Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1873-07-25
TEEE suy'ITZER .sT NON E.

The Swiss people, and the country they
occupy, have furnished topics of interest
for many years, and yet there remains
much TO be said, not generally known.
Geneva is not Switzerland, although in
Switzerland neither is Lucerne, or Fri
bourg, or Berne, or Basle; one must go
among the "mountain men" to learn what
II Is t. be a Switzer. II makes one shud-
der to think of these men, women and chill
dren living through the long, cold winters
upon the cliffs and rocks of the steep noun
tains, amid snow and ice, and far away
from human aid ard sympathy. How they
manage to live is indeed a puzzle. There
is no country in the civilized world, unless
ii he in northern Norway, Sweden, or
Russia, where the struggle for existence is
more severe and discouragng than in this
little republic in the heart of Europe. Said
an intelligent Switzer to a traveller, 1--WE
are race apart The earth on which we
bnild and plant is not a stretch of vineyards,
orchards, corniie!ds, or pastures dropping
towards the sea, with hardly any break or
waste; we dwell among crags and clouds.
Our fats arc mostly water and our slopes
are mostly ice. Your plains lie baskng
in the summer, while our nights are swept
by storms. Your river-beds are loan, our
river beds are grit. You dreamers by the
water-side have but to wait on Nature,
while we watchers by the mountain side
must tdke her gJts by force" And it re-
| qurcs force, perseverance, skill, TO extort
from Nature any favors, on these precp-
itous rocks, and among these dark raviIes.
During the last summer, while at Inter-
laken, VIC visited the Swiss Industrial IIx-
hibition, then open, and it afforded US a
fine opportunity TO learn regarding the
progress Of tliis remarkable people in ag-
riculturc, arts, manu- lactures, etc. The
spacious rooms Of the exhibition building
were filled with the products of Swiss in
dustry and skill. In textile fabrics the
display was not large, but in agricultural
implements, dairy apparatus, vehicles,
furniture, clocks, watches, engineering
tools, and particularly in wood carvings, it
was very rich. II was curious to observe
how every article was adapted to the Pc
culiar wants of the people. The tools need
cd to subdue rough country must be
heavy and durable; elegance of form and
finish must give way to strength and dura-
bility. The wagons were pondcrous and
strong, the harnesses contained three times
as much leather rs is found in those made
by us; the tubs. pals, and cooking uten-
sis were of fixed form, and designed 10
subserve variety Of purposes in house
hold affairs; the ploughs, scytheS, rakes,
forks, etc., were massive, aud of plain fin
ish. The exhibition was very interesting
TO strangers, and highly creditable to the
dwellcrs among the mountains.
The SwitZer at home not only leads a life
of great prvation, but he is surrounded by
perils; he is in constant danger of being
overwhelmed by avalanches, drowned by
floods, or blown away by lempests. \ slide
of snow is terrible. but flood of rain may
try mems natures on these heights more
sernly than moving snow. Such floods of
rain as sometimes drench these Alpine
slopes may sweep hundred miles Of val
ley bare of house and tree. Unex ectedy
II scme summer afternoon there comes a
nash-a roll of thunder then rain drops
patter on the rocks soon descending from
the Furca, the ThierbergP, the Tieien glac-
iers. there rolls wave more furious than
the roads, and extend over the intervals,
and the roar of the terrible food is echoed
from crag to cli1f, from the bare mountain
rock TO the forest pines clinging to the
treachcrous debris Of the sleeping valley.
a few years ago such food descended in
to the level feds where reposes the lille
village OF HOspenthal, and gathering fury
at every rod of its advance it tore up the
soil of the plains, destroyed the roads and
water works at Andrrmatt, roared past
Teulelstein, and smote the strong town OF
Amsteg. At this place the Karstelen drops
into the river Reuss,-a blow, the dyke
gives way, the waters surge into gardens,
suck through the walls, and wash out herbs
and fruit trees, with the soil in which they
grow. One house begins to float soon anOth-
er and another, and amid the roar of fall
ing rain, hurrying floods: crashing forests,
parting roofs and groaning timbers the un-
plying flood dashos the entire village down
into the lake. What happened here in this
valley, often occurs throughout the entire
Alpine region, and thus the life of the poor
Swiss peasant is one OF constant apprehen-
sion and the brightest sunshine aud The
stillcst atmosphere affords no positive
sense of security. These silent rustics, not
withstanding, are merry on their lofty
perches, and contrivc to coax from the un-
grateful soil some golden sheaves. The
shoots are never high, the ears are never
; full; but when the AIR grows cold in au-
tumn they cut the stalks and tie them up
/, on frames of wood to dry. Grain seldom
:, ripens in the field in many of the Swiss
valleys. TO obtain farm or garden spot
1t must he made. A patch of ground is
chosen with southern face troop OF
boys and girls pick it clear Of stones q
: bank OF logs and scrub is made to wall il
, up, and when the seed is sowA, "A wall OF
: stone is constructed along its upper margin
+ slantwise, 10 turn all floods of rain and
, rolling earth and stones aside. And for all
} tn s labor and care, how scantv are thecroT
returns! You ask the weather-browned
. man who patiently trudses by the side Of
/ your horse, holding him mechanically by
! the bride, as you Chamber over the dizzy
, cliffs and along the edges of fearful Trecl-
pces. "Why don't you quit this dreary
5 country and find more congenal land p
1--WE cannot quit the mountains" he says
/, ait is our home; the land is ours; where
D shall we find another and better place p
Home! Yes, here is the secret. Well is
it for tho world, that men are unwilling tC
believe there is better land than that in
: which they are born; it is homo. Take q
Switzer away from his mountains of rock
and ice, TO a land OF calm and sunshine
= and for him II has no charms. The stall
5 wart men who hire themsely es as mercen.
a aries TO his Holiness the Pope, and live in