6 4 8 



The National Geographic Magazine 



THE CELEBRATION AT MITTELTAL (SEE PAGE 649) 



The chimes in the little Gothic tower 

 which announces the hour of worship 

 each Sunday morning summon willing 

 worshipers ; troops of men, bareheaded 

 women, and barefooted children flock 

 with unequal paces to the temple of wor- 

 ship, cheerily chatting along the way. 

 In the corridor of the church they sepa- 

 rate — the men occupy the galleries ; the 

 women, the nave, while the children flank 

 the altar, the girls occupying the right 

 and the boys the left. Thus grouped 

 about him, the minister may conven- 

 iently address his remarks to any age or 

 sex. 



The sermon is usually on the old- 

 fashioned order, against that old fashion 

 inaugurated by Adam — sin ; and the con- 

 gregation leaves the church with a 

 stronger faith in that still older fash- 

 ion — immortality.. 



Betrothals are announced by the min- 

 ister from the pulpit with a request for 



the prayers of the church for the guid- 

 ance of the newly plighted ; and after 

 the service the congregation waits in 

 front of the entrance while the clerk of 

 the community announces the new edicts 

 and laws of the mayor and council that 

 may have been issued during the past 

 week. 



The Sabbath, however, is not the only 

 day which brings immunity from toil ; 

 the observance of some national event or 

 the celebration of some local society oc- 

 casionally interposes a holiday. Once 

 every year entrance examinations for the 

 army are held in the various localities, 

 and this furnishes the occasion for gen- 

 eral hilarity among the young men who 

 have passed the examination successfully 

 and are to enter the military life for two 

 years. 



I have recorded in my notes a typical 

 festive occasion, the events of a bright 

 day in June. We were awakened early 



