The daily gazette., 1881-08-04
LETTER FROM EUROPE.
INTERLAKIN.
Core spondence OF the GAZETTE,

'~>eA~st s~-~S~ ~>SN ANPAN ottO0Ano vi OI-
rents and waterfalls. many of the
mountains are snow-clad all the year
Most of them are barren, or clothed
with scanty verdure from half way to
the summits. In an agricultural view
the whole country Is of small value, yet
there are garden spots In many of the
valleys Of amazing fertility. Our Tar
mers who find it no easy task 10 wiring q
living frem fifty lor one hundred acres
Of Brandywine land, will realize the
kindliness OF these farms when we say
that they are from 3 half acre to five
acres IN extent, yet furnisha Q comfortable
living for the family. They do even
more, for they educate the young family
where education is compulsory, and
generally allow q small surplus for the
savings bank.
To be sure, theirs is q system of in
dustry and economy more rigid than Is
necessary to practice IN our land OF ease
and plenty. Their wants are reduced
! TO . minimum TO correspond with their
income. The country carries pOpula-
biOll uuCu WV kht&t ACI RIOuh3Ul5 Ct0~
ployment In agricultural WORK. They
therefore turn their attention to such
mechanical pursuit as will most readily
bring in cash. Wood carving is favor
lite business, and is everywhere carried
on extensively. All along the noun
tain roads most frequented by travellers
are shops and show rooms. Children
carry basket fulls of the pretty wares
aud climb into coaches and diligences a.
they ascend the bills. All the money
obtained for these articles come from
abroad, as all travellers buy more or less
Of them. Tiiey also make straw bats,
and sell them from three cents to three
dollars each. The mountaineers wear
the cheap kinds, which they ornament
with ribbons aud eagles feathers.
We crossed the Alps In four places, at
elevations Of from six to eight Thousand
feet, always In the snow at this season.
The chalets, In most instances, were
perched far above the crossings, on the
sunny sides of the mountains, where
The shepherds find pasturage for their
flocks shepherds. The Swiss farmer has
Two homes. One In the valley for the
winter, and Oh the mountain for the
sumner. BY this arrangement he is en-
| abled TO cut three crops of grass from
his valley farm, or cultivate 1t wholly or
partly in grain and vegetable, while the
cattle aud sheep are pastured on the
mountain.
Nothing is more charming than the
Swiss mountain songs, as We have heard
them mornings and evenings. Distance
robs them Of all suspicion of harshness,
aud mell0ws them into soft, sweet music.
1t Is the custom of the herdsmxn on one
mountain to salute his neighbor on
another each morning at sunrise, and
again at sunset. Sometime it 10 q pe-
culiar call, sometimes by t /, horn, but
generally by song, which is answered
by another, and sometimes by several,
the rarity of the atmosphere and the
stiffness that prevails enabling Que to
hear from great distance.
The f0cks are attended by one or more
dogs besides the shepherd. These dogs
are long haired, Of medium size, and
more beautiful than the st. Bernard
breed and quite as intelligent. The st.
Bernard dogs bave short bair, little or
no brush, and are yellow or tawny
color, At the pass near the Vt, Bernard
Monastery we saw numbers of these
dogs of pure blood, and were offered 0
beautiful puppy for twenty dollars; an
aftectioEate fellow, who attached him
self to us during our brief stay and
seemed inclined to follow us when we
| left.
The intelligence of the St. Bernard
dog, as we'll as Tho Shepherd dog, Is due
equally to nature and to training. The
shepherds have lonely time watching
their floeks all day, and day after day
throughout the summer. They make
companions of their dogs and teach them
to attend the sheep as carefully as them
selves. The dogs take their places on
the dangerous side, next the brook, or
the precipice, or the line that is not to
be crossed by the sheep. They carefully
look out Tor strays and return them to
the fiock, and even nurse the sick and
feeble, aud take especial care of the
lambs, acting With as much apparent
thoaghtfulness as the masters. To the
st. Bernard dogs and the monks many
winter travellers In the Alpine region,
owe their lives. Through all the noun
tain passes and for = considerable dis
lance on either side, these monks have
erected conicsl towers Of stones to mark
the road when all traces otherwise are
covered by the deep snow. In the hol-
lows or IN places where the snow drifts,
the road is marked by tall crosses. At
proper distances there are refugees or
small buildings, where weary travellers
may stop and rest. They provided with
necessariss, the door left open and the
notice over the door invites the tray
eller to remain until morning, when q
guide will come to conduct him to the
hospice. The snow often lies here to
the depth Of fifteen or twenty feet,and
servant and dog make the round of
the refugees every day in winter. The
hospice or monastery is great gloomy
pile of buildings, built nearly thou
sand years ago upon the ruins of
Temple of Jupiter, which formerly
stood here, the relics of which are
kept In the monastery. 1t provides
for about twenty Thousand persons
every year without charge. The trav-
eller may drop any amount he chooses
in box-or nothing.
The monks of St. Bernard also have
refugees and o hospioe on 6implon pass,
and make their daily winter rounds
over the dreary mountains here. 1t is
near St. Bernard, and is crossed by
the celebrated Simplon road built by
Napoleon, one of the finest roads over
which we ever travelled.
The hospice is over eight thousand