Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1873-11-18
Geneva a!
FROM NOTES ABROAD.
For the Spectator.

produced and II 1t can possibly show more
beautiful, more romantic, a more delightful
and picturesque country than Switzerland, it
surely has not been my good fortune to see it.,
and In all this land OF mountain and of Fl ,od
of snow. glaciers and running waters whose
Alpine sommits tower above the clouds and
whose gentle, slvery, transparent lakes nestle
In lfs valleys, there is no place so charming, $50
lovely, as dear, elegant Geneva. 1t is enchant-
ingly situated on.the shores Of that bewitching
lake that is SO deeply blue, so purely clear. =
Geneva and is lake make one of those rich,
rare pictures, that once seen is never forgotten,
the work of the master artist whose tints age
cannot fade, but only sof,en, whose every beau
ty Time $ ruthless f ger mars not. but care
fully preserves-"a gem oil purest ray within
splendid setting, one full worthy of its pres
clous charge 1t was warm Summer evening
that we found ourselves at Culoz the nearest
railroad station in France to Switzerland We
we're wearied and considerably fatigued We
had been travelling on train of cars, whose
speed d not equal our Expresses. since 10
o'clock OF the preceding evening, having lef'
| the foe city of Turin, one of the past capia ais
of Italy, at that hour After the delay of few
minutes as Culoz we we're again en- route for
the pride of Switzerland, that city of which
the Swiss are so justly proud Our ride of two
| hours took US through a country with beauti-
| ful scenery of almost every variety, consisting
OF mountains, valleys, and occasional tracts Of
| level pas ure land, now aud then catching
glympses of the quiet bosoms of blue lakes.
and then Of cold clear streams that came rush
| ing and foaming dow from tall SUBMITS that
were capped with eternal SHOWS and ever drap.
ed with hsecy clouds. In the last hours of the
day, while the warm rays of that July sun were
| IT hccting many hues from the ice and snow
of lefty peaks near and distant, We reached
our destil alton amid scene of beauty seldom
| equalled and never surpassed.
Geneva is a remarkably handsome city. 1t
is we'll laid out. with broad, clean streets, and
quite compactly built up with fine substantial
dwellings and stores, and there are a number
| of grand hotels. some Of them equal to any in
| the large European capitals The population
is about fifty thousand, representing variou
countries besides the Swiss, principally French
German and English. There are many wealthy
English families that live in and near the city.
There are also number of American families
that have made this inviting locality their per.
manent home. Our party was fortunate in secur
ing most excellent quarters in the Grand Ho
tel De Russie,'' Hotel much frequented by
English and American travellers and one Of the
most beautiful situations in Geneva. It was
formerly the Palace Facy, @ lai du Mount B Banc
| The window OF my room overlooked the lake and
gave me view of the magnificent scenery be-
yond, that had for background old Mount
BiaDc, whose venerable shoulders are always
covered with that mantle Of white. This city
OF the Swiss has an ancient and honorable
history that would doubtless interest you to a
great extent, but you may possibly be as much
ii not more conversant with it than myself !;
so that my pains to enlighten and interest you
10 this respect might be entirely superhuous-
\ consequently | will only present tor your con.
sideration and amusement few superficial OBJ
servations and plain facts that came under my
eyes and received some share Of my time and at.
iention while fingered in this place that
thought was one Of the fairest it had been my
lot to sojOurn In
1t may be my duty first to tell you something
about the position, extent, natural features, &c
of the little Republic wherein | found my ia
vorite city The Republic of Swlzerland-tht
ancient Helvetla lies north of Italy and cas-
of France Its average length is l65 miles
and it's average breadth 100 mile, area Is 25(
square miles, So If you know the SIZE Of you
own State you will see by Comparison tina
this Republic is only little more than one
third as large as the State of Virginia.
1t has a population of 2,5lO,0OO, or jus
twice the number Of souls. that the "Old Do
mini6n" has. | suppose that you are aware tina
Switzerland is the most mountainous countr!
| IN Europe. w nlle travelling through IL. vi
| ten fancied that it was not entirely unlike ou
own section of this grand old Commonwealth
in macy of its natural features. There are range
of mountains extending in every direction.
is traversed and surrounded by the j ura noun
| tains and by various ranges OF the Alps, o
which the Rhatian and Pennine are the princi
pal.
There are many lofty peeks, among which are
Mount Blanc, Monte Rosa, Mat,erhorn anc
St Gothard, which are from 900 to 16 00(
feet high. Geneva is quietly nestled amid al
this wild grand and rugged beauty in com
paratively level country, upon the banks of bel
own famous lake And from this point you
NAV look across the country to all those noun
tain-fastnesses and difficult passes. some o
which are we'll known 10 history, of which the
most notable are the Sim-plon, st. Gothard
Splugen and Great st. Bernard The latter is il
the Soul west and is famous tor the passage Of
| the army of Napoleon l., to the battlefield of
| Marengo 10 1900 | might tell you much 10
regard to this beautiful little country this small
world Of itself, that would interest yon and II
might also be instruct to you. Yet | must
not 90 beyond my bounds Il should not forget
nv text, at the head Of this article | only
wrote the word Geneva which you know is
the name of only one city in this country tina,
interested me so much. So. now, whatever
else may say about Switzerland in this con-
tribution, will only be in general way. so fal
as it illustrates and bears upon my subject