Grand Forks daily herald., 1914-11-07
GETTING
!: !" !. BACK TO AUSTRIA
&c.,, .,., -
~ t~f ~ Sc.
Prisoners Enabled to Write
Home Through Activity
of the Red Cross.

venlce, NOV. Through the ct.
forts Of the Red Cross society, some
from Austro- Hungary war prisoners
in: Russia and Servia have already been
delivered to their relatives and friends
At nome. The correspondence from
both countries comes through Ru-
mania. The letters. of course, are
read by the official censors in the
country where they are written. The
respondence on the whole gives the
impression that the prisoners are be-
Ing we'll treated. In Russia the
wounded receive. medical attention,
and 9 grand duke visited them in a
hospital at Moscow. Nearly all the
unwounded and those who have recov.
cred from their injuries are being sent
to Omsk in Siberia. 1t is thought
that later they may be put to work
IN the mines there, but nothing defin-
lite has been heard as to this.
For special benefit Of the middle
class Of unemployed in Vienna. the
Austrian women's franchise commit
ners." A substantial meal Of two
courses, nicely prepared and served,
is supplied, for forty hellers (eight
cents). Dining rooms have been pro-
vided at various centers where the,
meal is served between noon and half
past one o'clock daily: or the food
can be taken home If desired, but per-
the purpose. Among the classes bene-
fitted by this form Of relief are nusi-
clans. artists, engineers. teachers.
commercial clerks and shop assistants
OF both sexes.
Uso Homo Tobacco.
Austrian smokers will soon have to
be content with homegrown tobaccoe,
since imports from abroad have been
entirely stopped and the stock Of for
eign brands on hand in the govern
ment stores are not very large:
The director of the Austrian Taba-
gregie Is credited with saying that
the public have been showing their
loyalty by rejecting all tobaccos, ci-
gars and cigarettes manufactured in
England or France. Both there and
in; Budapest the tailors associations
met and solemnly pledged themselves
not to make up any English cloth.
Several weeks later than usual the
Vienna theaters have begun to open
their doors, and most Of them are
now giving more or less regular per-
fOrmances. But the two court stages
the Imperial opera house and the
Hofburg theater-are still closed. This
is due to disputes over the salaries Of
the performers. Fearing that the
season might not be very successful
ana presumably anxious to spare the
emperor's purse from any great losses,
the court chamberlain's department
tried to reduce the scale Of salaries
paid to the better classes Of perform
ers: It was proposed to fix the maxi
mum remuneration of the chief actors
ana; singers at 5000 crowns a year,
($3,600), and the minimum at 1900
crowns ($l,440). No attempt was
made to reduce the wages paid to the
chorus girls and supers and stage
mechanics and other employees.
The court officials argued that their
proposal was quite fair. as it was only
intended to give four performances
week. But two or three Of the highly
paid artists offered. such determined
opposition to accepting any reduction
in their salaries that it was found i'm.
possible to reopen either opera or
theater. The quarrel at last became
extremely acrimonious, and the names
of the singers who were standing out
for their regular high salaries were
freely mentioned in the papers: At
last 1T was stated that they had yield
ed to the representations Of the minor
actors and stage employees. who were
threatened with starvation, and
agreed to accept the lower scale of
remuneration. But SO far neither
opera nor Burg theater has been re-
opened.