The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1910-11-02

| or Fhilemon and BaucIS, Who Attend
| Moving Picture Shows and Concerts.
| Street Cars Held Fer Slow Moving,
Venerable Passengers.
| Bonn, on the Rhine, is the old folks
| city of Germany. Besides the regiment
| stationed there and the few necessary
/ tradespeople, the population is made
| up Of students and old people The
| students are there because of the uni
| versity, and the old people are there
because they find in Bonn quite the
| best place on earth to spend their last
| years.
One-quarter of the population con-
| sists of rentiers-i. e., people who live
| on safe incomeS-and of this quarter
more than half are widows. In fact
| there are several streets in Bonn
| known as widows rows" which are
| lined with villas, ordinary houses or
small apartments, according to the size
| of the safe incomes of the inhabitants.
| Age Reducers Unpopular.
| Instead of trying TO disguise their
| age, as Is the wont of womankind.
| these old ladies have to keep tabs on
each other that they do not add u
| year or two when no one is looking
| They are all the loveliest little old
| ladies with the whiteSt hair and the
| pinkest checks. and they all dress more
| or less alike with little black bonnet,
| plain black gown with a bodice cut q
wee bit low at the neck and a shoul-
der cape of lace or silk.
| There is only one exception to this
rule, the one woman who tries to be
| younger than she is. but she is ostra-
cized from the best society and is In a
class all by herself with her lavender
| dresses, false curls and lingerie hats.
| The old men of Bonn are no less in
| teresting. Every day in the noon hour,
| when the children come home from
school, they stop in front of the Ii
| brary windows of the most fashion
able club in town and giggle at the
display of bald heads lined up inside
| against a background of outspread
| newspapers. Bus they do not dare
| giggle audibly, for to show any disre-
Il
NIT as grave crime in Bonn as to in
suit the kaiser in Berlin.
Patrarchs Dine at Club.
At night after dinner is the real time
when the gray boards assemble.
| Many, many years ago. when the club
| was first established. there was
| group of eleven men who banded to-
| gether and agreed to meet at the
| Stambisch, a table reserved for them,
| every day. OF these eleven six are
| still living. each a specimen of joyful
| old age, the eldest being ninety
Perhaps it is because they had such
| regular lives that these old people are
so full of life, so hale and hearty. Be-
| tween 10 and ii on sunny mornings
they are all taking a walk, and in the
| afternoon when they are not enjoying
| one of the thousand little Rhine ex-
| cursions they are taking second.
They do not just amble around a
| flower bed in a park and come home
| again, but they set out with a definite
| purpose to see a definite thing, and
they get there with determination
that is remarkable.
1 Meals. of course, as everything else
In their households, are regulated by
the clock. and bedtime never varies
from one night to the next except per-
baps for the celebration of birthday.
Sometimes False Chord.
In the winter time they go to every
thing there is to go to-opera. con-
certs, theater and even the cinemato-
graph show-long after they can see
and hear everything that is going on.
1t is not infrequent that in the midst
of soul stirring symphony one Of the
honorable inhabitants of Bonn Will
say in his loudest tones because b.,
doesn't know the power Of his own
voice, "What long pauses they do
make between the pieces toaight"
But the others of the audience are so
well used to the Interruptions and so
well trained that they do not move a
muscle
All Bonn turns around its white hair,
ed citizens. Young blood" doesn't play
the part here that it does elsewhere
Any one desiring to catch certain
boat or train must take at least one
street car ahead of the one on sched
ule in order to make ii. for If ven
cradle citizen waves his stick or a nice
old lady her umbrella and the motor,
man sees either coming half block
away he waits. and with several IAN.
cient angels blocking the way Is 1t q
wonder the cars fail to run on time?