Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-05-03
LETTER FROM DIR. pwINELL.
Grand Scenery and Bold Engineering
Crossing the Alps-ThrouSh italy-Etc.

On BOARD STEAMER MONGOLIA,
MEDITERRANEAN SEA March 3, 1881.
The railroad from London To Dover Goes
NOT lie through as beautiful a region, on the
whole as that from Liverpool TO London,
though the scenery is of the same general
character. | must make an exception in
favor of Chisehurst, which is the most
beautiful spot | have yet seen IN England.
The site has beautiful alterations OF hull
and vale, open land and groves, and Its
houses are of cream-colOred brick, neat and
with ample grounds and lawns and shade
trees.
Our way through France, after passing
from Calais TO Amiens-an unintercsting
portion of France close to the English
channel-was passed in the night We
reached Basel in the early morning and
passed
THROUGH SWITZERLAND AND OVER THE ALPs,
All the way by daylight, and we had
splendid opportunity TO see the scenery
We crossed the Rhine at Basel, the Aar,
followed up the Reuss, passed the head
waters of the Rhone and Rhine, both saw
the lakes, Simbatch Zug, Lucerne, Laslno,
COmo-a glimpSe-and Lugano. The queen
Of these and of all lakes is Lucerne. She
is bOrdered by the four lake cantons and
guarded by the Right and Alps, standing
| ike sentinelS with erect heads and pre-
scented arms close to her, and looking down
on her queenly face. The other lakes,
with the exception of the first, which is
| sweetly nestled amid gentle and sloping
| shores, belong to the same royal family
| and are similarly guarded We passed the
! Alps by the St GOthard tunnel, the longest
| in the world-some SIX miles long-and
! then plunged down the precipitous side
| into Italy All along this route the tower
ing peaks of the Righi and the Alps rose
above u.s. and deep chasms yawned be
meath; and now and again small streams
came dropping down the rocks from as far
up as we could see, and plunging with a
dash and roar under US into the chasm be-
low.
INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY.
The scenery is not only indcscribably
grand and beautiful, or both, in itself, but it
is, every inch Of it, touched with human
interest All the valleys are under the
highest cultivation. Every foot of ground
is put to use The slopes have bundles of
twigs, three or four inches through, pinned
down to the ground in horizontal lines three
or four yards apart, to prevent the rains
from washing away the soil. The streams
are carefully paved and walled with stone,
to keep them from wearing away the banks,
and many OF them have rifles every twenty
| or thirty feet apart, laid across to check the
running dirt and arrest the too rapid flow of
the water. The hillsides. too steep for cult
walton otherwise, are conquered by terraces
and made productive. Then the tller
pushes his way far up the mountain side.
! Every inhabitants entitled TO free pasturage
| for a COW in the common pasture of the
parish; and three men take forty cows and
drive them up the mountain, away from
10
the whole forty. which is divided among
the owners equitably, the herders occupying
the chdlets, or cow-houses,' as their only
quarters III the mountain. Each canton
| has its own call for It's cows which they
| understand and come in the order OF their
call when they hear ii. We saw these
chalets III regions that seemed inaccessible
to the channels.
SWISS VILLAGES
But the Swiss love to live in villages &;
and wherever there is a little valley there
the unique houses, with deep, steep roofs,
curved little from a straight line giving
them a graceful form, and with projecting
| windows or sides, the whole producing Il
fine, picturesque effect, are clustered. The
| Swiss houses have no back side where waste
! is allowed TO accumulate, but from what
J ever direction you approach them there is
neatneSS and something growing. Even
! the material that is thrown out from the
apartment occupied by the animals-for
man and beast are sheltered under the
same broad roofs carefully packed and
| trimmed in symmetrical square or round
piles, so as TO be no otfense to the eye. The
Swiss village, no matter how small, has it's
indispensable church, oblong, surmounted
by a square tower having a bell, and stand
ing in the most slightly place-teStifying to
the power of the religious sentiment among
the builders. After we left the CITY of Lu-
cerne, where We first saw the lake of that
name, the towns were mostly small, but
they occur every few miles, and the church
towers are the most conspicuous sight and
we caught glimpses OF them once or twice
far up on the steep sides Of the mountain,
where there did not appear to be any com
munity.
TRAVELLING IN THE AIRS.
This region is also full Of historical asso-
Citations Lake Lucerne, along the cliffs
Oyerhanging which we skirted for fifteen or
| twenty miles, was the scene Of the exploits
of William Tell, and of the play of
Schiller concentrating his deeds, and Of
the great struggles in the four Cantons for
religious and evil liberty Through a re
gion so grand and beautiful and so
! touched, every inch Of it, with the most
varied and impressive human interest We
few, like a wild mountain eagle, now cut
| ting the air close to the sweet, nesting
| lakes; nov passing from one crag TO an
other as if abOut TO alight, and passing on /;
now whiring with rapid wig around the
! face Of precipice, thousand feet above
its base: now sailing across noisy Chasm
| and peering down at the mOcking torrent
below and every few minutes, with a
shrek, plunging through spurs of the
mountains, as the eagle dashes through a
thick cloud
THE BOLDTEss or THE ENGINEERING
| On this road, and the holiness ofthe finan-
ciers in carrying it out, are remarkable
! The track is laid through region, especi-
ally on the Italian side, which causes 1t to
wind and double and turn on itself like q
crszed snake that docs not know where it
wants to 90, and yet it ever shows a sub
blime intelligence and secures the desired
gain in elevation and advance. And all
this engineering is carried ont by the most
perfect work Where there are fills, the
| slopes are covered with masOnary. The
| bridges and arches are OF brown rock or
| iron. think there IS not q foot of treStle
in the whole days ride. We Caiiornians
are proud Of the engineering and work Of
! the Central Pacific in crossing in the Sierra
Nevada and the Tchachpi mountains, and
their boldness and enterprise deserve
great credit But this road across the Alps
! is as if q whole days succession Of Cape
/ Horns, Bonner Lake and Tehachipi Passes
I we're strung together in one continuous
/ line. The aspect on the Italian side Of the
! Alps is very different from that on the
Swiss side The Alpine region is even
more bold and PERCEPTIONS, but the color Of
| the civilization is very different. You see
no more the peculiar Swiss architecture,
! but houses with straight regular walls and
roofs; not the same skid and ingenuity in
rescuing the last inch Of soil ana making
/ 1t productive; not the same neamess not
1 the same esthetic sense; but more grape
vines, more shrines by the roadside, more
| churches in inaccessible places for pilgrim
ages. The social aspect of warm Alpine