Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1878-08-29
Communication.
-uo~-~~e~N-r.~.~Ss~-~-
European Letter.
From our Regular Correspondent.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, }
August 4th, 1878. s

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, D
August 4th, 1878. :
From the gay centre Of fash.
ion in Paris, to the little, plain
solid city of Zurich is not neaI
so far, but, in some respects, i
is a much greater transition
: than from Paris to Milwaukee
for one sees in the style anC
fashion Of dress much more that
is Partisan in our Western cities
than in this ancient Swiss town
But in their manner of celebrat-
ing the Sabbath, the European.
rather than the American style
prevails. | had an opportunity
to see the inhabitants on Sun
day, in their plain Sunday
clothes, just such clothes as you
will see at a country meeting
house in America, perfectly
clean, but in style and cut such
as was worn in America twenty
years ago. They were out with
their wives and children in the
parks, on the streets, in beer
gardens, or fishing with hook
and line in the swift river that
flows through the town.
Situated on the banks Of the
river Limmat, bordered on the
east by the Zurich mountain,on
the west adjoining the Uto
mountain, with its steep decliy-
tiles, towards the south, open
ing on the lake, the shores of
VINCE are covered with pictu-
rescue villas and villages-with
a fine back ground Of forest,
vineyard and Alps-the scene
~ of Zurich (the castgum TtGri-
cum of the Romans) is truly
charming. Like the great met
ropolis of the United Kingdom,
Zurich consists of nine indie
pendent communities surround
ing the centre with a belt of
pretty little towns, interspered
with parks and walks and coun-
try houses. About 60,000 is
the number Of the inhabitants
of the canton. The centre of
the town is, in part, composed
of narrow streets, uneven and
hllly, but on entering the new
streets and quarters, one sees
fine solid, modern houses built
of stone, which, if they do not
satisfy severe critics Of architec-
tural beauty, furnish a strong
contrast with the older and
quainter buildings Of the city.
First Of all the school houses,
perfect palaces of their kind,
are to be admired. The splen-
did pile of buildings, know as
the polytechnic school and the
University, 424 feet long, 253
broad and 90 feet high. 1t stands
ona hillabove all the other build
ings Of the city. The rear rooms
Of the enormous building con-
tain geological, mineralogical,
and chronological collections,
while the central part is devoted |
TO archaeology and collections
Of engravings and prints. All
combined they form the best
collective museum Of Switzer- |
land. To the right Of the Poly |
technic school are asylums for
aged citizens, monuments of !
civic charity, to the left the
for the blind, deaf and
dumb. There are also Chemical
Laboratory, Agricultural Col
lege, Cantonal Infrmary, $50
feet long, with $50 beds, and
the Astronomical Observatory.
Other buildings devoted to COM
merce and traffic such as bank
ing houses, an immense railway
station, and a palatial Butchers
Hall, give TO this comparatively
small community the aspect
and importance of city of
more than medium rank.
If the reader desires to know
anything more about Zurich,
which is not probable, respect
fully refer aim to the school ge-
ography, and the encyclopedia
where 1 get my information.
One scarcely knows what to
write about in these old histor-
ic towns that have been written
about so much already. Yet
if we could but have a true pic
q II 4.....1 IL - !