The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-10-27
Mont Cents.
Correspondence Of the London Times.

TURIN, Sept. 10.
confess | felt some conjunction
about smuggling myself, as it were,
through the Alps before the great dark
thoroughfare cut through the heart OF
the great mountain chain had been hal
lowed, as it were, by the opening cere.
mony | had made up my mind to get
over the Col. de Frejus, or the Col. de
la Rome, from Modane to Bardonneche,
in my own old way, and had ordered
mules for what might, in all probability.
have been my last Alpine journey.
There were, however, not even mules
to be had at Modane, and my compan-
ions were not equal to a seven hours
walk up and down hill, so nothing was
left but seat in the Fell Railway ON.
nibus, detestable and discreditable
concern, in which, as experience from
st. Michel to Modane had proved, when
they have charged you full value for q
first class ticket, they crowd all the sec
ond and third class passengers upon you
until no room is left 10 breathe. Great
ly as | think the future generation may
they have obtained into Italy, ! almost
think old stagers like myself will have
cause to regret some of the sensations
with which they used in their bygone
days, to be ushered into the "paradise
of Europe The transition is generally
from gloom to glare, from night chill to
morning warmth. The very horses
and other CATTLE" as it has often been
observed, "feel the genial change, and
they usually cheer up and frisk and
gambol, and testify, by their neighing,
braying and believing, the JOY with
which they hail, in the prospect Of the
fair region before them, the reward Of
the tolls they endured in the long weary
ascent on the other side" The descent
is almost everywhere rapid, abrupt and
precipitous. Life grows apace around
you at every downward stride; at the
altitude where stunted frs thinly marked
the bare rocks on the French. Swiss or
Austrian side, the chestnut and the
walnut in all their luxuriance fill the
Italian glen. The fig tree shades the
humblest cottage almost up to the
maintain CREST and where the brown
and sere surface Of the soil at this adj
vanced season strikes you as unredeemed
barrenness, you may see on a nearer ap-
proach that the effect is produced by
the stubble of the small patches Of field,
with the small patches Of
cultivated by the hardy
on crags and cliffs where
one would almost fancy the very goat
would fear to venture.
But, after all, you cannot avoid your
Alps and enjoy them at the same time.
Our purpose IN coming all the way from
London to this place was to know how
one could manage to accomplish the
journey without seeing the mountain
we had to cross, and that was done in as
simple way as one might get from the
Cross to the Temple Station Of
the London Underground Railway.
When we were all ready, Valvassori
gave the signal, some one called out
" Partenza," the engine gave its shrill
and away we rolled with the
most beautiful ease; Regaldi chatting
away in his warm, eloquent manner;
at first passing the glow-wormlike Ian
terms of men still at work, then in dark,
deep stiffness, till, after 80 minutes, we
emerged into daylight at the opposite
dU DdTuOD1eCnt. IldlI an
hour before we were in France. We
were now on Italian ground.
Our carriage was last in the line, and
as the engine worked backward we were
close to it. Both orr windows were
wide open, and we had not the least
imaginable inconvenience from smoke
or steam. There was no perceptible
difference between the outside and in
side air, and one Of my companions
slumbered through nearly the whole
distance. The fact that the engine was
in our rear was certainly in our favor,
but the unanimous evidence of all who
had come through in the morning went
far to establish that they had also ex-
perienced no unpleasant sensation, and
the difference OF temperature could only
be detected by Valvassori's glass, which
marked q few degrees of additional
warmth in the tunnel. The highest
degree attained in o.day's journey has
been Is deg. centigrade. Grattoni's
glass in a previous tri p rose to 81 deg.
A more triumphant success than has in
every respect crowned this great work
could hardly have been anticipated by
pace throughout the crossing seemed
fairly rapid and even; and the time
employed, both in the up and down
journey Of between seven and eight
English miles, was precisely SO minutes,
but the average time allowed to the
trains when the line shall be in full OPP
Grafton, is calculated at 20 minutes.