The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1919-01-09
PRIVATE. BELLINGER WRITES,
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reasonable, four or five course din
e being served to the guests for
five francs. Yet at fruit stands l
saw one ordinary apple priced for As
cents each, oranges at SO cents and
bananas at Is cents each. V1chy
has two department stores of which
no American city should feel asham-
ed. Mems wearing apparel was not
very costly. A neat pair of shoes
could be. bought for about So. A
lady's hat of pretty appearance was
priced at "a, and a beautiful kimona
that would look good on any white
woman in the world was for sale Tor
a few cents more than $1,000 IN
American money. The majority OF
the clerks are girls, agreeable, clever
and attentive, and most of whom are
quite pretty, but the girls of Vichy
and France have that dollish appear
ance as to face, features and form,
and being a mere man this doll-baby
or baby-doll type does not appeal to
me as the real womanly human be-
ings back in Gods own country OF
queens and angels. French mer-
chants impressed me as possessing
better ideas of, how to arrange their
stock, fixtures, etc., and a French
department store with a similar stock
OF goods, in my opinion, presents a
much more attractive view than one
in America. While there 1 strolled
into the Vichy branch of the Bank
of Lyons, with a capital of $45,000,-
coo. It offers an English depart
ment, but is neither large or lmQos-
ing, and one would sooner acquire
thoughts of big business upon enter
ing any one of the banks of Bamberg.
The banks are open for business four
and a half hours per day, from 9 to
I1.30 g.. m. and from 2 to 4 p. m.
The main park, located along the
ALTER river, is probably about a mile
long with some handsome buildings
and beautiful springs and fountains
encased in remarkable glass houses.
But if you ever go to Vichy remember
O are a married man and make
your visits to the park in the day
time. You have probably heard of
the famous Vichy Springs water be-
Ing advertised in the States. If it is
genuine this is the place it comes
from. The water is not only bene-
fetal for bathing purposes but also
from the standpoint of drinking.
Some of it is warm, some cool. l
tried to drink a little of each and it
ought to be fine as medicine or some
thing of the kind for it tastes about
like q mixture Of salts, vinegar and
spoiled potatoes. The bath house
Is wonderful and has very much the
appearance of u government build
ings. It covers an entire block both
ways and has a huge gilded dome
rising from the middle which causes
It to remind one of the congressional
library building in Washington. l
went through it, but I've been in
France so long now that I have be-
come accustomed to French ways
and consequently did not have time
for any such foolishness as a bath. /!
visited the massive Cathedral of st.
Louis which was erected about the
XIV century, and the interior par
ticularly offers a very impressive
scene.
In a conversation with a business
man of vichy I learned that the muni7
ecipal laws of French cities do not
In any manner attempt to regulate
q persons morals nor his acts short
Of q direct crime inficting physical
injury. OF, deprivation upon his fell
low. man, and that a mans conduct
Is left almost exclusively to the die
tates of his own conscience. And
very few soldiers have that word in
their vocabulary. For instance,
open flirting is permitted on the
streets in view of any and every
body, and at Z o'clock in the even
ing on the main business street of
the city / saw an American soldier
walking down the street under the
glare of the brilliant rays of an cleo
trio light with his arm completely
around a girl. For the benefit of
your smiles I might add that l wasn't
looking into a mirror either. When
one registers for a room at a hotel his
moral right to use that OOH with
out restrictions upon his personal
wishes and to take any guest in there
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