The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-06-06

N NOn SHcCI tlcdlllilcbos GkCcnciSc VA
r service and general attractiveness
L there are no hotels equal to the
best of Germany. The walters are i'm
maculate In appearance. attentive and
unobtrusively deferential. The maids
wear neat uniforms and answer a sum-
mons with a cheerful Bite" which in
this case means ''at your service Many
of them are good looking. In no one of
the half dozen hotels upon which these
cancellations are based did I see even
one of the slatterns that are only too no.
ticeable in the halls of many hotels even
Of high standing in the United States.
Their willing disposition was exemplified
the first morning In Berlin. After a
nights sleep on land following a week at
sea the first thought was to arrange for
clean linen, and as soon as foot was
placed out of bed I telephoned for bell
boy. There was knock at the door,
which opened to find, not bell boy, but
a husky girl in maids cap and gown
She was almost in the room before
hastily asked her to walt a minute, re-
quest the necessity for which she evil
IDENTIFY did not perceive, although I stood
before her in a single scant garment.
closed the door and encased myself In
bathrobe. Then she re-entered with an
offended look as though I thrust in her
face the suggestion that she might in
some way take advantage of my lack of
attire. This was the first Introduction to
the recognition SO general in Europe that
the human body is what it is.
The rooms of these German hotels are
spotless The bathrooms are large and
apparently never a one without good light
and outside ventilation; the bathtubs
massive and capacious, the plumbing
solid and reliable. In each room is
small table in front of a sofa, and this
is a characteristic of German house fur
nishing. In the United States a chair
seems to be the necessary adjunct of a
table, but in Germany 1t is a sofa.
The impression of cleanliness given by
the hotels is supported by the Streets
that seems to have been freshly mani
cured over night, and there are no holes
in the pavements such as disgrace even
Fifth avenue in New York. The buildings
are of stone or cement, that does not
vary a great deal in color. They are
from four to six stories in height through
out nearly all of the city, municipal regu-
lation forbidding the erection OF sky
scrapers, and there are few vacant build
ing lots, construction having extended
compactly. Yet the uniformity is not OPP
pressive, as was that of the rows of
brownstone fronts that a generation ago
were the pride of New York. Taxicabs
and tho open droshkys so abound that
In any of the central parts of the city an
uplfted finger will bring one Immediate
" to service, and the fares are so low
that 1t seems misery to use the tram
cars.
The people likewise are clean and ap-
parently all of the Teutonic race. In New
York and chicago the yellow and the
black races are much In evidence, but
not in Berlin where people on the streets
turned around to look at our colored por-
| ter.
The Germans eat. They eat many
times a day and they eat good deal.
There are offices In which sandwiches
are the motive for a recess in the morn
ing and for another In the afternoon.
| This IL to say nothing of the beer An
| irreverent person remarked: "You can see
these Germans at theatre during a
tragedy, when every character on the
stage is being killed, munchng away at
| their sandwiches" In Berlin are res
taurants of tremendous capacity; at least
one of them has seating accommodations
| for 5000 persons and the food is good well
l a IT,
building erected around two sides of q
| square has q series of porches rising in
three tiers on which are tables and chairs
kfor nearly 1000 persons. In the hollow of
the rectangle grass covered terraces lead
Idown to a lake with boats that are IL
Illuminated at night. Here of summer
evening apparently every seat was occu-
pied with clerks, small shopkeepers, wage
workers, all with their families, and all
clean and orderly, dining on good fare
served at prices within their means, l
be done in New York;" The reply was.
"Can you conceive of 1000 persons such as
these eating and drinking throughout the
evening in New York without there be-
ing a single case of drunkenness or the
first need for policeman" I thought
could and instanced the orderliness of
the crowds at Coney Island.
In these German cities scraps must not
be thrown in the streets and garbage must
be removed at short and regular inter-
vals Closed umbrellas must not be car
ried with points up. At the foot of the
stairs in an office building you are likely
to see a small rug and perhaps the le-
gend, Bite" which in this case means
what In the United States would be ex-
pressed by please wipe your feet YOU
do not open the office door and walk In
but press a button and tell the servitol
whom you want to see, just as though
lyou were calling at private residence
Every now ana then in the vestibule o.