AUSTRIA.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1134, 23 May 1911, Page 9

AUSTRIA.

THE BANKS OF THE DANUBE. . A PRICELESS LIBRARY. [Br Anuni RcTimtFOM.] Wo left Vienna by an early train, and after a pleasant run of two hours wo reached Molk. The country en routo is very fertile, and every squares foot is cultivated. I had seen, in Great Britain, women at work in the fields, but I was told that they only did so during tho summer. Hero they were sowing grain, harrowing, and many ploughing. Instead of. keeping tho furrows in straight lines, tliev are semi-circular, which does not necessitate tho turning of tho ploughshare at the end of cach row. Very picturesque look these women, with their large blue aprons, scarlet shawls, and white kerchiefs. But what is one to think of a country whoso men allow their womenfolk to mix co'iicrote, load carts with bricks, and other things equally heavy, in connection with house-building? This I saw in one of Vienna's main streets. But I wander from my original subject. . We were met with a landau at tho Molk station, and driven tip a steep hill to the Monastery—this is the one, and only, "sight" of Melk. As a castle it was built in COO a.d., but only a few rooms remain as they were, most of the large buildings being of the seventeenth century. The main corridor, over a portion of which wc traversed, is 185 metres, or more than 600 ft., in length, and 18ft-. wide. The State apartments —onco occupied by Nannlc-on, also by the Empress Marie Thercsc—remain intact. They closely resemble those at the Petit Trainon at Versailles. Wo were shown the pieco of scorched wood on which the great Napoleon burned the dispatch telling him of a lost battle. After one brief visit, the Empress Marie Th-eret-e sent a cushion a-s a- token of appreciation for the kindness she had received from the nuns. I asked tho guide if that was considered a "good" reward for so much kindness, nnd his reply was to tho effect that tho yearly monetary donations of tho Empress wero large, nnd the cushion, being mado by her own hands, was of great value. The walls were hung with fine tapestries, and the' tables and chairs, of oak, vied with the high cupboards in grandeur. A Wonderful Library. On the second floor stands tho library —such a library it is too, ,900 years of and only a restorer] 'ceiling! Shelves containing 20,000 ancient volumes, and in,small adjoining rooms arG to bo scon rccont-ly-edited English historical books. In glass eases wo saw tenth century hand inscriptions, of Horatius and Virgil, a Turkish Koran— this writing was like Pitman.'3 Shorthand—and the three first books printed at Gottenburg,' in 1150. From a balcony we had a splendid view of the Danube, and we were shown "spots" on which stood various great soldiers during battles. Napoleon travelled so much that he supplied guides with plenty of information for. tourists I Having'"visited a particularly cold chapel, wo returned to M. Ka-indt's gasthaus, where,' on tho terrace, wo had a scrved dejeuner. The cooking, as it°riiways is in this part of the world, was faultless, Jalid-as -we had. ordered- an "Austrian" meal, wc felt obliged to pai take of all the good things brought forward. Fish, fresh .from the Danube, wo much Enjoyed, but not so the ■ Viennese sausages, and sour krout. Have yon ever tasted sour kroutr Moil, in case you haven't, don t-! It isn tat all sour, but is disgustingly greasy, with a suspicion of haying been boiled with ham and onions. Kaiserschwareu, a- sweet which was new to us, is oiUf to bo'found around Vienna, and was a pleasant 'surprise. It is really choppad-up pancake, but very light, being made of Hour, cream, eggs, and sultanas. With this meal was served a good light wino, but 1 insisted on having raspberry and soda. \\ hen we inquired' of our iandlord as to what- o'clock the ferry boat for Vicuna departed, he said tbero was a seaman s strike, but ho would do his utmost to procure a small boat, and have us rowed down to Kreues, a distance of twenty-live miles. Vi'c said we would accompany him in his search, and having walked nearly a mile, wc reached a small gasthaus j there an old woman welcomed us into her parlour. She! talked German rapidly all tho while, and our host told us that slio wtinted us to use the piano, while "Rudolf" was sent for. Rudolf was a young Bohemian, and not given to hard work, but his good nature came to the fore, and he agreed to get a man to row us to Kreues for "just four times the legal fare. Wo rather laughed, but one always pays for experience, so we paid for ours! Victims of the Strike. Rudolf donned his "best" clothes, men seated himself at the old piano, and played the "Blue Danube" and >Hen, aui [ Li esa ,,g» v»altzcs. He told us that he had taught himself by ear, and 1 think ho spent much time at that piano, because his large, fat lianas were very soft and white. lhe wachau, or wine-growing country, is not so fertile as one would think; tho laces of the rocky hills liavo all been cleared of the pine trees, and are terraced. Tiny buildings are everywhere to be seen. In these Jive the men who guard the vine crops; the small groups or tt iutc-washt'd, black-roofed houses at the water's edgo belong to tho men and women who work in tho vineyards." Tho Danube is a gigantic river, something liko tour hundred yards wide, and ai° peanng to bo anything up to twenty feet deep. It is not exactly muddy, but, having seen tho ever-blue Mediterranean, I had bettor call tho Danube green.

Owing to the strike, there was but little traffic on the river, and tho ouly boat wo passed was a Hungarian cargo boat—tho Kekes—worked witli two pad-dJe-wheels, which disturbed the water, and mado oud tiny craft "bob" rather more than was pleasant. Wc saw many old castlo-monastories high on the hills. In one was Richard Coeur de Lion imprisoned, and in another an Austrian Baron used to give his captives the option of being starved to death or thrown from an attic window into space. As tho shadows lengthened, the oarsmen slackened their pace. At first I thought this was on account of the uncertain light, but I fear it was because tho wine flask had been emptied. As tho wine disappeared, so flagged tho energy of our men. At intervals of five minutes, out eamo Rudolf's watch—a seventeenth century one. "Only another hour," ho said_. then it was "only fifty-five minutes," and so on, until we feared that tho watch would wear itself out. Rudolf would do anything except row. He looked pityingly at his bruised hands, they struck another match to light "just one more" cigarette! Our guide mentioned that we wero timed to catch tho 7.20 train at Kreues. "You are on holiday?" tho young Bohemian said, and what matter to him that wo had a long, weary wait, until we at last caught a slow train into Vienna. It was after eight when wo anchored (?) within half a milo of tho railway station, and before we could say "flood night." Rudolf has disappeared within the sheltering doors of a neighbouring sasthaus*