Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-08-10
a FRENCH WA, ERR NG PLACE
"A Place That Was Already Famous Many.
Centuries Agone. When Gaui Was Yet
+ M q Roman Province. Tz:l.$.
i Healing Resort to Which the Britisher Goes
: to Get Rid Of Gout, aud the Ameri-
I ~ .n#&- can for Pleasure.
War and Worship Of Buried Ages-A Garden
s#'s Breakfast Party That Recalls the s
= .f.s@ Repasts OF Lnculiua -

Roar, France, Special Correspondence,
4 July 8. What are the French springs
and watering laces iike!" IL the ques-
ton 4 am assiduously trying to answer.
had learned enough Of American resorts TO
know that Long Branch is good place for
those sweiterea citizens to goswho haven't time
to go any farther; that Newport is pleasant for
those who own a cottage. ana are acquainted
-~Fath other cottages; that Saratoga ia
fsist lovely for those who wish to exhibit their
dresses and diamonds to the best advantage,
rand are fond OF spring water and weather like
SI ophet: that nichfeld 10 delightful for those
who have eutaneons or digestion diseases, and
d Tor ladies who want to go where the sex is
alone by a large majority; that Nantucket is
good for nobody, and that the White noun
fains, Mount Desert and the Thousand Islands
are good for everybody. But Of French facili-
ties was comparatively ignorant one short
week ago In these few days T hay y learned
'something Of Rozat Five years ago
:. Rozat was scarcely known ontsida Of
France las a watering place. A
few English, attracted by its ropute for healing
govt and rheumatism, came first, and they
hare been followed by Americans, till the
village Of $50 has grown to some thousands
during this season, exceliing in popularity such
places as Mont Dpre and AK les Bains, and
successfully rivaling Vichy and even Ems,
which. in the qnality. of mineral springs, it
much resembles. It is i'll the AL
v>rgne district in the volcanic regions
OF Z Central France, the truncated
cones OF extinct volcanoes sitting in
mighty clusters around the horiz II. The village
is located IN q mountain aefla 1,4OO feet
above the aea, through which runs babbling
brook, the Jirstaine, from the side Of the puy
do Dome, lowering far above. The railroad
now runs through the town, ths cars climbing
up from ST Germain by sinuous path.
Mountains rise Oh every hand, rs they do
around the Profile house, New Hampshire, the
Pny de- Domo bling TO less in height than
Mount Lafayette, and Mont Dore about equal
ing Mount Washington. This WAS an old
RoInau town: The valley abounds in Roman
rlln5, most Of them recently unsarthed
md identified. Two or three years
$50 four large baths were uncovered in the
: very middle Of tho town, each 20x4O feet
square, tined With marble and built IN the solid
fashion Ct tie Romans; and near by them is a
large artificial cavern in which is & tremendous
boiling mineral spring, yielding 800 gallons a
minute, Which undoubtedly supplied the baths
Its bread root is not arched but horizontal, and
b. what snack the Romans fastened its mass
OF cobble-stooes mp, so that such q
weight could be suspended through
all these centuries, is mys-
terry. a couple Of hundred foet above the
window where I write rises hill still called
Gcrgoyia, its ancient Gallo name. 1t is fun to
run UP there in the morning after coffee and
rolls Oni1s summit and sides Was the last
great CITY Of the Ga,ts to resist the Roman
arms. Yercing etorix defended it when julius
Cesar sat down for months before it, At last
it yielded: It's garrison was put to the sword
The towu was burned, and, ike Carthage,
swept from The face of the earth The side Of
the hill ls now covered with vineyards and
wheat fields shining in the sun. A farmer set
I 81 dog gu rse there Monday evening for picking
four s*saw berries Hardly ,vestige Of the cd
walls romains among the bliatcred volcanic
rock chat crown its summit. Cesar built {.
town called Ninletum Off il the valley
here dhoeesor OF RoGas and Clermont
An old Nok ,sa m>ad, now and long since dis
used, r'lpt from Rozat up the valley towards
the ruy flo Dome It is the only country road
in al FFa1.ce, perhaps that is paved; and its
pavement VAS made. not of the basaltic rock or
old scoria of which the surrounding cliffs
principally consist, but Of powders aud irreg-
ular stones Of granite, gneiss and mica schist.
lance. I followed this queer old paved
path up through the fields and woods
Wednesday: toward the great summit,
and wondered if tho Romans compelled heir
galley slaves to build this road, that they
might drag over it, to the peak OF the Puy de
Dome, those colossal statues and mighty
monuments which Christian centuries have
done their utmost TO destroy. Some peasant
women, walking down the road, were asked if
che Romans really built it, Tue leader of the
party said: II do not know I never heard of
such thing" What was 1t made for" she
was asked, stunning down through hore with
fences built across it -? What IL it good for?"
81 do not know" she repeatsd, adding, II
never thought about it,"
HISTORIC. GROUND.
On Friday drove up to the base Of the Puy
de- Dome and climbed it to visit one Of the
principal shrlnes of old Rome--old Rome be-
fore the time of Christ. There is nothing
finer Of it's kind in Europe than the drive
four miles along the laughing TIretaine to the
spot where it breaks, geyser-lke, out Of the
side of the dead Volcano It is a vale Of un-
common fertility. Wheat barley and
oats are coming to maturity now, and
all vegetation is turning from bloom to
fruitage. The varying shades Of green
are broken only by the reaness of the cherry
trees that cluster around every no use, bending
with cherries in perfection, aud the wild pop
pies that form luxuriant fringe 10 every ara
BILE field, and certain yellow lupin that is
particularly ostentaious, and forms great
gorgeous splashes of gold on the landscape.
Over all are the blossoms Of innumerable
chestnut trees. and the dense shade Of the al
I mond, whose nut is now sin the milk" Ere
5 cured--a tremendous yield, Of four tons to TIE
acre on ans ayerage, ! think. The
moving is apparently done by men
their weary bash-scythes. Wiping their ditto
brows, and CHANGING at our carriage as if they
would like ride. Il Tho snath of this nipple
rnnant is large and straight, and the handles
look like oxen's horns. The swath is turned BY
bare headed women with crotched stick
They are all about the same age-an French
women aTe--abous sixty -fve Near at hand ls
q clumsy cart with pair Of cows hisched to
it, the yoke being straight stick tied across
the base Of their horns A little girl with one
garment on is lodging around the yoke Of
cows itb AZ leafy branch to keep
the flies of. Ghey seldom milk
cows here, and scarcely any body in this part
The stop piping place at the base of the mountain
As on the same aita where the Romans them
II selves twenty centuries ago. took breath for
the climb Of three miles more: for excavations
With the last rear have r revealed the apcien,
here and took q jaa1nting car. with seats back
to back, drawn by two horses tandem: but the
way was so difiicuit and steep that we climbed
most Of the va literally climbed hand over
tails sroWay d kep Is on III shs s gas
An hour OF this e VAS enough IS for s.