Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-22
Letters and.


II is the custom in England to write let.
ters and post cards on all occasions to peo-
pie In the same town. and even a few blocks
away, because 1t takes less time than IL
required to make a call and there is a record
OF the transaction. In the cities house,
wives do their marketing by mail Tho
Latin races avoid committing themselves to
paper. They will walk long distance
rather than writeNa letter. The high rate
OF Switzerland is due to the large number
OF tourists. Seventy-eight per cent of the
man handled during the year In this little
federation is reported for the summer
months.
Russia has the smallest number of post
onices. Great Britain has the largest num-
4Se62I last year from her postal service.
Berne an Ancient City.
Berne is a very old city. In 1891 the
people celebrated their Tooth anniversary,
and many Of the good burghers can trace
their ancestry back to the very beginning
OF things. Many families have lived in the
same houses for three or four hundred
years most Of the merchants have occu-
pied the same shops and have done the
same business generation after generation
in the same place. 1t is the practice Of the
community to have the Oldest son succeed
to the business or the profession of his
father.
Several Of the hotels in Berne are three
l.
the Three Keys" at Basic is believed to be
the oldest in the world. 1t has been stand
ing since the fifteenth century and the
business has been conducted by the same
family all these years
There are several other ancient institu-
lions here which are in striking contrast to
the modernism of our own country. Three
or -FOUR hundred years ago the wise burgh-
ers excavated vast cellar under the city
hall for the purpose Of storing corn and
wheat, as suggested by Joseph to the Pha-
In, 90
more probable. a siege Generation after
generation this surplus stock of food was
kept up by the municipality until there
was no longer any danger of war and the
transportation facilities made famine i'm
possible. Then the cellar was turned into
drinking saloon, and, like the beer hall I
told you about in Munich, il is owned and
operated by the municipality. The market
men and women who come In from the
country with their products three morn
ings a week all go there for drinks. and
many OF them take their lunches there.
The Kornhaus-Keller, as it is called, is
always crowded at MONDAY and at supper
time. Hundreds of people take all their
meals there regularly. for. under the su-
pervision OF the city officials, 1t is con-
Quoted in an admirable manner. The beer
and wine are free from adulteraton, tho
food is wholesome and the charges are
and cafes The great cellar is filled with
long tables, covered with coarse but snowy
white linen and plain crockery and crystal
Inc pdtTouS are waited on Dy Wnlte-aprOns
ed girls.
A Temperate People.
The Swiss are a temperate people. They
drink a good deal of wine and beer, but
very little spirits. and just now there is a
temperance movement going on for the
suppression of the manufacture Of absinth,
one Of the most pernicious and deadly
drinks in the world.
Notwithstanding the high principles and
integrity of the Swiss people, the govern
ment of the federation holds a monopoly
Of the manufacture Of absinth and supplies
nearly all the markets of the world. The
center Of manufacture is at Neuchatel.
where at least 60 per cent Of the worlds
supply Of this poisonous drink is produced.
The increase in the consumption indicates
the rapid growth Of the habit, both in
Switzerland and in foreign countries, with
fearful consequences. The consciences OF
the people here are becoming uneasy, like
those Of the British in India over the
opium traffic, and a movement has been
started to suppress the manufacture of abb
smith, although 1t brings an annual reve-
nue. Of more than a million dollars to the =
government