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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 1912)
THE ST73TOAY OREGOXIA3C PORTLAND. JULY 21, 1913. SWISS MOUNTAINS AND LAKES PARADISE FOR TOURISTS Stage Coach and Boat Convey Passengers to Points of Interest but Trolley Is Becoming a Factor in Passenger Traffic. ... - . ' -'-' - - ..: . I"! ' ' ' ' " - - - "' .. - - r" ' I I I 1" ' - I v ' - fcf tar-! K . . - , If, . ' , ' L ' A I . -rfTrflTr'T,,T liV. .r,.- j ' JM 'J i YfV; sfi skjAf i;,ef iu-fe' III Z II s4'jM I p - - 7 Zzss2. VR ltw v v . SssJ.ll I sg cr-BiiSB jrlSfcg -JArBV kAw- 111 l ;,,-id&ls) ITH the building of a vast net work oj electric railroads, reach ins to the highest places in the Alps, travel in Switzerland Is each year becoming more agreeable to the Amer ican used to being rushed across the continent, in palatial hotels on wheels. Ten years ago the higher villages and many of the more Isolated spots of Interest could be reached only by a ride on a mall coach. These usually have four or six horses and travel up and down grades, behind the plunging horses, is none too safe, and at best is none too comfortable for the timid wo man of our country. They are driven by experienced men and accidents are rare, but when one does occur, death to one or more is nearly always the . result. In many places the routes are duplicated so that travelers have the choice of taking one of the mountain railways or have the excitement of a ride on the stage. Stages Art Not Out of Date. These stages are not a thing of the past and a good many places of inter est can be reached only by this means. However, to those who desire other modes of travel, the railroads furnish plenty of opportunity to see the rugged Alpine country. in many ways the railroads of that country excel ours for eight-seeing. In the Bernese Oberland, the observation cars hare a gallery running entirely around the car so that the view may be seen In all directions. I One of the prettiest sections now be ing tapped by an electric railroad is the Grimsel Pass region. To reach this place at present a long journey by either private carriage or postal stage Is necessary. Travelers from this coun try usually prefer to take the private vehicle so that stops may be made along the road. - ow Route la Scenic. When the new road Is completed, this section w ill be one of the big drawing cards, for from along Its survey the grandest part of the Alps will be seen, Leading from Bern, this will be one great panorama. The first place of great interest will be Thun on the shores of the lake of the same name. At Thun many of the passengers will enjoy a trip on the lake by the fast steamers reaching Interlaken almost as soon as the train will. The trip is well worth while, for along the shores are a number of pretty villages nestling urtder the shadow of the high ranges which rise thousands of feet from the surface of the lake. Interlaken Is worth a number of davs. It has some of the finest hotels In the country and is beautifully located between the shores of Lake Thun and Srlenx. One of Its most popular at tractions $i the. Kur Saal, a little pa-, vllion where concerts, presented by tal ented artists, are held every evening during the tourist season. . To get across the Brienzer See the boat must again be taken, and the view Is wonderful. This would be missed to a great extent from the train which will soon skirt the shores. The first place of interest after leaving- Interlaken which catches the eye is Isletwald. a little Island upon which a wealthy Englishman has built a beau tiful Summer home. All that Is visible from the lakeside Is the top of a few spires, the whole being surrounded by a lusty growth of pines. Behind is the village of the same name. It presents nothing further than a few rather ancient houses, with stoae covered roofs. The next stop on the south side of the lake Is at Giesbach, a ' roaring, tumbling ladder of water, containing seven distinct falls. The roar the Waters make can be heard for miles. A short distance from the water's edge stands one of the finest hotels In that section of the country. It commands a magnificent view of the lakes and of the mountains across the lake. Across from this point Is Brlenz, the home of the woodcarvers. Here the principal occupation consists of maklnfr objects of wood for the decoration of homes and curios. School for Artists at Brlenx. There Is a college for Instruction in sculpture and carving. During the Sum mer it has few attendants because the cows in the higher stretches demand the attention of the young men-but In Winter is is filled, all assiduously shaping blocks of hardwood Into ob jects of nature. At any time it is worth a visit, for many wonderful- pieces of their product are shown. Above this town Is the Rothorn. If this place is once visited, the impres sion will be lasting and the sight of the Alps from that prominent place will never be forgotten. It is reached by a steam railroad, : permitting the round trip to be made in a day. One of the main attractions is a view of the Alps at sunset and sunrise so the majority of the visitors stay over -night and get up at 3 o'clock In the morn ing to see the wonderful effects of the rose tinges of morning on the snow capped mountains. First they appear as mighty billows on a troubled sea, the valleys and rifts appearing as the trough. The valleys are nearly always filled with a light mist but because of the light from above, it appears like a sea of dense fog. Color Scheme Changes. As the color rises In the sky the scene is turned Into a sea of blood, the slanting rays of the sun throw ing a ruddy glow over the whole. With the sun climbing the first ascent the color of the shining mountains change to the color of California gold then to the yellow gold of Alaska and finally the color drops and the mountains rise on all sides in their mantle of pure white. Soon the Alpen horn is heard re verberating from the hollows below, a sign that the sun has reached the huts of the- mountainers on the steep slopes of the peak. The bells of the cattle can be heard, faintly but clearly, a sign that the cattle too have been awakened by the first light. This is declared to be one of the most wonder ful sights of the whole trip. The effects in the clear high air, resemble the electrical display accompanying a musical production. : . Meliinaren la Interesting Point. Further up the valley from Brlens is Melringen, a place which affords a number of interesting side trips, the Rosenlaui being a paradise all Its own. This place is reached by half, a day's ride on horseback. Melringen itself Is surrounded by a number of high waterfalls which lull the weary traveler Into a pleasant sleep. It has one curiosity which' cannot be seen anywhere else. There is a cut made through a mountain by the Aare, the main. river of that valley. The walls for the most part are but four or five feet apart arid rise from 100 to 200 feet perpendicularly from the surface of the water. A hanging walk has been built through the place so that the wonder can be viewed. After this Is passed the Grimsel Pass begins to take form. It is a sheer climb of 12 or 15 miles, along a road fenced on one side by a wall of granite and on the other presenting a drop of BO feet to the Aare. At or near the summit is the Grimsel Hotel, a building made to resist fierce storms. It Is built of granite, made to form a wall about five feet thick. On the other side of the Pass Is the Wallls Thai a beautiful valley down which the Rhone wends Its way. The electric road through here will be finished in another year and will prob ably be one of the most popular stretches with the travelers. Aside from the mountains Switzer land presentB its lakes which will always bring visitors. Geneva with Its manv historical places and the Castle of Chillon is something which no tourist thinks he can afford to miss. Lucerne with Its bridges and spired castles always has a full quota of Summer residents and transients. It has famous schools In engineering and many Americans make this their home while getting an education abroad. Lugano is near the Italian border and at night Its water front with the slowly gliding gondolas presents a sigh equalled only by Venice. The cry "See America First" will probably stop a few of the host of travelers to Europe but the majority will only have their appetite for scenery whetted to the point where nothing but Europe will satisfy. GAYNOR GETS FRESH AMMUNITION TO FIGHT ON EDUCATION BOARD Mayor, Determined to Rid City of Present School Directors, Piles Up Statistics Showing System Not Economic. Para for Drunkards Gets Little Patronage Pew of Fashionable Set Pass Hot Months in Europe. BY LLOYD F. LOKERGAN. NEW YORK, July 20. (Special.) Mayor Gaynor, who Is determined to get rid of the present Board of Education, has secured fresh ammuni tion for his fight as the result of the In vestigation of school conditions made by the board of estimate. The preliminary report made by the committee having the matter In charge, shows deep-rooted evils in the present educational system. The Mayor re joices, because It furnishes . him an excuse to take the subject to the next Legislature, and demand that the pres ent "Inefficient'' unpaid board be re moved, and that a number of men draw ing salaries take their places. Fur thermore. It Is Gaynor's idea that the powers of Superintendent Maxwell, now autocratic, be materially curtailed. The investigation came as the result of the chaotic conditions discovered by the board of estimate when it took up the question of budget appropriations for the School Board last Fall. According to the investigators, mil lions of dollars are wasted annually For example. It Is pointed out that In the matter of heating and lighting alone, there is an annual waste of 1630, 9? 49. Another important Item is the carrying charges for vacant property purchased for school sites, which amounts to ISfO.000 a year, or as the Investigators say, "an Investment of S3.800.000. which would give 10 large school buildings, or accommodating 20.000 additional pupil, or two such buildings could be built each year from the carrying charges alone." It Is also pointed out that the Board of Education seems unable to properly handle the problem of housing pupils. At the present time there are, or rather were at the close of the scnool year 64.000 children on part time. On the other hand there were 955.000 empty seats In the schools last season. A number of experts have made a close study of the educational work, and while they are not ready to report In detail, it has been announced that they have found grave errors exist. Particu larly Is this so in the matter of compul sory education, which Is called ."ex pensive and inefficient." The truancy reports are declared by the investiga tors to be inadequate, and it Is stated thousands of children are annually lost sight of, while the appropriation for the education and maintenance of tru ants amounts 'to 1262.780 a year, and more is demanded. The investigators find no basis for the report that the city is niggardly in the matter of supplying funds for edu cation, adding "much more money is supplied -than is needed. The Board of Education has made a practice of ask ing for funds which would appeal to the sentiment of the community; and when it gets the money has often ap plied it to other purposes, not even named In Its estimates." The general impression is that the board of estimate, regardless of party lines, will ltne up with the Mayor for radical reform in the present slipshod educational methods. The board of inebrlty has been in existence for many months, and the members gravely meet weekly, but for some reason or another, they seem un able to get a real start, and the "farm colony'' where drunkards were to be cured, seems to be as far away as ever. In fact the site has not yet been picked out Many anxious inquiries have been made at the City Hall, not from drunk ards, It is true, but from their friends. It has been pointed out that In Greater New York there are 13,000 licensed sa loons, and naturally they produce a good many drunkards. Under the pres ent system, the only thing that can be done with them Is to send them to Blackwell's Island as vagrants, or com mit them to a city hospital (Bellevue in Manhattan, and Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn.) The trouble with this latter course is that the hospitals can only keep the patients until they "straighten up," which means from half & day to two weeks. For the wealthy there are sanitar iums and private hospitals where alco holic patients can be treated, but the city will do nothing for the poor "drunks" until the Board of Inebriety acts. Many drunkards and drug fiends wander, the streets, or drag out a mis erableexistence at home because their relatives shrink from the disgrace of sending the unfortunates to Blackwell's Island when they have committed no crime. - The Thaw case, which has been drag ging its weary - way before Justice Keogh at White Plains, has again dem onstrated the vaiuelesanoss of "expert testimony." Justice Keogh, who is a hard-headed individual, with plenty of common sense, stipulated at the outset that each was limited to throe expert witnesses, well knowing that otherwise he might be called upon to pass weary months listening to totally contradic tory testimony. Whereupon a trio of physicians, recognized as leaders in the matter of dealing with the men tally afflicted, took the stand and swore that Thaw's case was absolutely hope less,, he would never re-gain his reason. They were followed by three other doc tors, equally prominent, who announced in so many words that Thaw was as bright as a button. Of course the first three men receive large retainers from the state, while the second trio were lavishly rewarded by the Thaw family. The chances are that Justice Keogh will courteously disregard everything the experts say, and decide the matter from an every day layman's standpoint Still he will be compelled to uphold one branch o experts, so half of the doctors will be happy anyway. Lawyers generally admit that "ex perts" have little effect upon a jury. They are regarded as working solely for their fees, and are placed upon the same plane as lawyers. Usually when a wealthy man is on trial, the expert testimony simply amounts to a "matching up" of forces, for It seems to be easy to obtain doctors to swear to either side of a case if the fees are large enough. Fewer of the fashionable set are go ing abroad this year than usual. Hints of this have come from the other side, voiced by unhappy hotel keepers, but the report Is made a certainty by a perusal of the Summer Social Register, Just issued. This shows a marked in crease over last year in the number of families Summering by the seashore, a considerable decrease In the foreign de partures, and an Increase in arrivals from abroad. The new volume shows that 7413 families, are inland, 3173 by the seashore, 808 to be found at bank ers' addresses only, and 140 on their private yachts. Delegates to two international con gresses, which are to hold their ses sions In New York, will after their business is over make extensive tours that Will take them all the way to the Pacific Coast. Leading geographers from the prin cipal European countries are to gather here on August 16 to help the Amer ican Geographical Society of New York celebrate the sixtieth anniver sary of its founding and the occupation of the new building at Broadway and One Hundred and Fifty-sixth street August 22 the entire party will start on a. tour of the United States and not return to New York until October 17. They will visit Niagara Falls; the iruit xnnnirv of Washington, the Roosevelt dam in Arizona, and almost every other point in the United States that a geo KraDher would like to see. The trip is to be directed by Professor William Davis, of Harvard. The American membership Includes professors of geo graphy In universities and several ex nprts in aDDlied sciences. The eightli International Congress of Applied Chemistry will open in asn ington, September 4, and close In New York, September 13. Between 3000 and 4000 chemists from all over the world will participate. September 16 the whole party will leave New York on a trip which will extend to California, New Mexico, New Orleans and North Carolina. They are due back In New York on October 26. PRESBYTERIANS HIT BILL Reformed Chnroh In Ireland Files Protest on Home Rule Act. DUBLIN, July 20. (Special.) The annual synod of the Reformed Presby terian Church of Ireland at Belfasj is sued a protest against the home rule bill,, which it states is not. in its ori gin, a spontaneous and prudently con sidered effort of sane statesmanship. On the contrary, the bill is wrung from statesmen who have forfeited all right to respect themselves by taking their orders from known enemies of the Protestant . Reformation and of the Protestant liberties of the British Em pire. It is a bill, says the protest, that aims at Romanizing every institution, educational or other, and the supremacy of the Romish priesthood. The bill dis plays singularly callous and cynical criminality on the part of its authors, who know well the character of the party to whom they propose to give vir tually supreme power In Ireland. The synod protested with special emphasis against the utterly unchristian disre gard by Liberals of the Interests of fellow Protestants In Ireland In their virtual establishment and endowment of Romanism by the state. CRITICISM BRINGS FINE Odessa Xewspaper Dares to Say Too Much Is Spent on Xavy. ODESSA. July 20. (Special.) The "Pravda" has been mulcted In a fine of 8250 for a mildly adverse article on the 'new naval budget of 502,000,000 rubles. The strongest observation In the Incriminated editorial was that in Russia's present economic condition the outlay was unwarranted, and that there was no pressing political necessity fot the creation of so enormously power ful a fleet as that proposed for the Baltic. The same and much stronger com ments on the naval budget were made by many speakers in the course of the Duma debate on the new naval pro gramme. The leading orators of thi Constitutional Democrat party declared that a Baltic fleet of the dimensions proposed was a useless luxury for Rus sia, whose first and last line of de fense was tbe army. Boulder Wrecks Hotel. GENEVA, July 20. (Special A strange accident happened Friday on the Daucille Pass, near Geneva, In the Jura Alps. A huge boulder fell from a mountain and after crashing through a wood bounded across the terrace of the Hotel de la Couronne, smashing the windows and doors, and entered the restaurant, where some tables laid out for lunch were smashed. Four or five American people were staying at the hotel.