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The Upper Rhine : Mayence to the Lake of Constance
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106

DOMESTIC MANNEIiS OE THE PKUSSIASS.

small retail dealers, who, possessing no place of their ownworthy of the name of a home, fly to the ncarest tap-rooin orbar-parlour, as the cosiest possible Substitute.

The Coblenz "Casino," to which the majority of the peoplebetake themselves at dusk, is, when the title is rendered intoEnglish, dignified by the name of a Club; but it is no more likeour " Athenseum," or "Reform," or "United Service," than"Codgers' Hall" resembles the House of Commons. Perhapsthe style of English institutions to which it bears the dosest simi-litude is "the Eagle Tavern," or "Highbury Barn;" for thereare gardens fittecl with tables for alfresco refreshments, and largerooms for smoking and drinking in, to the occasional accom-paniment of music; though the grounds are by no means soextensive, nor the rooms so well appointed, as the sixpennysuburban retreats populär among our chandlers and artizans.The drinking and even dining-chambers of the so-called Cob-lenz Club are quite on a level with those of any Englishpublic-house tap, and certainly far inferior, both in furnitureand refinement, to our "Albion Tavern," or the "ScotchStores;" for the tables are unpolished, the boards uncar-peted, and the refreshments served with no more style thanat what we term a " slap-bang." There are, moreover,reading rooms after the manner of our Mechanics' Institutes;arid balls, for the wives and daughters of the members, aboutequal in elegance to those of the defunct " Whittington," and"all for the small charge" of ls. 6c?. per month.*

At these dances the English visitor will obtain a lively

* If the Coblenzers have much to learn from us in the appointments andconduct of their clubs, we might nevertheless take a hint from thera, and per-mit the members of our " Carltons" and " Travellers" to have unsophisticatedwine sent home from the joint-stock cellars to their own residences at thewholesale prices. Nor would it be unadvisable, now-a-days, to apply the sameprinciple to such articles as tea, sugar, coffee, &c, and thus avoid not only theexorbitant profits, but also the poisonous adulterations, of the retailer.