REPORT OF DR. FRED. W. RUSSELL.
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THE USE OF WINE AND BEER AT YIENNA:
WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE DRINKING PLACES.
BY FRED. W. RUSSELL, M. D.
The city of Vienna and its environs have a population, according to the last census, of 932,000 souls. Most of the elements, so diverse in blood and language, which go to make up the Austrian Empire, are fully represented. Indeed, the leading newspaper of the city claims that seven languages are habitually spoken within her gates. One constantly sees on the streets evidences of this diversity, in the dress and social habits of the people, yet so far as the subject of this paper is concerned, they all seem to be members of one common brotherhood.
There are several pretty strongly marked social grades among the citizens. The nobility and upper classes are intelligent and cultivated, enjoying all the creature comforts of good housing and good feeding, which their wealth brings them. Another class, made up of wealthy bankers, merchants and manufacturers, lives well and is not exposed to the wear and tear of life more than the same class elsewhere. The next, or middle class, consists of traders, agents, professional gentlemen, teachers, etc., whose incomes allow of some degree of comfort; owing, however, to the excessive rents within the city they do not live so well as a similar class here. They are restricted to a very small amount of house room; a fact which has much to do with some of the outdoor habits of the people. Still another class is made up of workmen, commissaires, conductors, drivers, etc., whose wages range from eighty cents to $1.50 per day. Lastly, there is a great throng of poor laborers (men and women) who work on the streets, pump water, lay brick, carry mortar, and do the lowest drudgery of the