 Section 13 of Going Abroad, some advice. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Betty B. Going Abroad, some advice. By Robert Luce. Somewhat financial. Part 2. Where to buy specialties to advantage. It is chiefly by reason of specialties that European shopping can rightfully attract American buyers. Not alone, because special application to any one industry by a large part of the people of a locality is sure to make its price cheap. But also because an excess of production results in greater latitude for selection. Geneva may again illustrate, for besides watches, it makes a specialty of music boxes. And nowhere else can you find such a variety at such cheap prices. Of other specialties, the tourists will do well to buy. Tour de Shell, Coral and Lava in Naples. Wood carving in Switzerland. The Black Forest, Sorrento, Norway and Sweden. Olive wood articles at the Italian Lakes. Silver and gold filigree work in Genoa. Cameos, mosaics, and many other kinds of ornaments in Florence, Venice and Rome. Florence being the cheapest. Pearls and turquoises in Rome and Florence. The cheaper stones, amethyst, topaz, cairn gourds, etc. in Switzerland and Scotland. Toilet articles, soaps, perfumes, sponges, etc. in the German cities and in Paris. Venetian glass, of course, in Venice. Artistic plaster in Paris. Hammered brass in Northern Africa. Horseland pictures in Lucerne and Dresden. Letter paper in London. Umbrellas in Milan or Switzerland. Artificial flowers in Paris. Furs in Germany or Scandinavia. Woolen underwear in London and Germany. Silk underwear in Sorrento, Milan and France. Gloves in Naples, Genoa, Milan, Paris and London. Linen handkerchiefs, etc. in Belfast. Embroidery in Rennes and other Breton towns. Places in Venice, Seville and Belgium. The prices for real Valencians being somewhat lower in Bruges and Ghent than in Antwerp and Brussels. Silks in Lyon and in Genoa, Milan and other places in Northern Italy. Visitors often buy in the Italian lake towns plaid silk shawls to take home for wastes. A shawl large enough to furnish material for a blouse may generally be bought for less than an equal amount of silk sold by the yard. Cutlery, old silverware and Sheffield plate in London, engravings and all reproductions in Berlin. It will be noticed that in the foregoing list the names of Italian cities predominate. It is the general rule abroad that as you go south prices drop. The easier it is to live the lower the price the workmen will take The easier it is to live the more children and so the more competition for work. That is why Italy abounds in bargains. Tariffs and taxes appear to affect the matter very little. Neither free trader nor protectionist can justifiably be made more partisan by a journey through Europe. Rather he is likely to return with the impression that the tariff is a less important political issue than he had supposed. And buy things cheaper in high tariff and tax-ridden Italy. Then in no tariff England and would Holland without any industry to protect is the dearest country of all. What can you argue? Explain to if you can why Paris should be one of the costliest places in the world. It would be equally hard to explain why all America thinks Paris the cheapest place in the world and why it is the mecca of every fair shopper. To be sure its dress makers set the fashion for all women kind though its women are not the best dressed. That honor belonging to the Americans who with their own good taste modify Parisian ideas. Outside the costuming establishments as a shopping city it does not begin to compare with New York. It hasn't so many elegant shops. The shop windows are not so attractive. The system of doing business is not so convenient and the prices are not so reasonable. In neither of its two great department stores, the Beaumarchais and the Louvre, did I notice any department excelling in variety or quality of stock similar departments in the big stores of Boston. Americans who dwell in Paris will unanimously advise their countrymen and particularly their countrywomen to buy necessary things anywhere else rather than there. Particularly in the matter of all cotton goods, is it wasteful for the traveler to postpone expenditure till the ocean has been crossed. We grow the cotton, we have the best mills and we undersell the world. In all footwear too we are in the lead. Foreign boots and shoes of equal quality being higher in price, inferior in style and less comfortable in fit. In the art of window dressing, our merchants have gone far ahead of those in Paris, London and all other foreign cities. This is chiefly due to a difference in shopping methods. In London, for example, it is common for buyers to go from window to window till they see what they want. And so the merchant crowds into his window as many things as he can regardless of the general effect. The department stores to be found in London, Paris and a few other cities have fixed prices, but save in Germany they are almost the only foreign stores that do. The farther south you go the more you must beat down and by the time you reach Oriental countries a quarter of the price demanded is what should be given. Be patient and firm and you will get the article at that figure. In the smaller Italian stores the proprietor can be forced down from a quarter to a third. If you give him what he asks he is ashamed of himself for not having asked more. In the larger stores a discount of 10 or 15% is not hard to get. Swiss prices fluctuate according to the persistence of the buyer. Bargaining is half the fun of buying laces in Brussels. Do not proclaim that you are an American. On this point deceive the shopkeeper if your knowledge of the language will let you. Bullish Americans have spread abroad the notion that all Americans are fabulously rich and prices jump up the moment a customer's American origin is betrayed. A friend among the natives of the city where you maybe can save you considerable amounts by buying for you what you have decided to purchase. I had gathered the impression while touring in Germany that it was an exception to the continental rule of a flexible price list and that the same charges prevailed for native and foreigner. But I am informed that in all German cities where Americans reside in any number such as Berlin and Dresden they are systematically overcharged from 30 to 60% in everything. Moreover it is asserted that German courts do not deal out even handed justice in matters where trades people are at issue with foreigners. As for that litigation is not cheerful for the American anywhere on the continent. For instance the story goes that in Venice an American visited a dealer in antique furniture and saw a very beautiful set of carved furniture. The price was 12,000 lira. He ordered a duplicate of the set which was on exhibition and as a guarantee of his responsibility paid the dealer 2,000 lira. The dealer pocketed the money and never filled the order. The American consul attempted to compel him to manufacture the goods and forward them but he insolently refused to do so and he also refused to return the money. The court showed no disposition to help the American and the money was lost. On the other hand many a continental shopkeeper will tell you that no American ever cheated him. As a consequence it is easy for an American to get trusted but the credit practice is as foolish abroad as it is at home. Everywhere a cash bargain is the better for the buyer. In certain German towns they are quick to imprison foreigners if it is suspected that they intend leaving the country before settling their accounts. The confidence of the European shopkeeper astonishes the American. Trades people never refused to send goods to a hotel for inspection and frequently invite the opportunity. The milleners of London and Paris will gladly deliver a dozen boxes of hats that one may keep a day before selecting and apparently have not the least fear that a few hours' wear will be borrowed. Likewise they will deliver shoes, underwear, anything else. If you don't like it return it. The Beaumarchais in Paris won some of its reputation by the rule that uninjured goods may be returned at any time in exchange for the original price and instances are told of returns made a year after the purchase. Though so much leniency is not universal it is the custom abroad to refund the money for goods returned. seldom is any deposit asked for goods that are ordered for future delivery. In Rennes we were in bicycle costume with no luggage in sight except what was on our wheels and yet the embroidery merchants seemed pleased to take an order without deposit for some articles to overtake us by mail that we were not to accept if they did not suit our fancy though the making of them meant several days of labor. I hear a good deal of grumbling about purchases made abroad and shipped direct to an American address not because of the dealer's bad faith but because of the charges for broker's commission warehouse storage, cartage, steamship transportation, tariff, freight and so on which make it extravagant to buy abroad in this manner anything that can be duplicated at home no matter how alluring may be the foreign prices. The dealer's assurance that the article will be safely delivered in Chicago, New Orleans or where you please is all right and perhaps he believes what he says when he declares that the cost will be trifling but that is not the fact. Never take a guide or professional interpreter when you go shopping on the continent you will always get a commission on what you buy and it will come out of you. All the big stores have somebody who speaks English. In the little shops if you haven't mastered the oral use of the numerals of the country which should be your first duty on entering it a pencil and paper will bring into play the Arabic numerals common to all civilized lands. Collectors of curios and antiques must everywhere abroad be on their guard against deception. The Germans have large and prosperous factories for making antique lamps, corroded bronzes, rusty swords, battered armor, ancient potteries, all sorts of relics and these are shipped to the appropriate place for their sale. It is said that a German factory is hard-pressed to supply the bullets that are dug up on the battlefield of Waterloo. The Turkish fez is made in Germany. Beware the Saturday half-holiday in England. It is universal the year-round as much observed as Sunday so don't count on doing any shopping then. No business is done on the four bank holidays Easter Monday, Witt Monday, the first Monday in August and December 26th. Most important of all shopping advice to the tourist is this buy what you want when you see it. Don't indulge the American tendency to wait a while in the hope of finding the same thing at a better price. Nine times out of ten you will not come across it again so when a thing strikes your fancy and the price is not exorbitant take it then and there. Souvenirs and photography. To spend money on souvenirs lacking utility may be folly but it is charming folly. Given to friends presents from abroad that may not have cost of frank are prized as if they were jewels partly because of the glamour that surrounds everything European partly because they show that distance did not drown friendship. Kept by yourself, mementos of travel refresh its memories. They are needed even though it may seem to the traveler when entranced by foreign scenes that he can never forget them. Photographs best serve this purpose and he does well who is lavish in their purchase. Many travelers on returning regret that they bought photographs of different sizes or it is hard to preserve them attractively in an album or any other form. As many desirable views cannot be found in any other but the common eight by ten size it is preferable to get them all of those dimensions. Of course they should be bought unmounted the cards being awkward and bulky to pack. Those that cost half a frank ten cents in Italy will cost a frank in Paris and a shilling in London. In Switzerland they are cheaper than in Paris and dearer than in Italy but better than either Paris or Italy. Indeed to my mind the Swiss photographs are the best ordinarily exposed for sale in Europe. By going to the maker you can get the widest scope for selection and fresher pictures than those to be found on the shop counters but that is not important enough to warrant inconvenience. Since the hand camera using films has been perfected it is worthwhile taking your own views but not of places of which you can buy photographs. It is foolish for the amateur to start out with the idea of photographing all the fine buildings and beautiful landscapes he may see. In nine cases out of ten his pictures will cost more and be poorer than those he might buy. At home it is well enough to experiment and practice a broad time is too precious for that. So it is more important to snap the shutter at views of a personal interest than at those with artistic value. The outlook from your hotel window, a country railway station, the flower market, a peasant costume, the diligence in which you crossed an alpine pass, glimpses from a railway car, the strand or the avenue de l'opera at midday, a Neapolitan cab driver, your hotel at Venice. Such are the subjects that will always pleasantly refresh your own memory and make your descriptions available to the friends at home. These friends will be bored if you talk about the Louvre, the Falls of the Rhine, the Pantheon, St. Mark's. What they want to hear about is the life abroad and an impertinent beggar arouses their interest more than the Venus de Medici. So if you take pictures for any but a purely selfish purpose always have life in them and the more odd and grotesque that life the better. For that matter every photograph should have a living being in it. Man, woman, child or animal, both for the sake of animation and to give the eye a standard of measurement. Don't be afraid of getting too near your subject. It is not worthwhile to carry a broader camera using plates. The film camera is bulky enough, goodness knows, and many a time you will wish it at the bottom of the sea. Yet on the whole you will be glad of having taken it. The four by five size best combines good work and portability. After trying it on one tour and a folding pocket on another, I inclined toward the smaller one on the score of convenience, particularly if it is to be carried on a bicycle. Its pictures do not average so well in excellence, but they serve the purpose. That is, they suffice to recall the scenes and to help entertainment. Larger sizes than the four by five are cumbersome and fatiguing. Films can be secured in any large city of Europe. But a connoisseur advised me to get them all here unless a trip of many months was contemplated, as he said that though the foreign films are made from the same formula, somehow they do not produce so good results. As a precaution, however, it will be wise before starting to get from the American manufacturers lists of their foreign agencies. If the films are taken from here, have them delivered in tin canisters to protect them from the dampness of the sea voyage. If the larger roles are taken, better expose two or three from each role before starting and develop them to make sure that they are perfect. The man who has never used a hand camera does a very foolish thing if he starts off on a long journey without any preliminary practice. It is all very well to advertise, you push the button and we do the rest, but pushing the button isn't all of it by any means. The combinations of speed of shutter and sizes of stops require a clear understanding and some experience before the best results are attained. The art is not difficult, it is an easy thing to use a hand camera after you know how, but even the simplest processes will confuse the novice and it is a pity to carry a camera over all Europe, go to the bother of hunting for good subjects and come back to find that through ignorance of some apparently trivial thing you have spoiled half your films. When intelligent people beginning to use a camera in spite of the plainest directions will point it toward the source of light or press the button without removing the dust slide or cap, it seems clear that a little teaching by experience is essential. It is often thought that in buying a camera the securing of a good lens is the all important thing and that the mechanism of the shutter is a minor detail. I didn't think so and my shutter refused to work in the Alhambra, a place of all places where a camera in good condition seemed most desirable. It turned out that the wooden base of the shutter mechanism had been swollen during the ocean voyage so that something was thrown out of gear and a camera that had done long and excellent work in America was for a while not worth a cent. Nobody could be found with knowledge enough of hand cameras to repair this one and it was weeks before my own struggle with the thing in spare moments got that shutter into condition again. Moral, have your camera thoroughly examined by an expert in such matters before you start. Wherever there is a film agency you can get your films developed but the foreign work in this line is not equal to the American and it is better to wait till you get back. Yet it may be wise to have one or two films developed now and then to see that the shutter is working right and that the film has not been damaged. Post, Express and Telegraph all European countries as well as the United States in Canada are now in the postal union and the rates from any one country to any other are virtually the same corresponding in the coinage of the country in question to the following on mail matter sent from the United States. 5 cents, postal cards 2 cents, newspapers, books and other printed matter each 2 ounces, 1 cent, commercial papers packets not in excess of 10 ounces for each 2 ounces or fraction thereof, 5 cents packets in excess of 10 ounces for each 2 ounces or fraction thereof, 1 cent samples of merchandise packets not in excess of 4 ounces, 2 cents packets in excess of 4 ounces for each 2 ounces or fraction thereof, 10 cents registration fee on letters or other articles 10 cents. In the states we have for some time been accustomed to an ounce as the weight limit on the minimum letter rate and do not at first appreciate how in foreign correspondence the half ounces count up at 5 cents a piece but a lesson or two will soon teach the wanderer the wisdom of falling into the general habit abroad of using thin paper and light envelopes for the letters sent home. But those who would conform to the usage of society would hardly employ that sort of paper in answering invitations or in any formal correspondence with persons in the country where the letter was written. Postal cards are great convenience to those who feel under obligations to keep their relatives constantly informed as to their whereabouts and welfare they're easily carried easily handled and when closely written can convey a surprising amount of information. Be careful though that you buy neither cards nor stamps beyond the quantity you are likely to use in the country where you may be where they are useless in any other country. The postal union will not be perfect till its cards and stamps can be used anywhere within its limits. If postage is not fully prepaid on matter going from one place in the United States to another in the same country only the balance due is collected of the receiver but on matter going from one country to another twice the balance due is collected. That is if your home correspondent puts on a 2 cent stamp instead of a 5 cent stamp you must pay 6 cents to get the letter. The seldom means much on letters but on merchandise on matter it may amount to a good deal for the youth studying abroad on a very small allowance. Stories are told at the same time laughable and pathetic of heavy excess postage payments on Christmas cards and gifts amounting to much more than the original cost of the articles. Of course thoughtful people will always prepay all mail matter and will be equally careful to enclose a stamp when asking a reply from any stranger. If you sent home books, periodicals, newspapers or manuscript not personal in nature which go at printed matter rate be sure that the parcel is open at both ends and tied with a string so that it can be examined if the customs official so wish. Merchandise must also be packed so that it can be examined. In England at any rate and I presume in all other countries every parcel going out of the country must have a customs declaration respecting the contents. This must be on a form obtainable at any post office. The duties cannot be prepaid but are collected on delivery. Articles of trivial value will probably run the gauntlet without interference. No cautious shipper ever sends a package by mail or in any other manner without having his own address on it that he may stand some chance of recovering the goods in case the person address cannot be found. In the United Kingdom compensation for loss or damage to an amount not exceeding ten dollars will be given without payment of any special fee. A certificate of posting has been obtained. The safest way to have one's mail come is in care of a banker next in point of safety or pensions next hotels. Post restante is understood everywhere as the equivalent of our general delivery. For letters it is commonly safe though it may be bothersome if the postmaster chooses to demand identification. This rarely happens but when it does the passport comes in handy. To have parcels or newspapers addressed to the post restante is not safe. For several weeks of a bicycle tour in France I failed to receive a single newspaper so addressed though many were sent to me and though the officials repeatedly avert that there was no intention to abuse the newspaper mail. My belief is that my papers were all thrown away in the office of receipt. As soon as I returned to the use of bankers addresses the papers began reaching me all right. Bankers are exceedingly obliging in these matters. They will send letters or papers after one from place to place all over the continent till they catch up with the traveler. The tourist agencies are not so certain in this regard in the summertime for though doubtless their intentions are of the best they are then so overworked that what probably seems the least important thing the mail gets slighted. By the way when calling for mail at the post restante you will better write your name and hand it through the wicket. Just remember how hard you find it to understand a foreign name when spoken to yourself. Letter writing is as great a nuisance to the tourist as letter writing is a delight. If one could only convince his home friends that it is so much better for them to give than to receive that they ought to permit the correspondence to be wholly one sided. Many an hour would not be begrudged from seeing, studying or resting. The novice in travel is profuse and promises to write and seldom keeps them. Let the stay at home have charity. The post office department calculates on eight days the application of mail from New York to London, Paris or Bremen. Ten days to Glasgow and as follows to other European cities by way of London. Nine days to Amsterdam, Antwerp, Berlin, Hamburg, Madrid, Rome, Rotterdam. Ten days to St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Vienna. Eleven days to Constantinople. Twelve days to Athens. Thirteen days to Alexandria. Letters or telegram sent to passengers on the Atlantic should be addressed in care of the company and bear the name of steamer and date of sailing. Otherwise they will be held at the office until claimed unless by happy chance the name is recognized as that of a passenger which will be seldom. Letters intended to reach passengers by mail steamers touching a Queen's Town on the way to America should be addressed in care of the commander of the boat in question and should in Great Britain be addressed not later than the morning of the day the boat is to leave Liverpool. Europe has no express system corresponding precisely with ours. That is to say it has no large express companies that monopolize the quick transportation of parcels unaccompanied by the owner. Part of the work is done by the various governments through development of the parcels post system that the United States has not yet adopted. Part of it is done by foreign companies themselves. A small part of it is done by forwarding agents who stand more in the position of shippers and receivers than in that of transporters. Our uniform merchandise mail rate of a cent announced with the four pound limit contrasts markedly with the English rates ranging from six cents for a pound or less to 24 cents for 11 pounds the limit and still more with the Swiss rates by which to send a 44 pound package costs only 30 cents and it is cheaper to send almost anything portable by post than in any other way. To mail a traveling bag in Switzerland is common. The railways of Great Britain have two rate scales for parcels and merchandise one applying if they are forwarded by passenger train the other if by goods train or what we call freight train. Likewise there is a double classification on the continent for forwarding by Grand Vitesse big quickness as it is called in France or by Petit Vitesse little quickness. The big quickness has little quickness enough goodness knows. A slangy American would say that one way was slow and the other dead slow. The British prices for forwarding by passenger train range from eight cents for two pounds any distance to 60 cents for 24 pounds going 200 miles. This is lower than the American express rates on small packages and higher on the large packages continental roads figure it in the same way taking both weight and distance into account with rates of the same general range freight rates Petit Vitesse are of course much lower but it is not safe to use them if delivery more than a month later would be embarrassing. Though the goods may go through in two or three days instances of as many months are not unknown. As the railroads cater for a parcels business they maintain many receiving offices the London and Northwestern for example has nearly 40 scattered through London 60 in Birmingham as with our express system parcels are called for a notification at any of these offices and delivered without extra charge Paris too is dotted with receiving offices and railroads and in all the cities one can find a bureau in the business center where he can arrange about forwarding things without having to go to the station which is usually on the edge of the town. There are a few large concerns doing the business of forwarding agents their chief service to the tourists consists in the combination of storing with forwarding and in their care of customs matters where things are going well. In London one of these concerns charged me a shilling a month for attending to transportation their fee in addition to the transporting charge is equally reasonable but implicit faith is no more to be put in them than in one of our express companies for instance two young women who had ordered a trunk forwarded to Liverpool and held to the time they were to sail said directions early enough by mail as they reached Liverpool on Saturday afternoon the half holiday time to find no trunk on the steamer and the place of the forwarding agent closed messengers hunted for him in vain and the young women perforce returned to the United States without any trunk. We sympathize with them and fellow passengers lent them things but they were not happy and no wonder such mischances are rare but they do happen now and then to people who put in Providence and run for luck. When a forwarding agent is asked to send a trunk or any locked article across the frontier be sure to give him the key that the customs authorities may examine the contents he is responsible for seeing that nothing is perloined in the course of this process the key is not needed when you forward anything by a railway company in bond such as a trunk from Paris addressed in care of the steamer at your sailing port from which you are to sail by the way purchases or clothing found to be superfluous can be forwarded to the steamship office at your sailing port and will there be held to you call for them of course one should be careful that his trunk or parcel is properly labeled or tagged with label or tag likely to stay in place if charges are prepaid it is wise to see that the label is properly stamped on signee carelessness in this regard cost me double on a bag sent from London to a Liverpool hotel it is just as well not to prepay luggage thus sent to a hotel will be paid for by the landlord who will take the chances of your turning up to reimburse him one need be less on his guard against double charging an imposition in Norway and Sweden than anywhere else dishonesty there is the rare exception a vehicle broke down between post stations and there's nothing to do but pile the luggage beside the road and walk on to the next station but this baggage expostulated the American will it be safe scanning the heavens the Norwegian driver replied I don't think it will rain you could imagine no other danger the best way to transmit money from one country to another in any amount up to a hundred dollars is by international money order it is safe to reckon on a cost of a dollar transmitted with a minimum cost of ten cents money may be sent home in this way or the remitter can send express orders to cable money is rather costly in the matter of the telegraph as well as in that of the parcel post the European is far ahead of us at least the matter of cost though the publicist who contend for the private ownership of the telegraph and telephone maintain that our plan secures the more efficient service but whether or not the foreigner gets his telegrams transmitted as quickly and accurately certainly the work is done for him at a price which makes the use of the wire far more common than with us telegrams may be sent from any one place in the United Kingdom to any other there in at the rate of twelve cents for the first twelve words and a send for each additional word to France Germany Holland or Belgium or four cents a word from Austria for six cents a word to Spain for eight cents a word in Great Britain the address of the receiver is charged for but not that of the sender when written on the back of the telegraph form the charge includes delivery within the town postal limits or within one mile of a head office beyond that limit the charges twelve cents a mile for the first three miles if three or more miles at the rate of twenty four cents a mile from the telegrams cost a cent a word with a minimum charge of ten cents and the rate is not much higher in any of the European countries commonly visited all the European cities have telephone systems and there is a long distance telephone from London to Paris but how much farther the system may by this time have been extended I am not informed cable rates between New York City and the principal countries of Europe are Belgium France Germany Great Britain Holland twenty five cents a word Switzerland thirty cents Italy and Sicily thirty two Austrian Hungary thirty four Denmark and Norway thirty five Malta Serbia and Romania thirty six Turkey thirty seven Greece thirty eight Sweden and Portugal thirty nine Spain forty Gibraltar and Russia forty three to these must be added the American telegraph tolls from the seaboard and the foreign tolls from the chief city the address and signature are included in the chargeable matter and the length of words is limited to fifteen letters when a word is composed of more than that every additional fifteen letters or fractions thereof will be counted as a word to save expense in the matter of address it is the custom to file at your home office any combination of letters chosen arbitrarily with which your street address or that of your business house relative or friend is registered for example before leaving home go to the telegraph office and direct that any message coming for Smilax Boston or New York or wherever it may be shall be delivered to such and such an address further economy is secured by the use of a cable code where in words are indexed to signify whole sentences or at least a considerable part of sentences if you have one copy in your correspondence its mate long messages can thus be transmitted by the use of a very few words the ground is admirably covered by the Adams cable codex which is published in 84 state street Boston at 50 cents and will be forwarded on receipt of price or it may be ordered of the publishers of this volume in this codex is a word signifying a request to the publishers to translate the other words of the message and forward them to whatever address may be desirable so if one desires to communicate with anybody not having a codex he has but to cable the significant word to the cable address of the codex with the other code words of his message the cost of the book is saved several times over on the first message you may send informing anxious friends of your safe arrival and though you may not need to use it again yet if the occasion arises as from sickness at home business necessities or shortage of funds the saving will be very considerable end of section 13 section 14 of going abroad some advice this is a LibriVox recording a LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Betty B going abroad some advice by Robert loose personalities passports are no longer necessary on the ordinary roots of European travel though indispensable in Russia and the Turkish dominions including Egypt and Palestine they are almost never of use in England but are occasionally desirable on the continent and when wanted at all are wanted very much an American may wander through Europe for a year without ever having occasion to prove his identity but if the occasion does arise it is urgent the trouble and cost of getting a passport are slight and it is just as well to have one the passport agents or bankers fee can be easily saved by getting a blank application from Washington for nothing it will be forwarded if you send request to the passport division state department or if you are in a large city you can get one at a law stationers for a few cents fill it out swear to it before notary or justice of the peace who may charge you 50 cents if you are a stranger and then forward it with the fee of a dollar to the state department which in due time will send you the passport better attend to it two or three weeks before sailing but if you should overlook the matter till late have it sent you at the port of departure in care of the steamer on which you are to sail by the way any letters thus addressed are almost sure to reach you and it is a pleasure to hear from home the last thing before the steamer sails if you find yourself abroad without a passport and get into trouble by reason of its lack apply it once for help to the nearest American console if you want to apply for a passport while abroad do it through the chief diplomatic representative of the United States in the country where you may be in his absence through the console general or console if a passport is lost a duplicate can be secured from the state department without filling out a new blank an English console in Germany says that anyone who intends making a long stay there especially in Prussia will find it absolutely necessary to have a passport as according to the police regulations house owners lodging housekeepers etc are bound to report within three days the arrival of any stranger when original proofs of identity are invariably demanded passports are supposed to be required in Austria-Hungary but are not demanded at the frontier and are seldom called for anywhere if the traveler expects to go to Russia he should send or take his passport to the Russian console general Alexander Oberovsky 22 State Street New York that his visa may be affixed the fee is $1.20 if the passport is sent the sender should state the place of birth and also the form of religion professed the excursion is planning a tour through central Europe alone is likely to need his passport only in case registered letters or money orders are sent to him passports are good for two years but can then be renewed on application to the state department at Washington baggage I do not know whether the Romans called their baggage impendimenta because it impeded but I do know that in all rogues the Tsarist no true synonym is to be found since traveling began old travelers have advised new travelers to take little baggage yet every novice takes too much though any but hand luggage makes additional expense that is not inconsiderable the objection is not chiefly on the score of economy or anybody who can afford to travel can usually afford to pay for comfort it is on the score of convenience everything that is taken must be handled again and again and again to pack and unpack a trunk takes valuable time it is no small matter to arrange properly a traveling bag crowded with small articles luggage reveals more than anything else what the poet or somebody else has called the natural cussedness of inanimate objects the traditional needle in the haystack is a crowbar compared with a thimble and a trunk don't take a trunk if it can be avoided it is certainly needless for the ordinary European excursion of anything less than three months should you buy bulky articles abroad get the trunk there postponing its purchase as long as possible English tourists on the continent rarely take trunks but the number of bags and bundles they manipulate is incredible this because hand luggage pays no railroad fares as has been explained if a trunk seems indispensable take a steamer trunk which is half the height of an ordinary trunk and is the only kind that is allowed in state rooms it can there be stowed under the birth a safe height for a steamer trunk is 13 inches if other trunks are to be taken the simpler planer and stronger they are the better inventors have not had marked success in trunk devices and though a few are good most of them are more bother than they are worth baggage smashing is not so general in Europe as in America but now and then you will see a trunk dropped from the top of an omnibus to the ground and it is not safe to count on general handling by reason of the baggage rates on continental railroads travelers use the lightest trunks they can get frequently buying in Paris or London the cloth covered wicker hampers in which to bring home their purchases I have heard of travelers who have carried these hampers about Europe without damaging them and then had them ruined in getting from New York to Boston the only one I ever bought was pretty nearly ruined before it got on the steamer and I am not enthusiastic about their wearing qualities have your trunk marked with big colored crosses on the ends conspicuous initials or some other mark readily distinguished there are frequent occasions when it must be picked out of a large pile of baggage on wars in customs houses and on the platforms of English railway stations for the English have no check system and every time you leave the train you must go to the luggage van and watch the trunks unloaded till yours appears if you are to return from the port at which you land the steamer trunk can be stored in the company's warehouse or small fee or none ordinarily the passenger leaves it in the state room with the tag or label showing the boat and date of return the stewards put it in the baggage room on the dock and when you come on board for the return trip it is found in the state room of course though it is safer to avoid any chance of misunderstanding or oversight by visiting the dock long enough before sailing to make sure that somebody attends to the matter should you cross by the southern route to a Mediterranean port with the intention of returning from a northern port by a boat of the same line your trunk will be sent round there with little or no charge if you want to take the steamer trunk with you the steamer clothes rug Ulster or what you please can well be put in a canvas bag you should have taken for the purpose and stored as the trunk would have been stored an ordinary flower sack will suffice and be quite safe the steamer trunk has for travel onshore advantages in its compactness over the size customary with us apart from the saving in railway charges the American hack with its trunk rack behind is unknown abroad where the boxes go on top of the cab or handsome or else beside the driver the large trunks may in fact be thus carried the small trunk is in this particular much the more convenient for all concerned packing a trunk is an art by itself the important thing is to pack tight if the trunk has two trays and there are not enough things to fill them solid fill in the bottom and one tray solid and put in the other tray only things that can tumble without damage garments should be laid flat rather than rolled it is useful to put heavy things at the bottom for baggage smashers never regard a trunks equilibrium fragile article should not touch sides top or bottom for there they will get the full force of concussion if corks are tied up even ink bottles can be safely carried around the world in the middle of a trunk newspapers may good protection for things that projecting corners may hurt and let no woman ask her husband to pack a hat or waste in a trunk letter take the awful responsibility herself of traveling bags the extension style gets the most approval from experienced travelers extension bags are seldom ornamental but the appearance of luggage is never considered abroad they fit their contents will hold a surprising amount and are not so easily crushed that starched linen is likely to get wrinkled or a souvenir broken next in preference is that more recent invention the dress suitcase it is the most easily packed holds clothing with a few folds protects its contents with its unyielding sides and best of all can be carried with less fatigue because it lets the handle come nearer the leg then is the case with other styles of bags and to hold the hand away from the leg is one of the things that makes carrying irksome English tourists have a fondness for the hold all or wrap up a despicable looking thing made of canvas and bound with leather which has its good points as its name signifies it is merely a stout covering flexible enough to adapt itself to its contents however bulky they may be a hold all and an extension bag together will carry as much as a small trunk as a substitute for the hold all a yard and a half of rubber cloth and a shawl strap can be economically used but don't take a cheap shawl strap the stoutest is none too safe the little things I am addicted to the reticule habit if I may extend a word usually applied to a woman's handbag to cover the sort of satchel that of late years has been much used by men in their journeys between office and home or away for a night in long travels it serves as a receptacle for many convenient things that are too bulky for the pocket yet may be lost or hard to get to in a large release in such a small bag can be conveniently carried the guidebook the novel to be read on the train timetables field glasses smoking utensils when smoking is a habit playing cards and a score of other little things likely to be in demand at any time as well as fruit or luncheons women will find a cloth shopping bag equally handy especially on shipboard where it can be taken on deck with the writing materials book or other little things which are likely to be needed during the day and thus save tremulous trips to convenience if toilet articles are kept for the most part in separate bags and boxes there should be a rubber bag for the sponge a celluloid cover for the toothbrush a celluloid box for the soap and a soil clothes bag a woman will find use in a small bag for hairpins brush comb and buttonhook made with a draw string so that it can be hung in plain sight the toilet requisites of travelers are able to track the world over that it seems almost superfluous to enumerate them how absurd to tell any civilized being to take a toothbrush yet in the haste of packing even a toothbrush may be overlooked so it will do no hurt at any rate to print this list of course the classification is based on personal notions essential toothbrush in celluloid holder shaving brush in celluloid holder soap pocket knife comb and hairbrush court plaster ink bottle with spring cover sponge Vaseline telescoping drinking cup steamer rug a thick carriage robe will serve on a pinch shawl strap closed brush scissors stylographic or fountain pen corkscrew needles and thread pin cushion and safety pins toilet paper in cloth case twine visiting cards buttons leather purse for coin address book and pencil collar buttons and shirt studs for women glove and shoe buttons sewing silk tapes hooks and eyes hat pins and small pins black and white for anybody whose eyes are weak colored glasses for the nearsighted extra spectacles desirable leather vial case to be bought of a dealer in medical goods or through any apothecary containing vials of Jamaica ginger, cholera medicine listerine, arnica medicine for coughs and colds whiskey, toilet water amamelis, ink, paragoric bootlaces and hat string cathartic pills and quinine sidelets, powders pocket looking glass pieces of flannel and cotton hot water bag, a few elastic bands also tags and labels patent trouser buttons playing cards thin linen paper and envelopes tape measure or pocket rule diary, folding alcohol lamp, tube of toothpaste for women smelling salts comforts and luxuries aneroid barometer also pocket thermometer paper covered novels for smokers Swedish matches sometimes called fuses binocular glasses combining the merits of field and opera glasses flask compass, pocket tool chest tools inside the handle small pillow for steamer chair and in trains clothing every self-respecting man and woman accustomed to the conventionalities of society wants at all times to be neatly dressed but it is universally understood that the exigencies of travel do not permit the variety and elegance of costume, customary and practicable at home indeed, good taste does not justify the display of elaborate gowns and millinery on steamers in cars and at the tables of hotels frequented by transient guests the plain as garb therefore is permissible in traveling and as a European tour Berry seldom takes one where a stylish appearance is essential it is both needless and foolish to cover one's self with the variety of wearing apparel for the woman who does not expect to visit abroad who plans nothing but sightseeing and who makes a quick trip one skirt will suffice unless its wearer has the misfortune to be caught in a driving rain without protection but in the ordinary course of travel that is not likely to happen even should she be obliged once or twice to stay in her chamber an hour or two while the skirt was dried at the kitchen fire the bother would be less than that of carrying along an extra skirt to be sure the idea of wearing the same skirt for two or three months seems intolerable to most women before they go but though I have heard the verdict of many women who have made the journey I have yet to find one who thinks more than a single skirt an actual necessity though some advise a second if a trunk is taken the skirt should be a dark material preferably a surge or mohair a coat of the same material with a silk waist and several shirt wastes will suffice for outer garments except of course a waterproof in winter abroad and at all seasons on the steamer some sort of a wrap is necessary perhaps the most comfortable being a cape ulster of course it is absurd to wear on shipward anything that will be damaged by salt water for spray or to fly women should plan their garments for the voyage so they can dress and undress with the utmost possible speed five minutes delay in the state room may send one back to her birth though she would have been alright could she only have reached the deck older clothes are the common thing on shipward but that does not mean shabby clothes whoever takes dilapidated garments on board with the idea of throwing them away on reaching the other side once the qualms of sea sickness are gone it is as satisfying to be neatly dressed on the ocean as it is on the land the wise will not aim at elegance nor be unhappy if the garments are not of the very latest and most extreme fashion but they will regret appearing disreputable don't forget that steamer chairs give shoes more than usual prominence a wrapper or bathrobe is a convenience on the steamer but it is bothersome to carry about on land pajamas are highly recommended by men who have used them in births by reason of the protection they give against drafts and cold in the cold rooms and damp beds of southern Europe during the winter season flannel or flannelette nightgowns will be found to comfort by both men and women two sets of underclothing may be made to suffice for washing is done very quickly at all foreign hotels yet most people will prefer to carry the slight additional weight of another set silk underwear has strong advocates among those who have tried it and though costlier at the outset it is said to be more economical in the long run standing the laundering better India not China's silk is advised as being the more easily washed it sheds rather than gathers dust does not retain wrinkles and keeps the body at an even temperature as it does not conduct the heat so readily as cotton or wool people who habitually wear thick woolen undergarments during American winters will find them no less comfortable in southern Europe at the same season though the thermometer may range much higher than on this side the water on the way over whether in summer or winter women may find flannel knickerbockers or silk equestrian tights more convenient than thick petticoats another garment that in winter will be found most serviceable for both men and women is the sweater as a comfort giver on the deck of the steamer in railway cars when on long journeys in hotel chambers even in art galleries and when driving I have never found its equal it is nearly as warm as an Ulster and far more comfortable when the wearer is walking thus far it has been monopolized by people with athletic proclivities and custom does not permit its use as yet to elderly people but I feel sure that when travelers come to understand its merits they will make more use of it of course I do not advise anybody to wear a sweater in high park or the bois on the boulevard des italien or the corso at the theater or the table don't in places where people congregate everybody should want to dress in a way that does not attract attention by eccentricity and it is true that one is never so much judged by dress as when traveling because then one is judged entirely at first sight but shivering memories of the railway cars of Europe and the galleries of Italy in winter of the passes of the Alps in summer convince me that there are times when even in the presence of strangers comfort and health are of more consequence than appearances as a general role however one should wear in public abroad nothing that he would not wear in similar surroundings at home thick under clothing may or may not be welcome on shipboard according to the weather summer days at sea are often uncomfortably warm a garment that deserves more popularity is called the Rigby a substitute for the Macintosh I found it in Canada and though it may be sold elsewhere I have never seen it exposed for sale in the States the dealer told me it had been chemically treated so that it was waterproof without doubting his veracity I will merely quote the belief of others that it had been extra shrunk before making up anyway it will stand any wedding to which it is likely to be exposed in travel it is a soft plaid woolen made long and with a cape much more agreeable to the touch and it can be folded, jammed twisted without getting to look disreputable till it is fairly worn out I have used it for a blanket when camping in the woods for a pillow for an extra covering on cool nights when traveling for a seat for the outer covering of a shawl strap bundle during many weeks of travel besides for the ordinary purposes of a waterproof and light overcoat and I haven't been able to ruin the thing and to injure it perceptibly perhaps it is made for women though I have seen it only for men it has seemed to me that if travelers of either sex unable to find just this thing offered for sale would have a long coat with detachable cape and without lining made of a light soft woolen plaid extra shrunk they would find it in a foreign tour a most useful substitute for light overcoat, macintosh or Ulster I am not audacious enough to enter the domain of women's headwear more than to suggest what ought to be self-evident that the wind plays havoc with broad brimmed hats and that they are uncomfortable in railway cars especially those abroad for there the seats are always against partitions the same suggestion may be made to men the stiff flat wide brim of a straw hat is certainly less adapted to traveling than any other sort of brim indeed men will find a stiff hat of any kind uncomfortable whether it be derby or silk possibly it may violate the laws of good dress to wear a cap all the time yet it is certainly the most pleasurable of all head coverings a felt hat has its good points but in summer it is warm a cap that can be jammed into the pocket without injury on entering a church or museum is a great convenience or to read from a guidebook while holding a stiff hat under one's arm requires unusual dexterity and good nature a derby is of course the desirable hat in city streets but a man who go all through Europe with a soft outing cap and never feel that his head covering was attracting attention or making him the subject of unpleasant comment of course if ceremonious calls are to be made the conditions are quite different I refer to traveling in Europe not to staying there on the boat the woman tourist will find a cap tamo shanter or hood the most useful thing and for men a soft hat or cap is a sine qua non for the feet light colored shoes are on the whole preferable because they look better with less care every healthy tourist is sure to do a great deal of walking and many a night the feet will ache the easiest of shoes should be worn and for the same reason slippers will prove a big relief in hotels and pensions women should take a pair of soft heelless dressing slippers outing shirts for men are far the most comfortable and they have the decided advantage of not yielding so quickly to the grime of railway trains and the perspiration of exercise which the traveler cannot avoid now that for four or five months a year they are commonly worn in the daytime their suitability for travel is beyond question at the table dot and at any place of resort after dark the white shirt and collar are of course desirable and almost every man after day sightseeing or car riding is glad to get into fresh garments of a somewhat more genteel character so that a white shirt or two should be found in every traveling bag in the daytime the younger men at any rate may safely give the outing shirt the preference the tourists with even the most dapper instincts can afford to remember that common sense does not demand him to compete in dress with the men he will see in Piccadilly or the Untur Den Linden what is called a business suit is the most appropriate costume a man can wear and it is needless for him to take along a dress faction and putting on a black coat Sundays or for dinner but its absence will not be remarked a dress suit is wholly needless for almost every tourist if you get the chance to attend some dinner party or state function hire a dress suit if you can't borrow one unless you have intimate friends living abroad the chances of such a need are remote you would not like to sit in certain parts of the opera house at Paris unless you were an evening dress there are plenty of seats where a black cutaway or Prince Albert will be just exactly as satisfactory to yourself and everybody else and a sack suit will arouse no comment walking sticks are an encumbrance that will not be endured by men not irretrievably bound to the cane habit many will prefer not to take an umbrella but to buy one should imperative occasion arise it may not happen at all that you will be in rain where an umbrella will be demanded women will need the lightest of rubbers men will not need them the streets of all european cities are paved and you never come across anything like genuine American mud in northern european winter galoshes might occasionally prove useful but the streets are so quickly cleared of snow that they are less serviceable than in the states women are likely to need rubbers on shipboard by reason of wet decks or pair of shoes against the chance of waves wetting one pair in all this advice it will be noticed that comfort is the first consideration style the last this is partly because style is actually a less consequence in Europe than in America for though the aristocrats of London are the best dressed men in the world and the demi-mold of Paris displays the women who think themselves the best dressed women in the world the mass of the people are more indifferent to the dictates of fashion than those of American cities and there is a variety in costume which relieves the stranger from appearing odd if he consults his purse or fancy but the advice is given chiefly because comfort is indeed the most important thing in travel for travel is hard work hard physical work and it cannot be enjoyed if the demands of the body are ignored food and drink most important of bodily demands is that of the stomach fortunately the traveler in Europe has little need of counsel in this regard for the cooking is uniformly superior to that of America and except in Great Britain and Holland the customs do not encourage overeating perhaps the most prolific cause of bodily disorders in central and southern Europe it is the universal practice that the first meal of the day or chocolate with a roll and butter this seems all wrong to the American before he gets there he thinks he never will be able to last till lunch and time if he can't add at least an egg or two and a beef steak or mutton chop would not be unwelcome yet after trying the continental plan for a week rare is the American who hungers for the hearty American breakfast nevertheless Americans who go back and forth frequently tell me that although on the other side the coffee and roll seem amply sufficient the moment they land in New York they have to go back to more substantial dishes perhaps the climate has something to do with it certain it is too that the Britain and the Dutchman went at home insist on starting the day with a liberal supply of fuel perhaps because their cold winters demanded the continental custom of serving both luncheon and dinner in courses prevents fast eating therefore is more healthy than the American custom though very trying to the American patients each portion seems small and nobody has the audacity to ask for a second help yet somehow when you have finished your appetite has been satisfied being ascribed to this the fact that on his last trip he lost 20 pounds he had came home in better health than he had enjoyed for years and it is sure that sickness is rare that among an equal number of Americans of the same station in life at home the doubtless that is partly because they are usually in good health when they start when you have your choice of dishes as at cafes order what is local if you want the best what can you expect if you order salmon in Switzerland or macaroni in Edinburgh food is one of the few things where price is no index of quality the cheapest dishes are often the most delicious wine is another article that is best where it is produced it is often heard by transportation and away from its home it is often adulterated for example it is almost impossible for any but an expert to get pure sherry anywhere safe in Gires Spain the most delicious of Italian wine the Montefiasconi is only to be found at its best in the neighborhood of Orvieto where it is injured even by carrying as far as Rome and would be utterly worthless if conveyed to Paris for that reason it is cheap at Orvieto in spite of its excellence therefore the wine of a district the Van Ordinaire is not to be despised because it is of low cost from the fact that wine is the common beverage of the Latin countries and beer of the Germanic countries either wine or beer so many American and English believers in total abstinence have successfully fought to get water or milk in continental hotels that now the total abstainer attracts no attention tolerable drinking water is always to be secured but it is usually not as cold as we like it and the European does not appreciate our wish that it be freshly drawn the water in the carafs always to be found the wash stands in European hotels is supposed to be fit for drinking even though it may have been put there hours before tobacco the smoking American has a hard time of it on the continent in several of the countries notably France, Spain and Italy the trade is in the hands of the government or so enormously taxed that it is virtually a government monopoly whatever may be the benefits to the national exchequer there are certainly none to the consumer and if a nationalist or state socialist wants arguments to support his theories let him shun the subject of European tobacco pipe smokers will find no plug tobacco abroad they can get American brands of long cut or fine cut only at exorbitant prices where the monopoly prevails the common smoking tobacco offered for sale will cure the habit if anything will Italian cigars are about the meanest cigars man ever perpetrated on a suffering community French cigars are not much better Havana's can be bought in the Latin countries at high rates the Germanic races come nearer understanding what is good in the tobacco line cigars are cheap in Switzerland cheaper in Germany and dog cheap in Holland in fact Holland is the paradise of smokers tobacco is absolutely free of duty there if I understand right and partly by reason of the fact that Sumatra is a Dutch possession Holland leads the world in some branches of the tobacco trade so the discrete smoker will bring home from Holland as many cigars as he can in Rotterdam or Amsterdam he can buy for 2 cents a piece cigars that in many American cigar stores would retail for 10 cents straight and for 5 cents he can get luxury that in America a millionaire would deem extravagance the cigarette habit prevails in France, Italy and Spain so the decent cigarettes can be bought but Turkish or Egyptian cigarettes are not given away in Germany and Austria pipe smoking is more common and in Great Britain it would seem as if most men smoked a pipe both indoors and out manners and customs Americans and English men do not bear a good reputation on the continent in point of manners the typical Britain is believed to be a brute the typical Yankee a boar unfortunately our nation has been too often represented abroad by shoddy aristocrats the newly rich of late we have sent over every year a much larger proportion of refined and cultivated people who are gradually redeeming our reputation and some of our observant countrymen are vain enough to think we are nearing the ideals of courtesy faster than the English without infringing on the hallowed precincts of a book of etiquette and without expecting that the most sensible advice can move the prejudices of the innate late vulgar yet I may hazard a few suggestions and a little information to the American who realizes the good sense of adapting himself somewhat to the customs of the nation he may visit first of all it may be pointed out that courtesy is so common among the people of the continent as to make the lack of it more offensive than in our own less considerate land nothing would ever is to be gained by the dictatorial manner even when dealing with Europeans of the lower classes a smile will accomplish much more than a frown the good-natured man will travel with far more ease and comfort than the man who frets and fumes and scolds and swears whether flies are caught with molasses than with vinegar remember that the old traveler is self-contained he makes the best of the situation without venting to his neighbor either surprise or indignation of all travelers the fussy man is the biggest bore if you don't like things and there is no remedy, keep your mouth shut the kicker may get more but at what a cost of course on the first trip a great many things are new and a little bit uncomfortable but when a thing is there is usually a reason for it and a justification give it a fair test, learn it before you grumble about it human hogs are always met in traveling the American instinct is to fight for one's rights and baffle the hog but if American shrewdness fails to carry the day better leave the field to the hog there is little satisfaction and much discomfort in open battle the human iceberg is almost disagreeable and strange to say its nationality is more likely to be American than anything else just as the Puritans reasoned that all pleasure must be sinful so in our reaction from the free and easy manners that gave Dickens and others the chance for ridicule half a century ago some of our ultra-cultured people are going to the extreme of fragility and formality probably it was an American aristocrat who refused to help a drowning man because she had not been introduced to him but considerations of humanity aside the truth is that courtesy should ever rise superior to conventionality courtesy does not require one to embrace every stranger but it does call for conversation at dinner tables and for companionship in diligence's railway compartments people must pass time close together the people of the continent are very considerate in this regard and the higher their rank the more gracious their bearing two of the pleasantest and kindest dinner companions I ever met turned out to be a German Countess and Baroness and their titles remained unknown to me for several days after they first said good morning in the pension at Rome where chance threw us together at evening in the parlor and led in all endeavors towards sociability what a contrast that parlor was to the parlor of an American summer hotel it was the difference between June and December courtesy abroad does not go by strata people there know how to be gracious to their social inferiors without being condescending on the continent every woman, no matter what her dress or occupation may show to be her station in life the outward tokens of respect in France the commonest dredge must be saluted as Madame every man even to the humblest is Monsieur in Italy it should be Signore or Signora in Spain Signore or Signora in the Germanic countries no appellation of this sort is customary in addressing strangers but the salutation is always couched in respectful phrase in Great Britain however salutations to strangers are as awkward and unceremonious as with us worse in fact because there one must not use the interjectional sir so freely as we use it to an Englishman that term is more one of servility than of courtesy and it is not to be used in addressing men supposed to be of socially inferior position by the way it is not commonly taught in the schools nor told in the books that the familiar French phrase if you please is not the proper phrase to employ where there is no flavor of command it may be addressed to a waiter or chambermaid or anybody else in giving an order or what amounts to an order but not properly to the host when accepting something at table nor in general when the idea to be expressed is our with pleasure or something of the sort is then preferable the English phrase that most worries and wearies the American is thank you by tradespeople clerks everybody of low degree it is used interminably without any regard to its meaning and pronounced with a peculiar rising inflection that rasps the ear till it becomes intolerable everywhere on the continent is usual to say good day in the language of the locality on entering or leaving an office or shop frequently it is spoken on entering or leaving a railway compartment and the almost universal custom at such moments is for men to salute by raising the hat or a courteous bow also it is the proper thing when entering or leaving the dining room of a hotel or pension to salute or to bow a farewell to those who may be at table a party of Americans entering late the dining room of a small hotel in Spain saw at a separate table a group of Spanish gentlemen enjoying their after dinner cigars though there were ladies in the American party Spanish courtesy did not demand that the Spaniard should stop their smoking but presently it was noted that when they left the room each Spaniard bowed courteously to the Americans though their table had been at some distance and not a word had been interchanged on the streets of continental cities the most striking difference between foreign customs and those of America is in the handling of the hat men ordinarily salute each other by lifting the hat and of course they pay the same compliment to all women of their acquaintance a most admirable practice is the respect shown to grief by lifting the hat whenever a coffin passes all men will do this whether the coffin contains prints or a proper it is the custom that every American will do well to bring home with him in all offices and banking rooms it is usual to remove the hat sometimes in cafes and even in confectionary shops the stranger who neglects this may find himself requested to do it in Germany or Russia and it is not uncommon to ask it even in the post offices and hotel lobbies of Russia often because of the holy image of some dark corner ladies will not encounter such requests save on the floor of some of the leading Parisian theaters where hats are not permitted to be worn possibly the time will come when every woman in every audience room everywhere will realize the injustice she does to those behind her by wearing either a high hat or a high coiffure and all men will bless that freak of fashion which someday may induce ladies to dispense with their headwear indoors all together. Americans going abroad for business purposes are at first at a loss as to how to dress to best advantage in London the silk hat and frock coat are an essential to the businessman who would get a respectful hearing. Should he enter an office clad in the usual business suit of New York or Chicago he would at the outset handicap himself by giving an unfavorable impression for all the self-respecting merchants and moneyed men of London follow the fashion set by the Bank of England in ordering its clerks to wear tall hats and black frock coats during business hours yet cross over to a German city and that costume would be enough to arouse the suspicion of frivolity or shallowness for your substantial German merchant or manufacturer has little respect for the nice cities of dress. The etiquette taken of large commercial and manufacturing establishments abroad is formal and uncompromising. If an American approaches their officials with the brusque breezy manner common to many of our pushing businessmen he will be met with a rebuff that will freeze him and no amount of argument will overcome the prejudice he will have aroused. A man of affairs who had occasion to visit the leading cities on a business mission thus describes the procedure. On entering an office your name and business must be stated to an attendant who shows you into a small waiting room always provided for the purpose. The servant takes your card within and if your visit is in order you are in due course shown into the presence of the manager usually termed Air Director. Before entering you must leave on the table in the anti-room your hat and stick the proper greeting is to bow low place your right hand on your left breast and say I have the honor. Then you hope the director has enjoyed good health and add something complimentary if you are quick-witted enough to think of the right thing to say. By this time the frown on the brow of the great man has faded he produces cigars is amazed that you do not smoke and the conversation drifts into the business in hand. If he invites you to go into an adjoining room or out into the works the matter of precedence and passing through the door suddenly assumes importance and it often takes half a minute to get the tangle straightened out. The director motions you forward but you fall back and implore him Bitta, Air Director. He says an urgent Bitta to you but you are firm and he gravely passes out before. You meet him later on the street and if the acquaintance is well advanced he takes his hat entirely off dips it twice and advances rapidly with extended hand to greet you. You of course doing the same. Then the hours while the workmen are in their places at 7 o'clock the office seldom begins before half past 8 or 9 and you was never a pair for business until after 10. At that hour all business, mechanical and commercial, comes to a stop and the men repair to the nearest beer shops and restaurants for beer or wine and a light lunch. This takes half an hour. Then at 12 all hands knock off for a leisurely dinner followed by a long quiet smoke with perhaps a game of cards a newspaper or a discussion. This intermission lasts two hours and during the period business comes as completely to a standstill as if it were Sunday or a holiday. All sale houses, factories, brokers offices, banks, etc. are closed up tight as a drum. At 2 o'clock the doors are unlocked and the wheels begin to move. From that hour till 7 and even 8 o'clock at night commercial business goes on steadily. The mechanic works cheerfully 10 and 11 hours and subscribes funds for his English brothers striking for 8. There is some variation in these practices in different continental countries but substantially they are the same everywhere. Men move much more slowly than with us. Italians have an odd way of beckoning. In America people wave their hand toward them when they desire a person's approach. In Italy it is just the opposite. When an Italian waves a goodbye to you with his hand you imagine he is calling you back and if he wants you to approach he motions with his hand as Americans do in making a gesture of repulsion. Somewhere I have picked up a list of the insults that an American may unwittingly offer to a foreigner. Without vouching for the accuracy of the statements I give them for what they are worth. In England if a friend is visiting another and stays to dinner he may ask for the loan of a hairbrush without giving a fence but in Hungary he may not. To attempt to borrow that useful article is one of the greatest insults which can be offered to a Hungarian and one which will in most cases cause a duel. In France the unwary foreigner may be visiting a friend and may put his hat upon the bed. This is a grievous form of insult but why it is not known. It is very ancient one and so probably results from an old superstition. Again there are two ways of pouring out wine in France as everywhere else. One of these is to hold the bottle so that while pouring the thumb is facing the tablecloth. The second way is to hold the hand reversed that is with the knuckles downward and this is a great insult to the assembled guests and the host, a far greater insult than drinking a health in water and that is pretty serious in France. In Germany to offer to a lady a rose or any other flower without any greener leaves with it is to insult her deeply and to be so is not known precisely. In Italy it is deemed insulting to refuse a pinch of snuff. End of section 14