Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-08-12
LIFE IN THE BLACK FOREST.
THE REposE THAT ONE FINDS.
Ancient A,peess OF villages and Peopis-rhs
beer Psr,,ameBs-ssesless Cleanliness and
Geed.sumsr.

6ced.Huu,ers
A H,nterzsrten, Black Forest. letter
says: Al last we are fairly up into the
heart al the breezy hill-tops and fragrant
nine woods, and can look back ccmplacent-
" from our height OF 2,9sl feet above the
sea upon the heat and dust and swarming
flies Of thu parclied plains below. The
glorious fresh air and grand mountain
scenery around US are certainly q very
saluiary change from the low, swampy, I'M
ending rice-feids and damp. sticky, vapor-
hath heat of Siam, and the unwontcd
presence OF white sheets aud white table.
cloths may well console us for the absence
| OF white elephants. But to any one who
should come here for the first time the
crowuipg charm OF the whole scene would
undoubtedly be the sense OF being Greatly
and truly in the Black Forest, you KNOW
What a magic sound that name hsd In our
schoolboy DAYS, net In the least impaired
by our utter uncertainty AZ to whether the
famous forest lay In France, Austria, or
Norway. When my respected relative. the
late Mr.. Richard Golden, complmented us
university men by saying that "not one OK
us could tell within thousand miles the
position OF Chicago" he might safely have
said the same thing OF the Black Forest.
But what matter the hollow forms OF
geography in the case OF n region which
! seems to belong more to the next world
than 10 this. and which has been the chosen
scene OF every ghost story. robbcr legend.
and fairy tale for the last hundred years
| 20 far a. its romantic associations are con-
! cerned-for its natural beauties require no
external aid-the Black Forest. like the
face OF the Countess Cimburgis, looks best
at distance. The traveller who has spent
| bis month or six weeks right in the very
midst Of II sees POSTCARDS rafting through
! IFS widest gorges. and telegraph-wlros
| threading its glOomiest pine woods. and
sets down the mysterious district in his
note. book az "a wooded and billy tract
lying In the great northward bend OF the
Rhine, and comprising the greater part |
OF the Grand Duchy Of Baden as well !
as the western border OF Wdrtem- |
berg.r 10 the untravelled reader, who |
knows the famous SchwarZwald " enly /
through dime novels or "legends trans.
lated from the German" there is still a
ghost in every thicket, a robber behind |
every tee. q murdered man buried under
every hilIock, and he broods with sepul-
chral pleasure over the grim pictures OF
certain gloomy holows in the widest part
Il the forest, popularity supposed 10 be set
apart by Satan himself for midnight balls
and concerts, where the orchestra consists
of owls, bats, and ravens, with Il running
accompaniment Of thunder and lightning.
These Objectionable gatherings are usually
attended exclusively by male and female
skeletons. and every skeleton is expected
TO appear in a winding sheet. which seems
10 be the correct evening dress on such &C.
casions.
But even now the charm OF this strange
region is not wholly lost. In remote hooks
like these. still Unreached by the ever
spreading coils Of the railway, and still
unpToianed by the noble army OF Tartars
with excursion tickets who are yearly let
loose upon Switzerland and Italy. one may
find even now the grand patriarchal sian
pliciy Of the elder world. Here. as when
YOU cross the Arctic circle on your way
through the mighty solitudes OF the polar
seas, you are struck with sudden aud be-
wildering sense Of having passed away
from the living earth into some new and
unknown planet. The crowded streets,
the rafting trains. the vast cities, the
roar. the hustle, the turmoil OF modern
civilization, appear like the fantasies
Of dream amid the silence Of the everlast-
ing hills. As you come forth into the fresh
and fragrant GOODNESS Of early morning
and see the first rays Of sunrise streaming
along the dark hosts Of pines that stand
ranked in battle array upon the hilsides on
either hand no sound breaks the universal
hush save the distant boom OF waterfall,
the tinkling bell Of q stray hefer on the
upland pastures. or a mower whcttine h's
scythe far away in the rich green meadows
below. over the whole scene far as the
eve can reach, broOds a stiffness like that
of the neWly-created world on the day
when "God rested from all His work thlt
lie had made"
As for the people themselves. they are
jus. what might be expected in such =
straie htiorward. kindly
folk, not yet enlightened enough to be
ashamed OF working honestly for their
living, and OF thanking God for enabling
them to do so. As YOU pass through the
village just after sunrise you hear through
the open windows Of every house the voices
OF the "Hausvater " and his family at their
prayers, and a few minutes later
YOU see the scytheS flashing in the morning
sunshine and the grass falling in thick
swahS on every side. Ii needs only one
glance at the sturdy frames and firm,
manly faces Of these stalwart mountain
GERS 10 see what has made Germany so
formidable even when divided, and ire
sIstible when united az last. Aud with the
Germans pluck and hardhood they have q
full measure Of the Germans genial good
humor Every man or womaa whom we
meet on the woodland paths greetS us with
q broad smile and CHEEKY "quten tGy,"
uttered as heartily as if we were friends OF
twenty years standing instead OF perfect
strangers. The luddy giants who come 10
rake away the hav upon which we are sit ;
ting salute Us with jolly laugh instead OF
the oaths which would come naturally 10
the lips Of n British labOrer under similar
4, Ill
man who brings our letters from ODER
on the other side Of the valley, ;
comes marching with a merry shout OF
:. guten 0ppeth" into the little plank
hooIed room where we are sitting at break /
f-st and hands Mrs. ker her letters with the
air OF benevolent father making present ,
TO bis children.
The same primitive and picturesque
lumntness shows itself IN the jokes. the I
and even the superstiiOns OF {
the SchwarZwalders. On the door OF a hut {
lust behind the tiny church appears the I
figure OF a German soldier, !
with the inscription - You folks, turn In I
here 10 me; have good beer and wine. for {
cash to-day and on credit tomorrow '
The point Of the jest being, Of course that
II is always tomorrow as regards the {
promised credit. At q cross-rodd only !
lew hunQreu NardS from the quaint ola J.
log-built farmhouse in which we have
taken up our quarte-s stands a huge wo1d- |
en- crucifix, adorned with perfect mu- Q
scum Of symbolical objects, including the q
swords, lances, and, slaves OF the Roman !
soldiers, the dice wherewth they cast los
Tor our Lords coat. the coat itself in the
shape Of long.sleeved irock, a.money.bag
marked with a large go" ~ the hire OF
the traitor Judas, the torches that lighted
him and his followers through the garden
Of Gethsemane, the scourge used to inlet I
The torture. the ladder and malet employed =
in the crucifiYion, the vessel that held the :
vinegar, the sacramental cup and bread, =.
and Mary's box OF spikenard ointment,
while high above all, on the very top OF
The cross itself, perches a metal figure OF =
50 the bird that warned Peter OF his fall"
In the very act OF Growing. In
deed, so thoroughly is the impress OF the
old world stamped upon every feature OF !.
this quiet little mountain hermitage that !
should hardly be surprised to hear pass
ing peasant inquire whether Charles V. had
carried his election as Emperor OF Germany,
and how the Diet OF Worms had disposed .
,f that pestIlent hereto. Martin Luther.
But all this while am forgetting to de- c
scribe our quarters ia the farmhouse, n
"a hich might serve a very fair slmula ~ a