Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1927-05-26

except smile as you entered, three
walters who took orders, and dozen
or two who filled them. And why,
with such force, it should require
forty minutes to get a steak and at
least fifteen minutes for permission
to pay the bill. We gave it up.
you get used to this deliberatien
in time" he explained, you'll get
to like it,. And so it is. That is
Vienna. And Vienna smiles. During
the war her smile stiffened little;
after the war her smile was changed
to- an ugly grimace like clowns
mask under which she hid the pain
and tragedy of war. { Now, ten years
after the war, Vienna smiles again,
but her smile is self-sacrificing, sad.
No one can resist its delicacy, it's pa
thetic appeal.
Before the war Vienna was stage
under a brilliant performance with
the young Hapsburg mobiles playing
the leads. "Ringstrazzen", Vienna's
glorius promenade, was filled with
uniforms, milling groups of happy peo-
Fple, the lights flickered on shiny de-
corations of gold and white, cars
hummed, orchestras tuned up; the
rhythm of Die Schooner Blauen Do
nau' was in the air as a fitting ac-
compartment to this spectacular per-
Torrance.
! Vienna still resembles a stage The
! scenemakers have done their duty:
the stage is set, but the actors are
missing.
Look at Vienna in a practical light
and people seem busy, but busy with
out hope or desire for progress. The
Viennese were always a happy go
lucky people, confirmed idealists.
| They love their freedom and the new
Austria is bound hand and foot with
| taxes
why, says the Viennese with de-
| lightful shrug of his shoulders,
should I try to advance when every
i thing is eaten up by taxes?" And he
consoles himself over cup of dark
coffee at Sachers or over his beer in
the Ratskeller, little caring whether
two and two are four or half dozen.
Only in the matter of music does
Vienna still remain supreme. The
home of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven,
Franz Shubert, and the charming
Strauss brothers, is still the musical
hub of the universe. The opera is
excellent; at the tradition-rich "Te-
atre An Der Wien" descendants of the
Strausses are now presenting their
musical plays; Cat the '.Burgteatre'
live the classics and in the music
halls one still hears Richard Strauss
and Rheinhardt conducting their sym
phonies.
But when eleven o'clock at night
comes, when the theatres are empty,
all signs of life suddenly vanish. The
lights are out. The visitor feels like
an-actor. on an empty stage. The long
rows of houses stand as scenes, the
opera raises its massive head, the
courthouse and the beautiful Votive
church point their delicate gothic
spires toward the empty midnight
heaven of blue velvet. The blue Dan
ube ripples softly as if asleep.
1 The actors are gone, the footlights
are out. All that remains is the deco
rations, waiting for the director who
can again get the stage to flutter
with life, color and light The New
Vienna, lovable, happy, and charming
as in the days of old, the beauty and
the pet of Europe.
/ still hear my friends counsel,
Don't stay in Vienna too long. It'll
get YOU"
| And so on to Paris on the Oriental
express through the Austrian and
Swiss Alps in twenty eight hours The
moment you reach the ''Gare Sud" you
feel it is Paris. The red uniforms of
attendants; grasping porters, sleek
youths hawking smutty. post cards.
Winking ladies' Guides whispering
of peep shows. Every hand is held
out for tip. Bowling and scraping.
The French are polite-if you tip
| Them.
:. =