Omaha daily bee., 1883-07-26
TRAVEL IN AUSTRIA.
A Picturesque Journey Over the Noun.
tainS From Trieste to Vienna
Some of the Advantages of Glass Di-
vision I'm the Cars-Thc Varying
Scenery Along the Route.
correspondence of the Philadelphia Press.

~ -S
Scenery Along the Route.
Correspondence of the Philadelphia Press.
VIENNA, June 2S.-"Only foreigners
and fools ride first on the Austrian and
German railways, where the second-class
accommodations are us good as the first
in any other country, y were the parting
words of one who has had experience suf-
icient to be a just judge; so | was utter
ly without class prejudice when ] walked
into the magnificent railroad station Mt
Trieste, with its crowd of porters, sol
diers, custom-heuse inspectors and rail
way officials, all in uniform. The first
thing that strikes n about a foreign
railway is the solidity and beauty with
which everything is constructed, the
neatness and cleanliness with which it
is kept, and the politeness and our
tesy of the innumerable employees.
| had the general American Impression
that we were the only people in the world
who understood ~''railroading,' but my
opinions are undergoing a radical change,
and the more ] see the more decided are
my conclusions that one can travel here
more rapidly. more safely, more econom
icly than at home, and with as much more
comfort. | like the class divisions for
the reasons that you car have luxury and
pay well for it, you car have comfort for
"a fair price, and if you are hard up you
can ride for half the price you could on
any of our roads. There sleeping-cars
upon all the Continental railways l have
yet seen, certainly not Pullman cars, but
what they call coupe lit" (bed carriage),
which, although it lacks some
of the comforts to which we
are accustomed, alss lacks many of the
disadvantages. The idea of being locked
up in your bed is at first unpleasant, but
one soon becomes accustomed to it, as at
every station where yourtrain stops there
is a delay of four or five minutes. Then
your door is opened, and before the train
starts the GUARD visits your compart-
ment and sees that you are IN board.
Each compartment has electric cemmuni-
cation with the locomotive, SO that by
pressing on a button you can at once stop
the train; in addition to that there is a
map of the line, showing stations, dis
tances, connections and other matters of
interest, tackled up against the side, as
well as the rules and regulations govern
ing passengers on the train and at the
stations.
FIRST M SECoND-CLASS.
The first-class carriages are trimmed
with velvet, covered with lace, and under
no circumstances are more than six per-
mitted in one compartment. The second
class are trimmed with gray cloth, which
| think is far neater than the former,
and seats eight persons, while the third
are trimmed with black oil cloth, and
hold Just as many as can find seats, and
a seat you are bound to have. q have
spoken specially of the Austrian railways.
but there is comparatively little difference
between them and the others.)
The Julian Alps form an abrupt and
an immediate background to Trieste, so
as the train steams out of the station we
at once begin slowly to climb their steep
sides at a grade which puts Kittanning
Point to shame. Our course is north,
but for miles we go due east, up, up, un-
til the several thousand feet are at last
.surmounted; for the first half hour the
view is grand in the extreme, the city is
beneath us, whilst the bay lies like a
sheet of silver, glancing and simmering
in the morning sun; far away, yet to the
right, is the blue coast line, that marks
the spot where Venice rests on her
hundred isles, whilst on the left are the
bright green fields of Illyria. Close at
hand are the white cottages of the pea
SAINTS, built wherever a spot of ground
can be rescued from the mountain side,
stone v~ine-covered terraces, and peach
and cherry and pear trees in profusion,
all covered with their different colored
blossoms, altogether making such a scene
as must have gladdened the eyes of the
hungry Israelites when they first entered
the promised land. The track is double,
with stone ballast, and kept like a gar
den walk; the trains pass to the left in
stead of right, and every mile or two W.
pass a neat ''division house." in front of
which stands, like a soldier at attention,
with a rolled flag in his hand, a uniformed
track Waterman. Sharp curves skirt
chasms which are so deep that IA look
down causes your fingers involuntarily to
close on the seat arm Tunnel after
tunnel is passed. The top of the
mountain, as it gradually slopes off
toward the north, reminds lie very much
of the west side of the A~lleghenies, only
here every available foot is under cult
walton; it is a regular "stony ladder
with little bits of fields and immense
boulders, such land as | once heard
Cough describe as ''the more a man had
of it the poorer he was" The poverty
of the soil is plainly shown by the only
tree which appears to thrive, Jack"
pine, and it is not large nor abundant;
but as we go northward two hours from
Trieste We get into the regular district,
where they plant pine and cultivate it as
a man would an orchard.
WOMEN IN THE MINES.
Four hours after leaving Trieste the
mountains are passed and we enter the
beautiful fertile valley of whicht the grand
old town of Laibach is the center of at
traction.
In another hourwe reach Sagor and its
great coal mines, where there are little
to see excepting crowds of wo men work
ing like pack mules at the mouths of the
drifts (mines.) The coal is semi bitumi-
nous, and resembles slate more than any
thing else. / have never seen such dirty
looking stuff, but it appears to answer
for fuel, as they are burning it on our
queer-looking locomotive, and we are
getting along rapidly amongst the noun
tains once again, but this time we are
following a swift stream as it winds in
and out of the gorges, and the mountain
peaks, sometimes snow-clad, are far above
us on either hand. The railway embank-
meut on the side next the stream is a
solid wall, and this extends for miles and