New-York tribune., 1868-03-04
LETTERS FROM BAYARD TAYLOR.
WHERE MEERschAuM PIPES ARE MADE.

L have lust returned tfOfn q snort o&culslOn
along the line of the mountain chain, to one of the
valleys Of the ThHringian Forest which has special
interest for German cthnologiss on account of the
physical pecularities of its inhabitants, and to
smokers throughout the world from its manufacture
OF meerschaum pipes Although it lies near one OF
the main highways of travel, il is never visited by
foreign tourists and the wooded mountains which
hem it in represent more than physical seclusion
presume very few of my readers have ever heard
OF Ruhla, but in Germany it has its poets ana It's
noyelists The name of the place Is d'e H".'
whence saae shrewd philOogists ascIlbe IT'S origin
90 the colony Of Tyrolese. who gave It the name OF
their birtli-place-T5r The popular tradition is
that IL was settled by those Venetians who during
the Middle Ages, wandered hither in search OF gold
and precious stones. The prevalence OF dark halr
and dark eyes among the inhabitants and the beauty
Of the women are in favor Of the latter suppostion
However this is matter which concerns us Of the
New World less than the present industry OF the
place. ,,,
the park of Reinhardsbrunn and in half an hour
reached the park of Tabarz, the name OF which IRON
fdUb s blind deceptive ore) dates from the period
when ihe aforesaid waNdeSing Se1etl0os washed out
gold in the beds Of the neighborlng streams mat
they actually came TO this region Summer after Sum
mer for centuries is fact too well established 10 pc
doubted an old gentleman with whom happen TO
be intimately connected remembers seeing the iast
of them when a boy Why no gold is now found is
not sO'casily explained; If the washings were remun
eratiye with their rough primitive method, the
modern processes might still be applied but no trace
Of the precious metal appears to have been since dis
After threading the long and picturesque village of
Winberstein. road entered narrow valley
selsberg. the highest summit in this part of the
mountains Although ! am so familiar with
the Thiiringian Forest had never before
visited this valley, which, unlike all the others OPEN
ing nOrthward is covered with forests of deciduOus
trees Elsewhere, the fir, pine, and larch are pre-
dominant The brilliant green of the beech and ma
Ia a MI pf 10
hues of the evergreens But for the admirably-kept
road. and the tracesOf forest-culture on the moan
savage as that of the Adrondacks.
The ascent to the crest of the mountains was made
by easy grades Even in the widest places the ROAD
was bOrdered by hedge of fir trimmed as neatly as
if for garden inclOsuTe. On the summit we were
above the still heat of the lower lands; bTacing
wind blew from the west over vast stretches OF
country. golden with harvest, which opened on both
sides. We followed the course OF the Rennsheg, a
mountain track thousand years old, thrOugh
corner of the Duchy Of Meiningen into the domain OF
Saxe-WeimaT. On the southern side OF the cham,
not more than pile from the point where we left
the summit to descend into the valley Of Ruhle,
there still stands the stump of the beech tree under
which Luther was seized by party Of disguised
knights this frendsl and hurried through the forests
A mile or two more, and we dropped down upon
the houses of Ruhla The valley is so narrow that
the greater part of the town cannot extend beyond
q single street in its bed-but that street is nearly
three miles longl 1t seemed interminable as we
cateTcd over the rough pavement, noting the meer-
schaums exposed for sale in every fourth house. look
ing for the famed beauty of the women and finding
some OF it, and yearning for dinner. AT the " Blue
Grape the guests had already reached the pudding;
yet they made room for us, and the walters began
again. We had an excellent meal of four courses,
for thirty cents apiece.
My friends at once plunged into the meerschaum
interest while set out to hunt an old acquaintance,
who. had been informed, had returned to this, his
birthplace built himself elegant residence on the
side of the mountain, and was now spending the
Summer therein. In SPIN; Scandinavia and the
Orient, had either preceded followed Alexander
Zieger. and his Handbook for Thiinngia'-the best
guide-b0ok ever written-was IN my pocket. 1t was
geu of gardens but the owner was not at home
However. saw a familiar figure in secluded arb0r
it rose and advanced toward me, and we pronounced
each others names at the same moment. We sat
down and compared notes finding, to Our mutual as
toRishment, that we had both two months ago, trav
sled from Barcelona to the Republic of AndOrra, and
over the Pyrenees by precisely the same route, and
Zeeler insisted that should 90 back and inspect
his new residence-the Acknowledgements he
has filed with interesting souvenirs Of his travels.
II pleasant to see such polyropos and hOmeloyer
IN ODc the two characters not inconsistent, ms
the world snppOses. The article which my friend
seemed to uemost-beyond the relics brought from
Jerusalem and the Pyramids-was finch, now IN
the mOting stage, and of very disconsolate aspect
This finch, he explained to me. was the only one in
Ruha which always sang the full song of his tribe
! without missing or changing note. He was very
valuable: but unless he whistled the exact word: :
ri ki zi smOszia, bob bob boo k6rSergeWirr' every
fine he opened his bill his value would be greatly
diminished. There is mild fnch-mania in the place,
it seems aud the cOnnOisseurs have fixed an ideal
standard of song which is only realized in this one
bird. He was not in mood TO sing, and now fear
shall never hear the perfect song of the finch.
Zeglers garden, In the glen, is a wonderful speci-
men of what love and patience may make out of the
most stubborn and unprOmising materials. Once
rock rough earth. and thcket it is now haunt for
the elves and fairies. Beside the finest avenue of
aTbor-vite in all Northern Germany it has banks of
flowers, terraces, and abyInths, brooks that fall in
sheets OF clear glass rustic bridges and arboTs OF
impenetrable shade. Here there is a single weeping
ash, under which sixty persons can sit. The place
was laid out, rather created. by the uncle of my
friend who retired from the manufacture Of meer-
schaums to spend his old age among these bowers.
This brings me back to the starting point. found
my cOuntrymen in the principal establishment of the
place, busy with selecting and purchasing. They
had fortunately been directed to the warehouse of
the Brothers Ziegler, one of the Oldest and most
extensive Of the manufacturing firms For a long
time Ruhla was the only place in Europe where this
peculiar branch Of industry was carried, but OF late
years Paris and Vienna have usurped great deal of
1T. The demand. however, has so rapidly increased
that the interests of the little mountain town have
not yet materially suffered, and will not, when
tain advantages of the Ruhla pipes TO be gene
rally known. The color which meerschaum takes
with gives the pipe Its value In the eyes OF an
amateur aud the Partisan and Vennese pipes though
elegantly carved and mounted, do not take the
rich gOlden-brown hue as those manufactured
here At least this is the opinion of German smokers
know little about the subject myself, but it is
tirmed by the experience OF friend who does.
When where, and how meerschaum first came to
be used as material for making pipe-bowls, are
questions upon which history is silent In Ruhla,
the manufacture can be traced back for period of
14O years. But the name of the first discOverer is
lost, and will never be known. Those who seek
symbols in all things, and who trace the word tobacco
directly from Bacchus, will lind in DleerSckaum sea-
foam) a reference to Venus and the cOlOrng of their
pipes will thus become service to the sentiment Of
D'"'''' HOW much Of beauty underlies
ForeyerInore each form Of USE"
Daring the middle ages the inhabitants of Ruhla !
were celebrated for their skill in manufacturing
arnOr smith Of the village is noted in tradition
for having hammered sword and the Landgraf