How the people live

About half the people in Austria are farmers. But the soil is poor, and they cannot raise enough food to feed the country. Large quantities of it have to be bought from other countries. Many Austrians work in plants, manufacturing iron and steel, textiles, aluminum, and machine tools. These industries have been helped by American money and methods. Still, the average Austrian worker must support his family on about $65 a month. Children have to go to school between the ages of 6 and 14, and almost everybody in Austria can read and write.

Even in the mountains there are schools for children, where they can learn all the subjects children in the United States learn, and also begin to learn a trade Austrian children can get an excellent education. Some of the world's most" famous colleges are in Austria. The Austrians have always loved music. The great composers Haydn and Mozart were Austrians, and Beethoven lived in Vienna much of his life. In most of the cities and towns, people have formed little orchestras which meet in someone's home, where they play music late into the night.

There are also small orchestras that play in wine gardens, and most any evening Austrians come there to sing songs that they have loved for years. The beautiful opera house in Vienna is a large attraction for music lovers, and in Salzburg every year there is a great music festival that brings people from all over the world. The Austrians like winter sports, and the mountains are a fine place to go skiing and ice skating. They also enjoy hunting wild animals there, the deer, fox, and wild boar.