A SCOTTISH LADY IN VIENNA

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2753, 24 April 1916, Page 3

A SCOTTISH LADY IN VIENNA

HER EXPERIENCES. ' Miss Julia Maxwell, a Scottish lady, who arrived in Sydney last weelc by the_ Niagara from a short .visit to her native land, following on four and a half years spent in Vienna-, had some interesting tilings to say to a representative of tho "Sydney Morning Herald" of her experiences in Austria and the impressions which she received. 'I was in Vienna when war was declared, and tlie sight when the soldiers went off was a memorable one. The people made a carnival of it; the .men were literally smothered with flowers; they marched off ae if to a victory, but lately it was very different. The troops who have been- leaving have had very serious faces. They dread tho Russian winter. ■

"I was in Vienna when war was deof the underground railway, and I got into conversation with a returned soldier. He was a butcher by trade. He told me that he had been one of a company of'2oo in a salient cut off by the Russians in-'a country that was covered with snow countless feet deep, and afterwards a relief party came and found what tho. general . in command thought were. rows of sticks, exactly like vine'poles in the \-ineyards; they were this man's company frozen to death w'here they stood. ' Only three were left alive.

"There were some great examples of treason arid disaffection in the Austrian Empire as.a whole.' The House Guards of Prague, a historical regiment of Bohemia, were disbanded just after war started, arid every tenth man was .shot. I saw isome. snapshots, which gave me an idea if how widespread is the spy system. Russia has a very complete knowledge of the Viennese officials and their -pay, and also their debts. The officials are high-living men, and their salaries areilow, and so they fall easily to bribes. This photograph I speak of showed an avenue of trees in one of the disaffected districts, and on every tree there ,was a spy. hanging. "Strange to say, coffee, cocoa, and tea jvere as plentiful and as cheap as ever. . They all come from • Holland. Unless the British blockade has tieliten-. Ed, these Mings are still as plentiful as ever. Supplies come from Sweden, too. But there is a great shortage'of wool, among other commodities. I-'was told by a friend who owns knitting mills for-sports coats, stockings, etc., that his output had been diminished by onethird. -He can't: get the wool. One day, on a railway station, I saw a small boy struggling ; with the automatio chocolate machine, and crving. When t asked him what was the matter lie said, 'I can't get machine to work, and I've put in two' nickels.' So I asked a porter to help him,/and I found the reason was that they are not making nickel-coins now; all the nickel .is wanted. . They use it in ammunition' making; and the new s soft metal would not work the automatic machine properly. 1 But he 'pot-his coins back, and went away rejoicing. "Skoda, whose factory is in Bohemia, Is the Krupp of Austria. - They make splendid' light guns. Their motor bat* teries did great work in Belgium, as they travelled so!quickly. _"Ito staying in a remote suburb of Vienna last summer, in a large orchard. The district is noted for its orchards., In the early'morning I used to see, soldiers gathering huge~ bundles of green stuff from between the fruit tree?. -What were they gathering, and troy p At last I found out that they were nettles that the men were collecting, dragging at them till their hands were red and-sore. The nettles were to bo used instead Of flax or cotton. Tho thick stem in the centre is scraped nnd yields n_ coarse fibre, which they use as a substitute, for botJi cotton and linen are now very scarce. "The wounded are not very prominent in the Austrian capital. They are ■ Kept out of the big cities as much as possible, and sent to quieter places. This is done both for reason of convenience, and so the people will not bo too much, depressed . with the sight of wounded;, The women did not do. much Red Cross work and knitting. With a conscript army, all these matters seem to be taken out of the public's hands by the Government. "The Austrians have a deep and abiding fear of, the * Russians. -They loathe and despise the Serbians, whom they consider the' mere tools and vassals, of Russia. When the-news about the Lnsitania reached Vienna, the generally believed version was that the were quite justified, because she carried ammunition, and that the kindly Germans warned the ship's people beforehand, but that tlie . crassly stupid British Government took no notice, so it served them right. That is what .they said about it at Vienna." "Wireless" for Women, ' Wireless telegraphy is among the new occupations which tne. war has opened for women in England. They are dtf clared to be eminently suited for the work. ;Tho head of a large Scottish training school declares that women make exceptional students," and the report from another school states that women "have proved themselves equal to the men in grasping technical and theoretical matters, and usually surpass men in telegraphy." The work of transmitting and receiving messages, listening for distress calls, keeping the wireless apparatus in order, and.repairing any minor breakdowns, is declared by experts to, be well within the compass of women, and, none-of the processes offers any insuperable difficulties. Victoria League Work. The secretary of the Otago branch of the' Victoria League has just received the following letter of appreciation from'a returned soldier"l'lease convey to all members of the Victoria League in Otago a returned soldier's cordial appreciation of the splendid work done by them to benefit men serving in the Expeditionary Force. Also, one can never forget the League Club in 'London. Many men of the colonial forces who were sent to England' to recuperate made use of the' building in Regent Street, and one would often see men waiting for'the club to open at 10 o'clock in the morning. Personally, I visited frequently, and everything possible was done by the ladies helping there to make one comfortable. Then there were New Zealand, Australian, Canadian, and South African newspapers and magazines, billiards, etc., re, freshments, and one could obtain aJmtost any information about London and district that one needed. Above all, there was an air of homeliness, about the whole place, wkioli aided one to forget iu some measure the experiences of Gallipoli. I shall always look back with very pleasant memories of hours spent in the club. - Let me wish you every success in the futuro, and rest assured that, your efforts arc thoroughly appreciated by the men for whom you have done so much."