The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-04-22
THE STRANGE THINGS THEY DO IN VIENNA
Some Odd Customs in
the Capital OF
Austria


a visit to Vienna the foreigner feel'
about as helpless as a babe in :h'
wood. So many different languages
are in use here that one might get
into an omnibus and find no two o1
the passengers able to converse with
each other. It is somewhat sur
prisfng 70 find that the messenger boys
are men and the flower girls are grand
mothers. An invitation to the theateI
usually means that dinner will be serv-
ed in your box while the performance
is going on, which arrangement is GER
tainIy an Improvement over the Gus
tom in our cities because it allows QUE
to get home earlier. In Vienna you
can ride upward in an elevator, but
you have to walk down.
MEN OF ALL WORK
The grown-up messenger boys OF
Vienna are known as licensed commits
sioners, and are of great use to the
public because they perform many
kinds of work other than running er-
rands. They are dressed in a distinc-
tive uniform and are authorized by
!. law to perform even the most unusual
Service for those VINO wish to hire
them They have regular beats like
policemen, and there are over 1900 of
them scattered throughout the city,
During the heavy shopping hours they
concentrate in the downtown districts
and are kept busy carrying home bum
dies for bargain hunters. One even
ing I asked the man on my block what
he had done that day. and the variety
of work he had performed will serve TO
illustrate the multitudinous things the
commissioners are called upon 20 do.
His first job had been to re-bottle
some wine, then he was called in to
clean a pipe for an invalid bachelor,
after that he clipped a dog for an
actress. beat carpet for boarding
house keeper, packed a trunk for
departing traveller, and got down town
in time to carry home some bundles
for the shoppers.
No cafes in the world are better pa
tronized than those in Vienna. The
people frequent them so constantly
that peddlers of linen derive a smart
income by selling collars to be changed,
on the spot. There are no newsboys
allowed on the streets, and the cafes
On account of the cafes being so heavi-
" patronized there is a kitchen law
which requires that each portion served
to the guests shall be exactly equal ,
in size and quality. In order to in
sure this every order that is served |
must be weighed. which is no small !
undertaking when as many as 1900 |
people are waited upon at a single |
meal One is amused when told the
odd names that many of the popular |
places bear. such as The Three Rab-
bits. The Blue Goat, The Golden Ok, |
or The Green Goose.
THE DOORKEEPER' TAX.
An odd thing about the cafe life in
Vienna is that as the hour of ten
draws near, whole families may be
seen Fastening homeward in order 10
escape the doorkeeper's tax. If you
leave or enter any house after ten
o'clock at night you must pay the port
er for the trouble you put him to in
opening the door. 1t makes no diff
ference if the house happens to be your
own. II you call upon a friend after
this hour, no matter how intimate your
relations may be, you pay first to get
in and afterwards to get out. The
tax amounts to only few cents in
zach instance, but it is universally (
imposed on all classes. There is hard
y any place in the world where The (
tipping system is as generally estab- 4
ished as in Vienna One is expected (
% tip even the street car conductors. Z
N the cafes one must fee three diff !
erent attendants, namely, the head
waiter. the boy who serves the drinks,
md the attendant who brings your i
God But the total which all three L
# them receive is only ten cents. 4
The Viennese are great lovers of the @
heater. and under their patronage the a
profession has enjoyed great develop Z
nent. The Emperor subsidies two i
f the leading play houses and pays j
he annual deficit which is caused by p
Seir extravagant management. The n
horus girls at the opera are paid S
ension when they become too old to il
FORK. They fare much better than S
lost of the members of the profession a
: this country because they are paid I
salary for twelve months and have t
} work only six. The ballet in Vienna Il
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