Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-09
WAGNER LETTERS
PART OF EXHIBIT
Correspondence of Noted Ger
man Composer With the
Wine Merchants.
OFTEN HAD DIFFICULTY
IN MEETING PAYMENTS
Increase in the Use Of Dog Meat as
Food-New Rule on
Railways.
BERLIN, August 1. 1915

BERLIN, August l. 1918.
Eleven hitherto unpublished letters
OF Richard Wagner have come to light
In connection with the Wagner me-
mortal exhibit, now being held in the
municipal museum. of history at Leip-
SIC All were written by the famous
composer between 1904 and 1871 to his
wine dealers. They show that he
liked good wine, and that sometimes he
had trouble in paying for it. The first
letter, written in Munich in Novem-
Der. 1864 is typical Of ALL He adj
dresses the dealer as most honored
SIR" thanks him for the last ship
ment and continues:
L beg you to renew as soon as posi-
BILE my supply by considerable con-
signment Of half bottles Of the table
wine. From sixty to 100 bottles of
each variety would about meet my
needs. Regarding payment, Will you
have the kindness to state your wish
es. In general it best suits my f1nan-
cial circumstances to make large
payment on a fixed day; this IS easier
than to make smaller payments at In
definite periods. You need have no
uneasiness If the reckoning climbs
bit since the peculiar character OF my
income makes it easy for me to have
a large sum at my disposal at one
time
Files Another Wine Order.
In June, 1867. Wagner ordered $50
bottles of red and the same amount
Of white wine, and in November or
the same year another supply, but this
time in casks, since he was in Lucerne,
where wine in bottles is made I'M
thinkably dear by the cantonal tariff"
In October, 1869. Wagner wrote to his
most honored sir and friend, peg
following April he again made ex-
cuses for failure to pay. and In &c
tober he was again forced to ask for
an extension.
The firm evidently granted the re-
quest, for Wagner wrote in January,
1871. from Lucerne. expressing his
thanks and continuing naively:
I'm order to maintain our business
connections ] wish you would send me
cask (about forty five gallons) of
the wine which / drink so regularly.
This is the last of the eleven letters
Whether the great composer finally
paid the bill does not appear.
A number of chilly. wet days have
along the Rhine, and the wine pros
poets. fairly good a week ago, have
almost over night become extremely
bad. The weather Is favorable to the
growth of the peronOspora, a deadly
disease Of the vine, and in some sec
tions third of the grapes are re-
ported to have fallen from the vines.
Another year like 1906 is feared, when
hundreds of vine growers were utterly
ruined
Dog Meat as Food.
The consumption Of dog meat as a
food In Germany. probably as a result
Of high meat prices. increased greatly
In 1912. Every year since 1907 has
shown a considerable gain. but the 1912
figures are striking. Against 1911, in
which year the number Of dogs slaugh-
tered under official inspection was $3.50.
the total for 1912 rose by 1873 to
1872 These figures. moreover are but
a small fraction OF the total consump
ton of dog flesh. for majority of the
animals are slaughtered at home with
out the Formally of an inspection.
Saxony remains, as always, the chief
center for dog slaughtering, recording
4,2SS dogs killed as against 3,54O in
1911. Prussia, however, is in second
place with $3.50 in 1912 as against 1,917
in the preceding year.
Rated in Pounds and Tons.
Berlin's daily use of face powder. cold
cream, scented toilet water and other
toilet accessories has been set forth in
tons and pounds by a local newspaper,
and the results are striking.
Three-quarters of a ton of face DOW
der and $50 pounds of black and brown
eyebrow pencils are used daily in the
city. according to these statistics. Seven
hundred pounds of cold cream are the
figures for one day, and the Berlin
women-one assumes that 1t is the
women-require 10 sticks Of red lip
pomade every twenty-four hours.
Hair bleaching has practically died out
but the sale Of hair dyes is increasing,
especially to elderly men," says the re-
port. Scented toilet waters and bath
essences to the total OF four and one
half tons are disposed of in Berlin daily.
Rose remains the favorte scent with
violet second, followed closely by exotic
Indian perfumes.
The German Actors Association has
just given out its yearly blacklist, con-
taining the names Of the theater direc-
tors against whom members of the as
sociation are warned. Ninety men are
on the list for this year.
There are in Germany, Austria and the
Russian provinces peopled by Germans
about TO theaters. According to the