The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-12-28
LETTER FROM BAYARD TAYLOR.

from Hte ~, Z. 1TGoNne.
BoTZEN, IN THE TYRoL, Sept. 20, ls67.-It is
sbo- rsfx weeks since the first railroad, which
ctually crosses the Alpine chain, has been
completed aud opened To the public. The only
ther road from Central Europe to the Mediter-'
ganean-that from Vienna to Trieste-only
kirts the eastern extremity of this great noun
ttHin barrier, where 1t is broken by the valleys
pf the Drave and Save, and gradually loses
Natsef in the ridges of the Thracian Hemus
s The pass of the Semmering, a feat of engineer
ng hithertovery celebrated in Europe, although
copied after the passage of the Alleghanies on
&the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, was an eleva-
ion of only about three thousand feet, while
Few of the passes OF the Alps are less than six
Fthousand. The tunnel through Mont Gents was
the first endeavor 10 pierce the chain, and will
undoubtedly be successful in three or four years
hmore. surveys have been made and projects
seet on foot for railways over the stmplon and
#he st. Gothard; but the Breuner Pass, leading
rom Innsbruck into the Valley OF the Adige,
'#b the first TO be mounted by q locomotive
The breuner has the adyantage Of being the
Y nown to The Romans, who always used 1t for
mmunication with their colonies on the
bper Danube, and their Dacian and Panno-
+ man provinces. Thesummit is 4770 feet aHove
the sea level, but the approaches are similar in
grade to those of~the other passes The ditfcul-
ties TO be overcome are very much the same,
for the amonnt of distance traversed, and the
experiences of this road will thus serve as
kRaAge by which to estimate the feasibility of
bthers over the higher passes.
Three days ago we left Munich and gladly
Eer it seems TO have the most disagreeable
Climate OF any city in Germany-taking the
ktrain for Innsbruck. The route follows the
ASalzburg road as far as Rosenheim, at the point
where the Inn issues from the TyroleSe Alps.
EIere there is change OF trains, and a delay
= hot provided for in tue time tables. I could
hink OF nothing but one of our own railway
hncLions. during the session OF some political
were discharged upon long platform in front
Fof an unfinished and very disorderly station
However, by dint of endless inquiry, found
the proper {. ain, placed my party in 1t, and
a Inn n fEhn a had
Kufstein, the first Austrian station, about a
hour and a half behind time. 1t was, to me, a
new sensation to enter Austria Without my
passport being demanded, and to have the top
of one trunk lifted as full examination of our
baggage. Austria, at last, rather from the pres
sure OF circumstances than from goodwill, is in
the way OF reform; but restrictions on the right
Of travel are falling everywhere in Europe with
a great deal of o ner medieval nonsense. The
Moldavian lady, WIS pleased TO see, stationed
her husband and children in a safe corner
I while dog on arm, sne superintended the ex-
i animation and transshipment OF her trunks
Darkness hid the splendid Alpine valley of
the Inn long before we reach Innsbruck, and
the tram, instead of passing on over the Breu-
ner, as advertised, stopped there for the night,
throwing upon the place such an Eruption OF
passengers as might, feared, exhaust the
L hotel loom. 1 chose the Golden Eagle" be-
cause ii was GoeLhe's quarters on his journeys
3 to and from Italy, ar when the landlord gave
D us No. l, a spacious apartment. tulI of decayed
, splendor, was sure that IL was Gothe's own
room. Entering the house under a heavy
arcade, mounting a broad, worn staircase, and
pacing the Irregular, echolng corridors, paved
with stone, we plunged into quiet atmosphere
OF the past Pleasant among the many hostels
of my travels is the Golden Eagle of Inns.
bruck, and worth a hundred Grands Hotels de
Louvre.
nal water. color portrait OF Andreas Hofer, with
his autograph under it, Seeing that was in
terested in 1t, the landlady brought me a copy
of the address which Hofer made TO the people
from the window of the hotel, on the 10Th OF
August, 1909, after he had been chosen military
!. Tyrolese dialect but is as terse as vigorous and
racy, as speech OF Lincoln or Grant, or a des-
Immediately after leaving the city the road
begins TO ascend The valley OF the Wip,which
"a must be followed nearly TO the summit of the
pass, falls into that Of the Inn through mar
! row gorge or gateway Hall mile OF tunnels
and deep cuttings 1r9ugnt GS int9 M MIG & Ta:
road is noiched, The post-road Is on the oppo-
site side, with deep gulf and roaring stream
? side, high above the ridges of pine, the Sky is
pierced with pinnacles of snow: The postroad
aiready considerably above us, but in the
course of two or three miles we had overtaken
It's level A careful omparison of the two CON
Vinced me that the ascending grade of the rail
Il way was fully equal TO That OF the road; In
some places IL seemed to be even greater
q could not ascertain the figures, but IL was Ger.
tainly nowhere less than 100 feet 10 the mile, ano
In the most difhcult parJs possibly reached l5O
The greatest obstacle to be overcome was the
abruptness OF The sidcs Of the glen, which no
where oilers shelf Of level soil, but falls sud
stream. The angles OF this mountain buttresl
y are solid rock; the sides are often masses o
walls OF support TO be built up from below
Where there is soil enough to make turf, this II
the best protection. The steep is pegged int
diamond patterns from top To bottom aud twiR
are woven between the pegs, so as to preven
taken firm root. WOTkmen are still every
where busy with these laboTs, aud the traces Q
the means by which they used 10 excavate th
road still remain. In one place the only ap
pTOach was by building bridge OF trestle- work
two or three hundred feet high, across the gorge
side.