558
EXPOSITION AT VIENNA.
and late, and seldom saw any signs of intoxication. However, by dint of many questions, I found that there is a proportion of these people who become so infatuated with the pleasures of the cup, as to forego almost everything to obtain the wished-for enjoyment. 'When a country youth visits the city for a " lark,” he very quickly falls into the clutches of the law, and is sent back to his rural home. Every morning the visitor at Vienna sees several huge arks, without windows, only a narrow door at the end, tilled by a policeman, lumbering through the gates toward the country. In one of these the unfortunate youth makes his triumphal entry into his home. Among the deuizens of the city, it is a common thing for the wife to be present when the husband is paid off qii Saturday night, and to reserve from his wages whatever sum she thinks necessary for household expenses. The rest is so small an amount that it does not admit of an extended debauch; it lasts until work begins. (In England, with the increase of wages during the last few years, has come increase of drunkenness, among many trades the men not getting at work until Tuesday afternoon, where previously the debauch was over by Monday morning.)
II. The Bar-rooms
Come next, of various degrees of elegance and popularity. There are more than two hundred of them about the city, all outside the ramparts, obliged to close at 12 p. m. In these, one can obtain wine and beer with a limited variety of food. Many are simply furnished' with coarse tables and chairs, while some are quite noted for their sumptuous appearauce. Dreher, who has carried the manufacture of beer to a high state of perfection, has a famous saloon in the old city. On Saturday and Sunday evenings, particularly if the weather is a little unpleasant, these saloons are crowded. The visitor notices that most of the patrons are of the middle and working classes, who come to smoke and talk while they enjoy a mug or two of beer. There is a peculiar sociability among the men, most of whom are smoking big brier-wood pipes. If the evening is a merry one, a song is given occasionally, or a street musician comes in to play for awhile. Here and there in the corners you notice a reader asleep over his paper,