The Oregon daily journal., December 15, 1906, Image 14

..If'"
I.
.
THE OREGON DAILY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SATURDAY .CreNINO, DECEMBER 15, ISC3.
i
V'
v.
-
"V-
ASl i
xi-i . , 777)77
Jlri
m
ft
CH na w noy the craadcur of
Switzerland and the ability ot
tha people. It la tbalr character
a ar forced to admire most
The Swl are a strontt and healthy
race, thoiuch ; In . aome parts the un
favoritble Influence of the factory and,
till more, that of alcohol hnve made
' themaelvea felt They are a God-fear-Init
people; U la a tommon.sleht to ae
a llttlo chapel on tlx highest mountain
summit and a abrlne along a foreit
path. They love their mountains . and
..... the freedom thGW huv-e given -them. 'The
, moat uncultured Sarins peasant often
ays to the tourist: ' "la there anything
: better than our mountain T" They love
. their government and never let private
enterprises stand In the way of serving
.their country. All classes are lnter-
ested In politics and ar well informed
, as to the laws that govern them.' Even
the professional classes enjoy the time
, spent at tne maneuvers. Men ot wealth
. and culture give much of their leisure
U to publle affairs. It la their chltf am
,.! . bitlon to hold some large, political bo-
k sit ion, not fer tha emoluments, as these
re noming, out : ror tne recognition.
,une or the seven men In this 'govern.
. ment has been president three times.
lie was an eminent physician and held
many minor offices before he was made
a memoer of the government council.
Another man, proprietor of a large
... . Jioiei in lucerne, gave up a successful
nusiness to devote himself to polltl
ana writing on public affairs. The
hwisb are great believers In education.
nearly alt tns cantomv have tbelr uni
versltlcs, where students from man?
: pans oi tne world come lo study lan
.. guages. sociology and philosophy.. .- .
They give the same opportunities to
both sexes. Every large town, has Its
grammar and preparatory schools. Horn
- of these are free; In others they aak a
sman ree, and lor. Uils pittance they are
. taught three or fonr languages. ,
i The 8wiss" ore kind to one another!
. The liotots worlc cooperatively and the
largest establishments, when crowded,
, give much custom to the smaller hotel.
They are exceedingly kind to their
poor., They have ninny associations to
'supply people with employment The
towns and cantons help -the poor pay
Vtholr doctors' bills and rentv if neces
;.ary. ,. They b.ave-splendid Inatltutlons
for the aged and deficient. - Tha most
marked trait Is their love for work.
K cry body works m Switzerland; men,
women and children alike. If employ
ment Is slack, the men go to other conn
tries;, if they cannot work at their own
, trade they do something until fowune
smiles on them. Thousands go to Italy
France. England and America, where
they work as hot- employes," hotel-k-wpers,
.confectioners and engineers, i
and after they make a etrtaln forttlne
they return home. - , ;.
The peasants are the hardest-wbrklng
, poonle la the world. . The country lends
Itself poorly to agriculture. Th Jllmatt
.7 and ths soil are not adapts to this o
, cupatlon.. But what the Bwl.s peasant
, wishes In farming b. mafci up in
cattle-herdirg. chewwmaklng-and allied,
pursnlta. The Canton da Vaud Is the
parndtse of the Bwlss peasant. He
works, hard, but The return from the
, grapes iually give him a good living
The forest gives tiim his lumber for his
bouses, outhouses end wagons. This
,way and another- he manages Jto lav
something aside for the dowry of hli
daughter and provision for his sons.
In the Canton de .Valuta K the spring
the poor peasants come down from the
mountain villages, bringing their cattle
children and household belongings, to
make their anodrs among . the vine
yards, r This work Is often extremely
dangerous. For the vineyards have lo
bo irrigated by conduits, and these are
sometimes carried to' Hzay heights.
Cattle-breeding sad eheesemuklng are
valuable means 'Of siistrnnnce to many
of tho Bwlss ptasantry. They sre sup-'
ported by their goats, while tho cows
miprly ihe -milk "sad . cheese. In the
I-iirtng," whee.a.4rd.4ss-ammiS4l Amh
Alrw. the herUMmna dressfs blmsflf In
sll Ms finery.. H selects, hi favorite
nd handsomest cow, lie , adorns her
with a crows of! flower.!, and ties his
Um-t b"U to her neck. The cu it
I
i I... v--- . i
"TV
1
so proud of herself that she refuses to
let any other row get ahead. -. Another I
carries t!i tntlklna- atoot and they all!
wear clanging bells. ringing tha yodei
he drives the goats' snd cows up the
mountains.' Some of these ascents are
extremely hasardous. The places are so
steep tha cattle are lifted with ropes
and planks. .. '' '
A mors daring man is the grass
mower, who stumbles among tha rocks
and , crevasses to gather food - for the
cows and militate for cheese. Like
chamois, ha makes Ma ascent "from hill
to crest, cuts the hay, ties It in bundles
and 'then hurls it down from the sum
mit. He belongs to ths same class as
the mountaineers who risk their lives
scaling lagged rocks and traversing
treacherous glaciers with . tourists to
earn a livelihood. ' : t
. Others work at flax, which Is ho light
task. - The flux is loft until the scuds
are grown. The pulling then begins;
It is laid to dry and is collected In bun
dles. The seeds are removed by draw.
ing the flax through iron combs. The
women, along with the men work at
hacking the flax. They hot Only weave
their own clothes, but increase the fam
ily store by weaving the woof and warp
In their own homes and rot urn It to the
seller. The greatest pride of a peasant
gii'tTOaveaTdrourT$rTOcrr!ie
has made herself; and a peasant man
is exceedingly proud of his wife's ac
complishment. ' The women in Bt. Gull
teach very small girls to do tha hand
some Swiss embroider), so much ad
mired by tourists from all parts of Eu
rope and America.. Five or six Is none
too young for these children t6 begin.
Tha older ones work all winter selling
their fine work to the wholesalers. In
summer time they go to the large cities
and are hired to work before the shops
to attract, strangers. In tha eastern
cantons many of the peasants work in
the silk fnctorlen part, of m tbp. .year,
They areeither employed handling the
silk looms or in milking tha oows on
their small farms. Their 'leisure Is
given to wood-carving or watchmaking
the entire family is often engaged with
this work.' ;. -., ,'.
Their chief recreation la found lea the
Alpine clubs, bate In the fall and early
spring, after tha tourists are gone- or
btfora they come, large parties start
out to ascend the steepest mountains.
Their daring of ton results in death.
Several families, or groups of young
people, go off together, climbing, romp
ing and sending their, folic airs up the
mountain heights.' v . ... ..'...
The general outlook of the country li
prosperous. The well-to-do bring this
about by being successful hotel-keepers
end engineers, - attracting - thousands to
ineir oeauurui tana. i ns peasants,
though simple livers, are usually happy,
because they are roasters of their small
farms. ' . -y
-:; Swigs Bailoads. ";.''
America has always been Interested In
railroads, and Is. recognized among all
nations ns having the greatest lines of
railroads and the ablest engineers. But
our country has' a close rival In the
BwIhs, who have made the finest rail
ways,' the great number, of mountain
roads and essayed many if the most
difficult foats In engineering. The Alps
are a blessing to Swttxerlana, and for
many reasons. They have protected the
BwIjw from - Invaeloji, made - different
peoplea heterogeneous snd forced scien
tists and engineers to conquer and chain
the most defiant mountains. As a rec
ognised authority on Swiss engineering
says: "The iever-end)ng struggle with
nature lias developed In the tSwls a'
special instinct-. for ol '-preservation
and Its outcome! engineering." s No
where Is this so well Illustrated or on
so magnificent a souls as in the roads
they have built over the mountain
pavsea. Soma of these- were made, or at
least begun, by the Romans more, than
3,000 years ago,'. The remains of their
work are seen across the 8t. Ootthard;
they built this ro:d so travelers could
w-rwtnithttInerland" Into "sunny
Italy. . Having dured the -summit of the
Rial, and found that this, mountain was
Inhabited by neither bad nor good godn.
they set ,vii to work "making a road
up tar mountain aide.,; When Napoleea
I
A'',.'
became emperor of France ha had many
roads built to bring France and Dwlts-
erland -closer together and to make
access of the different cantons easier.
Put many, of tha finest engineering
roads built across the mountains are
Swiss enterprises. Long before the Al-
bula railroad was built the Engndine,-
splendid post road, had been cut through
the mountain chains to take the fash
ionable world by coach to 6t. Morlts.
Another splendid carriage road, "was. cut
across the. Bernese Oberlnnd, making
the highest mountain passes . accessible
to the people of Kerne and Lucerne.
One of tha most difficult and daring Is
th Blmplon; It goes Into Italy, and was
the only mode of access before ths
building of the tunnel. .The tunnel was
not -begun until 1898, by Bennett,' Braw
dau A Co. It is on the left bank of the
Rhone and is tha largest in the., world.
It U 12 H miles long, while the St. Clott
tiard Is only Si. It consists of two
parallel : tunnels, and cost tJ.000,000
francs, or 113,800,000. Much .of the
tunnel Is built at a great height. A dif
ferent - sort of engineering Is seen at
Metflngen, slong the gorge of the As r,
where galleries have been made through
tha:. solid ; rock' end. carried on Jron
stanchions across tha length of the
Schlucht. -i ' -. ? ' . .
Nothing Is too difficult for the people
to essay.' -Now it Is the bridge with a
light arch that . Spans a great chasm;
there Is a tunnel that pierces tha bow
els of the earth, and a narrow trestle
leaps . a daring height Ingenious as
these constructions are, they are built
with great enrs and solidity. If tha
roadway is threatened with avalanches
It Is protected by a solid way.' If the
path la narrow and built up a mountain
side, a wall is carried along, and some
times for .miles. Where tha ascent la
exceedingly stwp, ths road Is not. built
straight,, but is carried alg-sag. tin the
mountain heights. A" handsome carriage
road Is built along the VlerwaldBtetter
see, from Kursnacht " to Fluelen. at a
dlszy heiirht, giving a magnificent view
of the Inka and the mountains beyond.
The roadway it one place Is carried
through tha mountains. The blasting
was done with gunpowder in such a
way as to make an open gallery, sup
ported by the natural arches of ths rock.
This celebrated cliff road was for many
years considered a- masterpiece In 8wts
engineering, but It h.-is now been over
shadowed by many of ths audacious
mountain railways. - - ..
There was a time when even th brave
'SttTWi V'"pl"r"'l'H"t Bawd''-rhe- rtlgrrf
they feared natures bold sentinels and
Imagined that evil spirit lived on the
summits.' The first to' risc.end ths Rlgl
were scientists, and they climbed those
height la search of curious plants.
i
Mifft ill
Ik
1
v- . '
Thers : ara two . railroads up th Rlgl
now.. The Arth-Rlgl -Una starts at
Arth, on th Xak of Zug, and, passing
through tha-'Ooldan,. ascends through
this gapas does also tha Vltsuan Una,
Th Itigl -was th first mountain rail
way" built, and was opened in 1871. It
comes from Vltsuan over rocky ridges
and green slopes. 'Both lines meet at
Rlgl HtafTeUVft alight, graceful dip in
the northern rlrice. between the Rot-
stock and the Ku,lm: At tha height of
4.700 feet Is th halfway station, known
as Itlgl Kalstad. . This railway la 1,800
meters long and Is carried up a grade
of 25 per cent. It was begun lit 1819
and finished In, '171. It -was the work
of thre able engineers Oberst Wolf,
N. IUggenuacH and O. Zschokke, But
the Idea of protecting the train with
cogs pinned into the sides of th rail is
th work of an American Sylvester
March. It is h who built the Mount
Wuahlnjrton rail-way In J86, and his
work served as a model for th Swiss
engineers. . The Rlgl holds a unique position-
It lies' between three lake. 11
Is not a slnzl mountain, as Is generally
supposed, but a flattened pyramid, from
whose height several peaks appear.' The
highest Is th northerly Kulm, and sur
mounting this peAk, 6.D0S foet'- ln
height, are a number of snow-covered
mountain.. Th ' boldest ' is the Rlgl
Hochfluh, In - the soutli'x Ths Kulm Is
th watch tower, and oners a' magnifi
cent panorama. Across the lake Is th
Burgenstock, with an elevator at an ele
vation of 4,000 -feet above th sea. Near
at hand are the broad expanses of. roll
ing meadows on- the sides of ths moun
tains. Below are three shimmering
lakes, with th faint outlines of several
towns nestling along th border Of the
lake. ' Th eye lifted heavenward from
th plains takes In with a broad sweep
man;- snow-capped mountain summits.
Including th Yungfrau, Mouch aud th
fclger. , .' ' -,.-':",'
i A mere , difficult plec of engineering
la th Pllatu railroad, Th. ascent to
th top Is 8.901 feet, or 2,300 metres.
It is nearly three miles In length, with
an average grade of 31 per cent,' and
makes th ascent In on hour and 15
minute. ' This Is th work of Edward
Locker And Ouyer Freuler.- This rall
wsj was not opened untlTTtft. The
town council forbad any railroad to
be built her for centuries, because it
was thought thst Pilate lived there.
This railroad begins at Alpuachtad, In
a nook of. the lovely Bay of Alptiach.
The Journey .to Its summit JS teillQUS.
thofigK'TCls well worth .th journey.
The lake, below, smorg 'he leafy
branches., sparkles Ilk the purest soli
taire. Roon th rye catches a gllmpt-e
of another and still another lake, until
li lakuar seen. lieyond towtr peak
k4l
v.:t
,' - - -i v '
r 9 v - . , 1 ,J r - -
'I
4 -U
fter peak sealed In perpetual snoir.-v,"
,Th. electrlo railway from Stansstad
to Engelberg, though a less ambitious
Undertaking, show great skill In elec
trical engineering. It was built In th
summer of and Is nearly 16 milns
long, v At first th railway proceeds
aally and without technical difficulties
along the level of the river Aa, but it,
soon enters upon he mountain portion
through th ravin of th Aa,- with a
gradient of 4C degrees. - to Obermatt.
At Obermatt Is a rU-namo house of the
railway, disposing of mora than 8,000
horse ower for th railroad and for
electrlo lighting to a number of vill
ages. At Obermatt begins the steep por
tion of th railway. It is mounted by
a gradient of 25 degrees,-with motor
carriages and cog rails. - Th -train
passes In a gentle curve Into the bright
Alpine valley ' of Engelberg, - hemmed
In by. Jagged peaks." .
Interesting as these . mountain rail
roads are, the St. Go tt hard is the great
est Swiss engineering work. It unites
Switzerland and Italy and carrlea the
traveler over a difficult mountain pass.'
The Romans built a road litre several
thousand years ago, and later this was
Improved by th Swiss. In the Bum
mer tint travelers went over the pass
In coaches; In. wjn.ter on sleds. But the
road wag often covered high with snow
0 jrery .narrow. vi Kvery year hundreds
wer killed by falling sVninWhWr.w-
wr blocked with, snow and froien tp
uin. inis rn li roan was projected oy
th Swiss In 1851. But (Tie work was
not begun until 1871. -Thre countries
Swlturland, Oermany, and Italy
I C gattsrr . I.
. ' ' ' 'J
'i
v -
V.:
if-'
contributed subsidies to the amount of
U,ooo,ooo francs, fop b carrying oat
of this . great commercial enterprise.
Italy gave 6,0'ro,00O froncs, Oermany
80,000,000 and Switzerland . 11.000,000.
The work was begun by Louis Farce, a
8wiss engineer, who died of appoplexy
while working In tha tunnel. It takes
an express 18 minutes to go through,
snd a slow train from 20 minutes to-a
half - hour. , There Is only one pair of
rail so that trains go only one- way,
gnd ' a bell rings from time to time
until the train comes out. There hag
never been'sn accident nor a stoppage
since the tunnel' was built "In th
morning th train' leaves Luccrn and
is in Milan. by evening.' It goes 'to
Musegg, where t ascend quite a height.
Her It passes through archd tunnels
high above th lake. Coming out of
th tunnels, th blue lake appear anew,
N"ext follow a stretch of pliln between
Arth and Slemen. " To the right Is th
links . of Lomcrs ' snd . th Islani of
Schwanan; to the left the atrang peaks
Of Mytjhen, after a short curve around
th Rcjl and the lake at the finest
point, Brunncn." There "Is " long" rid
across, th' plain -with a view-of the
lake to Fluelen.- At ErstfeM the great,
heavy mountain, locomotlv .is attached
and th Alpine railway, .begins. The
mountain' engine tugs gnd puffs aa It
mounts to Ooschenen. ' At this height
thefirst f I4i t Ui.tci!r a ppcarj ;, thero
leaping torrents, here foaming waters
sndlthe pleasant fragrance pf deep pine
forests. Beyond Armstog th Ootthard
enters a tunnel to escape the aya lunches
of itrlaUuwtocii, rA tbtg noint')b "ivt
Cog- wjezz J&4zz.vzter
sppearsto flow upward; this is because
th train winds her., there and every- y
where. Th two most difficult points
r . at Batsberg : and the Inafelsberg. "
But - a splendid - bridge, a wonderful
workof railroad engineering, spans that ',
awful gap. . It was her that many of
the most dreadful- accidents occurred In
th mlddl ages. Beyond Is the Italian -frontier.
Ieclno has charaotarlstic of
Its own. breen whirlpools In tha shad -of
nook and wood." On-tha left Mont
Froth no bars any exit; on tha right r
loping hills. - Th train sweep -one ',
mora through . . tunnels, then whit
gorges, (valleys and streets appear and
disappear, giving - way ' to mountain
slopes and mulberry trees. One mora
Ieclno Is heard gurgling, telling the im-
patfent traveler h Is approaching Milan '
with, Its great cathedral' .. ....- ...
fiAiiol.haiUlscjngjattway.I orr th
Bernese mountains. At flrat th path i
among lowlands, but soon the mountain
engine la attached and tha train mount
higher and higher. Below are-th val
leys, spotted with paeturing eattl and y
Swiss chalets. Here th peopla tend to ' t
their cattle during the summer and do
wood-carving .. In -th winter;- From .
Bern to Interlaken th train Is carried .
across valleys, until another, steep
ascent la inafle and a foaming waterfall
is heard.' Then down a steep railroad,
whence th view over the Hare valley I -free
and open, to Brunlg and Interlaken. '
A more recent .cbnstruotlon la ' th ,
EHadlnarailroad. which goes front'
Thuots toCoir, and then. "To BC."HoTtt-
and Fontfesena. ; It IS th work or Mr. ,
Hvnnlng, and was completed only thre f
years a got It.waa started as a private .
enterprise, but th company did not
hav th money to complete it, and.ao
th work was taken up by tha govern
ment. Until this, Urn th coach road
was' the only means of access' to th
Engttdlne. From Coir to Bt Morlts th
ascent Is steep.,. The railroad ia carried
cia-aag up th mountain sides, through, ,.
several tunnels i and' across, gaping
ravines. Tha two viaducts, tha Bchtnit
tenobel viaduct on tha left, and th -
great Land waaertridg, between Alren- ;
sen an FHtana-oo-th rlghtTb, last
makes an ascent of 10 degree, and,
with a sharp curve, span a great gap
and enters tunnel of 117 meters. : Th
one on th left is 14 meters long and .
It Is built at a height of It meters. -
The last of these great mountaineer- '
Ing enterprise la the- Tungfrau rail- .
road, planned by ' ' Georg Zeller. He
started th work, but died soon after it '
was begun. Th Bernese railroad go .
from Interlaken through the lovely val
ley of Santerbrunnen and Grlndenwald
up th Klenle Schudegg. Th mountain
sides ar pink with th Alp rose and -
other mountain flowers. Higher ; and .
steeper ascends th englna to tha cold
Kleni Schudegg; .ar good vantage point
for-the three sister mountain th
ElgrLMonsch. and tha Tungfrau robd '
In the pure roBeg oteterrwVsnowV-J--
Another mountain en gin goea to th
Elger glacier, where th beautiful Tung
frau peer forth. In full glory. Another 1
nwnnlng railroad 'lias been built to tha
Elsmeer. . This was considered a serious
difficulty,- for a tunnel had t b built
under a glacier. There still remain on
hour's ride, but ths question ia an- ;
swered. will tourists be abln to endur ,
th cold of those diary heights. Th ,.
cost of this engineering enterprise ha
been ' 4,600,000 francs, or 81,100,080.
Tlio. Bwlsa have .adornedlinany of their
cities.' with handsome, viaducts., At
Bern ' there is a splendid 'steet bridge
acrofls the Hare. It ia th work of
Otto Bonle.'. -. ;, -' '-,-. ".'.'I'. '
. Tli towns of Geneva, Zurich and Lu
cerne ar also adorned with handsom ,
ton bridge. - - ? ; . '. v,-
.Kerr Reman Abt Is one of the great-'
est Swiss engineers. He. has improved .
th pin j cogwheel of Sylvester March, .
and accomplished this , by making th
pins a part of' the rait Tha wheels ar
caught thre times during revolution.
Ha did -tills while building a railroad .
over the llnra. ' This work was done In
Ll8r, By IVOO.hls improved system was
used In Europe, . Japan, Australia,-and
carried up' Pike's reak. - . i,
. There ar onjy a few of the many
railroad constructions, but they ar '
enough to show that the Swiss hav
conquered their; dauntless mountains bv -building
tunnels,, chaining gaps and
ascending the steepest heights .With
mountain engines, t, ,',' . y .
--'.- .ssow' ihy sip, ;
It Is evidently custom that mne ,
comfort, even In th way men tak their
rest.- i Th , feather . bedg so neoeassry
to the last generation are little lesa
than actual torments to this, while th '
Japanese doubtless would find even onr '
firm.' flat mattress too soft, after. their .
mtttng couch and wooden nock-rest, " ;
Tho AnSlo-Saxon rnce, so far as Its
sleeping arrangement, and means of '
jest are concerned, is the-mostluxurl-ous
in th world. , . ; J '(..". '
Th.gyptiaji bed a, couch of a peou- ,
liar shape, more Ilk an oki-fnshloned
easy chair, with hollow back and seat,
than a bed.- . . ' . ;,f .' - '
' The Chinese ns low. bedntaads, often ,
elaborately enrveof, and supporting only
mats or coverlldsy : - - ' . ; - t
A peculiarity of the German bed Is II .
shortness; besides that, - It frequently
consist In part of a lars down pil
low or upper mattress, which sprsuds
over the person, and usually answers -th
purpose of all.th other ordinary
bct'rlothlng comMneVl, . - . ,
, In lh0..trrqp!c men aUep- In hmntrar-MnJ'
or upon, mat of grass. The Host In
dian, unrolls hia-llght portahl eliarpoy
or mtttrets,, which In the morning is
again, rollud together and carried av
by. him, .' . ,, : ., .
V
i
1