Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1878-08-29
Correspondence.
Letter from Switzerland.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, }
August 4th 1873.


tFrom our Regular Cores spondent.)
From the gay centre of fashion in Paris,
to the little, plain, solit. city of Zurich is
not near so far, but, in some respects, IL is
| a much greater transition than from Paris
to Milwaukee, for one sees in the style and
fashion OF dress much more that Is Paris
ian in our Western cities than In this an
ctent Swiss town. But in their manner OF
celebrating the Sabbath, the European.
rather than the American style prevails. |
had an opportunity to see the inhabitants
on Sunday, In their plain Sunday clothes,
ust such clothes as you will see at coun
try Westinghouse in America, perfectly
clean, but in style and cut such as were
worn In America twenty years ago. They
were out with their wives and children In
the parks, on the streets, in beer gardens,
or hshlng with hook and line in the swift
river that flows through the town.
Situated on the banks of the river Lin
ma; bordered on the East by the Zurich
mountains, on the West adjoining the Ito
mountain, with its steep declivites; to-
wards the South, opening on the lake, the
shores OF which are covered with plctur-
esqUe villas and villages-with fine back
ground of forest, vineyard and Alps-the
scenery of Zurich, (the Caarun Turicuru Of
the Romans) is truly charming. Like the
great metropolis ofthe United Kingdom Zu-
rich consists Of nine Independent communi-
ties surrounding the centre with a belt of
pretty little towns, interspcrsed with parks
and walks and country houses. About CO.
600 is the number OF the Inhabitants of the
Canton. The centre of the town is. in part,
composed of narrow streets, uneven and
hlIly, but on entering the new streets and
quarters, one sees fine, solid, modern
houses built up of stone, which if they do
not satisfy severe critics Of architectural
beauty, furnish strong contrast with the
older and quainter buildings of the CITY.
FIRST OF all the school houses perfect pal
aces of their kind, are to be admired The
splendid pile of buildings, known as the
Polytechnic school and the University. is
i2i feet long, 2j3 feet broad anG % feet
high. Ii stands on a hill above all the 9th
er buildings OF the city. The rear rooms
OF the enormous building contain geolog-
ical mineralogical, and archaeological, col
iectlonS, while the central part is devoted
to archaeology and collections of engray-
ings and points. All combined they form
the best collective museum OF Switzerland.
10 the right OF the Polytechnic school are
the Asylums for aged citizens, monuments
OF civic charity; to the left the Asylum for
The blind, and deaf and dumb. There are
also the Chemical Laboratory A gricultural
College, Cantonal Iniirnary, $50 feet long,
with 800 beds, aud the Astronomical OBJ
servatory. Other buildings devoted to
commerce and traffic such as banking
houses. an immense railway station, and
palstal Butchers Hall, give to this COM
paratvely small community the aspect
and importance Of city of more than mt
dunn rank.
II the reader desires to know anything
more about Zurich, which is not probable,
respectfully refer him to the school geog-
raphy. and the encyclopedias where got
my information. One scarcely knows
what to write about in these old historic
towns that have been written about so
much already. Yet if We could but have
true picture of the trivial things that the
tourist sees and experiences, | am per-
snaded It would be more interesting read
Ing than descriptions and statistics For
my own part have been more interested
in what have seen from the car window
while travelling through the country, or in
the streets OF different cities and towns.
than in the much bewritten museums, art
collections, architectural and other monu-
ments that every tourist has to do" list
enng In lacadaisical martyr-like way to
the bore OF guide, telling how many feet
long, wide and high, this part of the Cathe
drai Is, who designed that part, or who re-
stored this, the number of the statues o.
saints, their cost per saint, and other sta
tistIcai rubbish. Most tourists think they
must see just what is put down in the
Guide Book aud nothing more knowing
nothing of the history or literature of the
countries they visit, they take home lust
what they bring, a vast amount of ipnor-
ance, with photographs of relics and pieces
of stone picked up in this or that ruin.
got up quite early the other morning
in Berne, intending to walk about the CITY
before the time for the train for Interlaken.
In the lobby of the hotel were halt dozen
American school teachers with their water
proofs and umbrellas. 1 gathered from
their conversation that there was a wond-
ertul clock In Berne, and | followed them
IN the rain to see 1t, for in eight minutes it
would strike. We formed curious group
IN the narrow street, looking up at the old
antomaton, the market women knitting
over their cakes and fruit regarding us
american savages with polite, plying Gu
rloslty. The clock struck, and horizon
tai wheel having on it little painted figures
of bear, Dutchman, q monkey and
dog revoved; little puppet with a mug
of beer in his hand, called Father Time
nodded his head and the show was over. 1
hope We all felt that we were sold. Hav-
ing lived all our lives in the centre, and in
comparative ignorance, of truly wonderful
mechanical devices, We had gone out in
the rain to gaze at the stupid production of
q mechanical drone. G. Is.