Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1864-05-04
gaiIg empire.
Written expressly for the Dayton Emp,rsi
A SUMMER In EUROPE.


situation befioeen The lakes, isA place Of great
resort, not because il possesses auy rsmarkA-
Bile beauties, but because il is 10 the vicinity
Of some Of the most interesting scenes 10
Switzerland 1t iS one Of the singularitiss
which strike a traveller from the great West,
that here, in the very midst Of the wildcat and
most savage works of Nature--At the very
iost Of inaccessible mountains, and Wherever
q glacier pours down from the clouds into the
plains, he finds hotels which would be eS.
teemed excellent any where in the world
smooth macadamised roads, omnibuses, car.
riages, and oil the comfortable appliances Of
enlightened civilization
AT Interlaohen the scene is like that at Sar-
ntoga or the White Sulphur Springs, and all
the day long the promenades aud the gardens
about the hotels, are filed with lettering
loungers in elegant apparel who apparently
have no other or higher ambition than to see
and be seen. In the evenings there is Of
course, the music and dancing, and lovs-mak-
ing and signing which makes life at water
ing place so delightful and iaciuating. We
did not come TO Switzerland however 10 6ud
such pleasures as these, aud in spite Of the
fact that the clouds hung low down on the
mountains, aud that the experienced guides
shook their heads when asked about the
weather, we started next morning for the
hamlet Of Grindewad, about ffteen miles TO
the South The road was good, the scenery
magnificent, the clouds withheld their watery
burdens, and the ride was as pleasant as We
could have desired. ....I.. t.
On our way We passed several carriage
drawn bE men, women and children instead
of horsoS Travellers ride out to Grndelwald
or Lauterbunnen, and taking out the horses
to ride over the mountain, give these poor
miserable people one or two dollars Is draw
their vehicles around, ten or fifteen miles, TO
await their decent on the other side '''
Aswe we're passing through gorge Of more
than usual sublimity, ! said to our driver;
Why we're these tremendous mountains made
what good are tboy-tO any body2 He ale.
vated his eyebrows and shoulders, and then
replied that be "really did not know, upless it
was to bring rich foreigners 10 spend their
money in poor SwiiEerlandr' r. They certain.
y do Answer that purpose If no other.
Grindelwald is in rich valley, which seems
like basin deep-set amidst the mountains,
It's principal attractions are its glaciers, two
in number which have pushed themselves
down from the domain Of the eternal Winter
King, among the green pastures, aad harvsst
fields and sunny brooks of summer. To get
TO the lower and most interesting one OF them,
we passed down through slopipg meadows, in
which the farmers are busy with their scythes,
and across some ripplng rills, ard found the
huge, dripping ice cavernS opening before us
from the lowest level of the valley. "A
One Of these caVerns called the Crysta,
Grotlo we enter, after short delay outside Of
It, that our blood may cool little, and pens.
trale into the solid mass Of ice a distance of
perhaps seventy feet Illuminated BY the
torches Of the guide, il was sight OF wonder.
fol beauty. The ice is as clear as glass, as
solid as marble, aRd as blue as the sky Al
very few minutes there however was a n that
we dared TO stay The cold dam pnesu seemed
to CONCEAL the vital current In our veins. and
forcibly suggested the danger ofdeadly agues
and mortal feyers, From this grotto staryed
of alone, climbing over rocky waste to get
nearer view Of the great cavern, whose arch
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