Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-09-12
big enough, and not too big; just as a narrow
river is more pictureSqe than a wide one.

Dig enough, and not too big Just as a narrow
river is more picturesqe than wide one.
OVER THE BRUNIG.
Crossing by steamer from the GleSsbach to
the little village of Brienz we took the dill!
gence there to go over the Brunig pass to Alp
mach, on Lake Lucerne, and thence by steamer
to Lucerne. This admirably built road over
the Brunig Is a government postroad and the
diligenceS are poSt-carriages. The public con-
veyances for travellers are all managed by the
government in Switzerland. They are a little
slow, according to American notions, but are
very well managed, otherwise. The govern
ment owns the carriages and contracts for the
use OF the horses. The idea Is In contracting
horses owned by people Of moderate means.
who could not enter into contract for car
rlages and horses, involving large capital
Inc swiss government is paternal govern.
menI, and representing people Of no great
wealth, looks out for the interests of labor.
The government employs the driver and con-
ductor OF the diligences, and the latter is the
system works so well that the Italian govern
ment has employed it in northern Italy to
make the connections with its own lines of
railroads and steamboats,. In winding up the
romantic road to the Brunig pass we overlook
the lake and notice in particular the care with
which the fierce river Aare has been
high wallis of stone to prevent it from
carrying destruction 10 the neighbor-
ing meadows by flooding them with
Sidfel anu ueDTlS from the mountain glaciers.
An these glacier rivers are being walled in or
canallSed In this way to keep them within
DounCS, but in times of heavy floods they fire.
quently smash their walls and cover hundreds
OF farms many feet deep with stone rubbish
The patient, industrious Swiss have a hard
night with nature; first in reclaiming their
pits OF arabic land from the rugged waste
and then in holding them against flood and
avalanche. In our country when a stream
overtiOws its banks il generally leaves some
1ertllizlng material as compensation. but the
SS.Irairs Sa,rn In switzerland deposit nothing but
oarTen grit or coarser stone. There were
some beggarS on the road over the Brunig, but
not such swarm as on the Grindelwald road
ana also numerous little girls with tiny baS-
KetS oil a pine berries, and specimens of the
emblematlc glacier flower of Switzerland, the
"EGelweiss, for sale. Descending the other
side OF the pass by series of scientific zigzags
that maintained an uniform fall of grade. we
came to the lake of Lungern, which has been
lowered l20 feet by digging tunnel 900 feet i'm
length, by which much ground has been re
the other Swiss lakes that have marshy bor-
derS; but the amount of debris that is brought
down every year by the glacier streams seems
TO on De z, tthllng tha them pretty rapidly. We were
tlced the change of costume i'm the peasant
women, who were in their Sunday dress The
head-dress was odd: the hair was wound up
in plaits and fastened by large silver shield
shaped pins, and the plats were interviewer
with white ribbon. They wore no other cover
ing to the head and evidently did not wish to
Spoli INC cuecI Vi tne elaDOfatoly Quilt up
mead dress. In one of the villages we met a
little procession. headed by priest in tall
hat, on the way to give communion to a sick
man: Our road was now lined almost contin-
uously by avenues of old pear trees apple
trees and walnut trees. In the afternoon the
clouds began to gather Ominously about the
mountain tops and the peasant population,
doffing their Sunday Clothes were seen every.
where hurrying to the hay fields. Whole tam
lilies were engaged in the work of rescuing the
ScaDtlly dried crop from the coming storm
the women and children raking it up, and the
men carrying 1t i'm bundles upon their backs
to the barns. 1t is so showery in Switzerland
that the people must have hard time of il to
dry their hay. We noticed on the roads here
the same continuous throng of tourists. on
loot, In carriages, and on mule back we had
seen elsewhere, showing immense amount of
tourist travel in Switzerland during the sea
son. G. 8 Y