The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1878-08-31
DoNALDsoNyILIE, LA, SATURDAY, AUGUST 81 1878

lovely QElHS8 AS CSH uo 1uuud |
in any city in France. Near
the outskirts of Dion is beautiful
m onument, erected to mark the spot
where devoted little band of French
soldiers made their last desperate
stand against the advance of the vic
torious Prussians. 1t was a grand
and heroic sacrifice. No prisoners
were taken, they all fell Gghting to
the last; and to this ThermopylB OF
Dijon the citizens come on the sweet
summer evenings, to tell the proud
story of her sons to the passing
stranger, who, if they could not save
their cOulitry from the invader, at
least knew how to die for her.
Three o'clock in the morning
brought another train and just as
the shadows of night were fall
ing / found myself entering Ge-
neVa. The scenery by the way
had been surprisingly grand, some
of the mountain gorges being
magnificent beyond description.
The day was stormy, and heavy
masses of clouds lay on the SUBMITS
of the mountains. Occasionally clap
of thunder would seem to shake the
very earth, and then it would roll
and reverberate away in the distant
mountains till the sound was lost in a
sort of hollow moan miles and miles
away. Ny fellow voyager, besides
my fEieRd Gubbs, was q comfortable
Dutchwoman, who had made some
slight proficiency in foreign tongues,
/ and was determined not to hide her
light under busllel. At one point
we passed wild cleft in the noun
tains, through which a foaming torrent
roared and seetlled, and finally
released itself from captivity by a
desperate leap into the valley below.
AS we dashed by 1t held my breath !;
there was something almost awful
I in the scene and its surroundings.
Even Gubbs, whose mouth was seldom
shut, was hushed into momentary
silence, when my Dutch friend, whom
| had quite forgotten, gave me poke
in the ribs with the end of her blue
cotton umbrella, exclainling at the
same time, in voice like a cracked
lbassoon say. you Meesther don't
you dort dot dot vos pOody I" just
at that moment, when / was reflect
ing on the probable consequences of
numbering Dutchwoman, a terrific
clap of thunder came to my relief,
and INDUCED in the faint hope that
some vagraEt bolt might strike her.
By this time we had reached a wild
pass, where beetling cliffs lowered
over us thousands of feet. At one
point huge mass of rock hung al
NEST suspended in the air, and ii
looked as though the hand of an in
fart could have launched it on the
valley below. l was looking up in
wonder, and had almost forgotten my
late villainons. interruption, when she
broke in again, giving me another
dig in the ribs with the point of that
blue cotton umbrella" say, Nee
sther! don't you dort dot dem vos
pooGy sthones oop dare n | was
choking. The magnificent desclip-
tion which had been preparing of
the Swiss Alps was knocked into
several cooked hats, and now the pre-
sumption is that posterity will never
know What l would have said. if it
had not been for that horrible Dutch
woman.
! Geneva, with its history of heroic
sacrifice, of bitter persecution and
bigotry, its philosophy, its science
and art, is not particularly inviting
place to look Mt. Lake Leman and
the surroundings are beautiful, the
city is nothing. The day had been a
trying one. I had been fortunate
enougl to recover my baggage intact ;
and looking out on the beautiful lake,
| soon sank into an uneasy sleep. 1t
was not long, however, before | was
startled by most unearthly sound,
and thought I recognized the voice
of brother. A band of over one
hundred donkies was ranged along
the street, under my window, for it
was market day, and they had just
brought loads Of vegetables down
from the mountains. When one start
ed, the other ninety mine though they
would just try their hands, too, and
the result was such an Internal chorus
as never hope to hear again. That
| IlHu ilO SuODGI SuUSfuCu1 ttlttu u OAtO
of patriotic tourists came along, who
had evidently not seen bed that night,
but were waiting for the stage to
Chamonnix, which starts at five in the
morning. They we're full as ticks, and
the party was composed of ut least a
dozen nationalities. Asa parting blast,
they started chorus, every man on
his own hook. The musical effects
would have delighrd the heart ot
Wagner. There WIS Wacht am
Rheinn and '' Yankee Doodle. y" Scots
wha bae, -" God save the Queen" the
Marseillaise," " st. Patrick's Day il
the Morning." snatch from :" Del
FreisclIutz," two or three cat t-calls, /
blast from a Swiss horn, a, drunken
imitation of the Ranz-des- -Yaches.'
At this point the donkies Clipped il
; for the second time, and jumping on
of bed, shut my window to keep on
the horrid ohorns, inwardly cursinl
the folly which has lHyed Ine from my