Germany in War Time: What an American Girl Saw and Heard — John Shaqi
Germany in War Time: What an American Girl Saw and HeardMcAuley, Mary Ethel
History
Germany in War Time: What an American Girl Saw and Heard
McAuley, Mary Ethel
World War, 1914-1918 -- Germany
1 egg.
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½ teaspoonful saccharine.
Oatmeal to thicken.
1 tablespoonful baking powder.
Beat together and bake as drop cakes.
RAISIN BREAD.
½ cake yeast.
1 cup potato water.
2 tablespoonfuls of raisins.
1 pound of flour.
Set sponge at night and bake one hour.
HOW BERLIN IS AMUSING ITSELF IN WAR TIME.
When war was first declared all the theaters and amusement places in
Berlin were closed, and it was not until after Christmas of that year
that they were opened again. Now everything is open except the dance
halls, for dancing is prohibited during the war. The famous resort
"Palais de Danse" is closed up and its outside is all covered with
posters asking for money for the Red Cross.
The theaters in Berlin are very well attended. As many times as I went
to the opera, which was quite often, every seat in the house was taken.
The greater part of every audience are soldiers who are glad to spend
some portion of their furloughs forgetting the horrors of war and life
in the trenches. The operas are as brilliant as before the war, but
many of the young stage favorites are missing, for even the matinee
idol must take his turn at the front. Several of the popular actors
have been killed.
One can always hear the French and Italian operas, and at concerts the
music of the great Russian composers. They do not prohibit the music of
enemy composers, and one can hear Verdi, Mascagni and Gounod. However,
"Madame Butterfly" and "Bohème" were never given to my knowledge. I do
not know whether it was because they had no singers for these operas
which are great favorites, or whether it was because of the nationality
of the composer.
[Illustration: _A Boat Race near Berlin, April, 1916._]
Just before I left Berlin I saw a wonderful production of "Aïda," and
the principal singers were Poles from the Royal Opera House in Warsaw.
The singers were received with the wildest enthusiasm. All the cast
except the Poles sang in German, and the Poles sang in Polish. The
duets sounded very funny. Two of the Polish singers were invited to
come and sing permanently in Berlin. They both declined. The man, who
has one of the most magnificent voices I ever heard, because he loves
Warsaw too much to leave it, and the woman because she did not want to
be tied up in Berlin with a five-years' contract, as she wants to come
to America as soon as the war is over. There is more or less a movement
in Germany to taboo the German singers who are in America, and they
also want to prevent all their new young singers from coming to us.
It will be a very hard task, for America is the aim of every German
singer, and no feeling of patriotism will keep them at home.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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