who had been spending her time in Philadelphia for several years, but who
had on this occasion come home to Böchingen on a visit. An invitation was
sent to her in the evening already, asking her to come to the hotel where
an American was waiting to meet her, and early on Sunday morning she met
me in the coffee-room where we spent the morning. One's partiality to the
English language seldom displeased me in Europe, but as this lady was a
native of that part of the Pfalz whose people spoke a dialect more like
the Pennsylvania German than I heard anywhere else, I insisted upon
conversing with her in "the dialect." The landlord who did not understand
any English was with us most of the time, so that out of respect for him
she also felt constrained to speak German when he was present, but
whenever he left us she would speak English, the language of her new
American home. She had visited Allentown, Pa., and was well acquainted
with the resemblance of the Pfälzish and the Pennsylvania German
dialects. I went home to Neustadt that forenoon and attended the great
Pfälzer Sängerfest (the annual Concert of the Palatinate Choirs). The city
was splendidly decorated with flags, and the "Fest" was a grand success in
every respect. From Neustadt I went to Speyer, and a day later to



Heidelberg.


Heidelberg was the only place where I found lady ticket agents at the
railway station. The station is a very large and important one, and the
positions held by those ladies are of great responsibility. In Continental
Europe, it is the ladies that transact most of the business in almost
every city. Hotels, stores, shops, cafes, drinking stands, &c., are
generally managed by ladies.