floor. Every loom is valuable
and the servant usually has little more
than a closet to sleep in. The mistress of
the house knows all about housekeeping,
that being a part of every German girls
education. and she watches to see that no
food Is wasted. The servants are seldom
given the same frod as the family and
among some It is customary to give the
hired girl an allowance Of 2 or 8 cents for
her supper and let her buy 1t outside. IL
there is fruit on the table 1t seldom goes
out to the kitchen.
] am much interested in the employment
agencies here. Each town has one or more
such institutions supported by low charges
upon employers and employees. The charge
is about II cents for getting a servant and
half that amount to the servant who wants
a place. The laws provide that every serv-
ant shall have a record or pass book tell
Ing where she was born, her age and previ-
Gus servitude. 1t must have the records OF
the places she has worked and the sigma
lures Of her former employers testifying to
her character. The police must stamp
every record showing that 1t Is correct.
A dollar a week Is a big price for a hired
GIRL and at one of the agencies 1 was told
that excellent servants could be had from
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