CHRISTMAS TIME IN BERLIN.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1657, 25 January 1913, Page 11

CHRISTMAS TIME IN BERLIN.

[Bt E.A.]

SEASON OP GIVING.

I -often wonder why . the peoplo who ipond Christmas abroad,' and want to bo amused, do not pay , Berlin a visit, and ' «s an'onlooker get an idea-what Christ- ' mas and the festive season means to tho German mind. For weeks before the streets and shops aro orowded with' people. People wno havo come to buy, pcoplo who havo como to see the sights. ■ There is an atmosphere of excitement, a bustle and rush that mafco ,one feel ; something 7 unusual is. going to happen., . ' Shops : : that aro i quite familiar to one • seem to undergo extraordinary changes. Departments where one usually buys but-, tons and pins-. suddenly grow into a sea of chocolate and marzipan of'every size, shape,'and kind. ■ Great tables of honigkuche'n, ornamented with'almonds, mountains of cake and biscuits; extend whore the glove department was. '.By the'entrance are-tables with all sorts of paper ornaments and : millinery—paper hats, sashes' and aprons for : i the cotillons,. masks, . crackcrs, whistles, and.horrible toys that-squeak, and help to; swell the noiso of a 'Weinachten And. Silvester party. There are counters'.Of Christmas for ones, relatives, : gifts for' thoso.' who., insist on giving So that you' have to give in return, ■ And gifts' for one's servants. There 606 ms to be only. one.idea to, tho German "at this'time of ,the year, that is togivo .-. to receive;.v ... ' '7-■ The Expectant Age. ■ Quite two : months' beforo Christmas Day one notices a subtle change in tho attention and mannor of the servants and porter - of-your- wohnung.; The. Berlin portor is not liko-the smartly-uniformed ■ porter ono finds in'tho hall of a j/ondon, flat; Ho is a man of many parts. Gen-, • orally he has a trade,. i:; his work-room being 1 Sear the .front' door,' .where itis : his' >duty '<to : open it.\for; all -wanting-admis-. sion. Tho front door of a German flat is alwdys ■ kept closed- If you v, aro a •i.' --' stranger. to the',porter he. always ,de-; mands your.' business .befofo permitting ■ you to go further. Besides this, he has .to keep-the building clean,: attend to the "•' cheatingand, -'..and make himself generally ' uscfuU - I .don t ' thinlyVl'- have.,, ever .>et 7 a'. particularly-, polite ,or ,agreeable, German .porter,, ex-.-jcipt-during the months of, November and ■" December., i, ■ I used to wonder on hearing my mentis ' ■ discuss the gifts they had been buying for, their Dienstboten, and, when I saw,, .what -was expected from the Herrsehaften. , -,■ I felt, a cold shudder Tun down' my '.-1 ■■ back. .. ; "You don't really mean you givo your servants. dress ,-lengths, . coats,, aprons, handkerchiefs, and a sum of.money,.too? , I gasped, amazed.' . • • On, yes wo do,", was the reply. 1 hate having-to'givo so much myself, but ■v wrvanta are-so difficult, to ,to. get, , one has to do ( as others do." • , . I found this only too true, and I must ownrwent home -feeling: thoroughly ■ ,de- ■' ■ 1 pressed at the prospect of what . my bank account would oehko at the end of the festive season 11 .-I -was, -not exactly - a millionaire, and. -the expectant eye,, began to get on my nerves. Every-time my small maid opened the door.of my \ Bmall flat for me, and I happened to J>o ' carrying a brown paper parcel, I felt her . '.eyeing it, and knew she- ■was.-'wondering Nil/there was it for her. . -She had the habit,''too, of telling 'me, *at 1 every vopportuno .moment, .'.the wonderful Presents . she f ! had 'last ;Weinachten rom'-tho. Herrsehaften with 'whom she had-been. .•.;\i T . , ; - r - : After one has "thoroughly realised'and

The' new arrangement •of a hat and feather boa forms' the subject' of' our -first illustration. 1 The boa is adjusted B3 part of' the hat.'trimming,-. and the and.' is then drawn gracefully -round the nook. •• Another feature of .the hat is-the . ' careless hanging of tho feather over; the right side, which idea 'is seen' on several ■. of tho new 6tyles.