Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 August 1901 — Politeness as a Fine Art. [ARTICLE]

Politeness as a Fine Art.

A Vienna correspondent writes that there is a law In Austria which makes It a very serious offense to Insult a public official, or even to offend his dignity In any way. Public officials include all railway employes from traffic director to porter, policemen, tramway drivers and conductors and municipal street cleaners. Recently an electric tramcar ran into an omnibus and overturned It. One of the omnibus passengers, Frau Sldonlc Dankh, wife of a well-known doctor In Vienna, was badly eut and received a severe shock to her nerves, which prostrated her for weeks. After the collision, In her alarm and pain, she cried, referring to the driver of the electric car: "The wretched fellow! Why couldn't he stop sooner?’’ For this expression she was summoned and sentenced to a fine of £1 13a 8d "for Insulting * public official,” Tha women are wearing a whlta glove now that looks exactly like tha gloves men wear when they act as palb bearers.