Things you won't see on Downton Abbey: Fines for beating a German in his own Fatherland and well-known German drinking customs

Tempers were flaring in the run-up to World War I, at least according to this report in the Daily Telegraph from January 29, 1914.

Two things I learned today:

1. There is a very steep fine for being guilty of the "gross audacity of beating a German in his own Fatherland;" and
2. If you are in Germany drinking out of one of those beer steins with a lid, you better keep the lid down--If someone catches you with your lid up and places his drink on top, you owe him a drink.