Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-09-25

Gassels and s,s Braussfa' sss''a"d'"s'
ssouss Of kaiser wtiissns-

Gastctu uue las brnu"t"
sseuss 81 Kaiser wi'iss"-
The question Is an old one, Have the
Derbys made Lancashire, or has Ian
csstire made the Derbys9 No such
question could be raised in regard to
f;astein and its visitor, the German
Emperor. who is now passing here his
eighteenth :. season for the benefit Of
his health, writes correspondent
of the London Standard. The
warm springs of Gastein were known
many centuries ago; the place,
Ms q picturesquely-situated health re.
sort. was famous not only in Austria, but
also in England, at least as early as
1853, and the present Emperor Of Aus
tria signed his name in the " Ehren-
buch " in 1868, the King Of Greece one
year earlier, and under date Of July "a
10 August Is, 1864, is the distinct,
broad, richly-fourished signature Of
Wilhelm. Kenig Won Preussen,
along with that of 4" Won Bismarck, "
who came on the ID Of August, 1864.
A historic event--namely, the drawing
I'D of the "Gastein Convention in
August, 1865. the germ Of the Prnsso'
Austrian war of 1866, secured a last
ing notoriety to the place. But II
could never have attained its present
worldwide fame but for the steadiness
and faithfulness with which the
German Emperor attached himself to
it. Gastein rose with the fame Of its
royal patron, and the same interval
which transformed the Won Bis
marck" of 1867 into the Prince Bis
marck of 1885, and the King Of Prus-
STA who waged war on Austria into the
supreme ruler Of united Germany and
intimate ally Of the Emperor Of Aus
tria, made Of the half-obscure village
and thermal station Of Gastein a fash
ionable watering-place, which, in spite
of its four large hotels and over forty
larger or smaller lodging and bath
houses, cannot during the season ac-
commodate the stream Of visitors, so
that every day many have to leave for
want of shelter.
The place is well worth seeing. The
centre Of it is the superb waterfall,
which comes from the mountains. pre-
cipitating itself from a height Of go
feet into the Gastein Valley, and whose
roarings and buildings are heard day
and night from every point in and
round Gastein. The whole region, stu
ated amidst the central Alps of the
duchy of Salzburg. abounds in cas-
cades. Every rivulet descending from
the glaciers to the valleys forms one or
more Of these splendid toys Of nature, so
that the music of splashing and foaming
never ceases. The great Gastien water
fall. however. outsounds every one of its
smaller rivals, and as it can be most
comfortably viewed and admired from
two bridges spanning the beautiful
it naturally forms our prin-
cipal attraction. Right and left from
the lower of these bridges, which over
ook the whole Valley Of Gastein, are
situated the hotels, the lodging houses,
he " Wandelbahn," or common read
ng-, assembly,, and cofee-rooms a
inc new Roman Catholic church; an
Did chapel Of the same creed, and
new Protestant chapel in the
Gothic style. The two principal hotels,
he Badeschloss Hotel, where the En-
,eror William always stays, and
Straubinger's gasthof, where, in
ew days. the Emperor Of Austria and.
he Empress Elizabeth, who will make
her first visit to Gastein. will alight,
ace each other, and form the Strau-
)inger platz, an ugly square, which,
however, in default of better one, is
he centre of what exists in Gastein Of
social life. The apartments of Kaiser
William in the Badeschloss Hotel. and
hose just prepared and freshly fitted
Up for the Kaiser Francis Joseph in
Straubinger's gasthof, are so situated
hat if both monarchs look out Of the
as the German Emperor is SO
ohd of doing, their Majesties can see
zach other easily, and nothing would be
n the way to prevent their talking to
zach other across the small square. like
.wo peaceful neighbors and friends in
some old-iashioned, quiet German town.
Gastein, like Ems or Wiesbaden, and
,ven more than these two places, is al
ready considered by the sons and
daughters. "aus dem Deutschen
Reich" as the sacred shrine where the
steps of the father of the fatherland
will be walked over and shown and
worshipped when he himself has passed
away and only his memory survives.
Happily, this time has not yet come,
and whoever wishes to breathe the
same air with him, to look the Emperor
straight in the face, to bow, and to see
he salute politely acknO wledged. has
only to come to Gastein during
he Emperor Williams stay here.
The hour Of the monarch's prone
made is well known, invariably
between 10 and ii every morning,
rom the first day to the last. The
'oute his Majesty will take is equally
we'll known-it is always the lovely
(Emperor's walk, which
begins to the right Of the Badeschloss
Hotel, and slightly rises on the slope Of
he Badberg, until it oyerlocks the
lighly-picturesquc Koltschach valley.
splendid views Of the great cascade on
he river A'h.;:, formed by the water
aIling into the Valley Of Gastein, of
he village Of Hof-Gastein. which is
situated on a plateau some five hundred
eet below Wildbad- Gastein, of noun
aims covered up to the peak with fir
md larch trees, Of green meadows
oristling with wild plants or summer
lowers, Of houses, villas, and chalets
spread over the whole upper plateau,
offer themselves at every step of this
charming walk, which the Emperor
William prefers to many others hardly
less attractive or showing less beautiful
How the ancient monarch
proceeds on his promenade in the
- Kaiser-Weg," at what a quick pace he
goes, assisted only by his walking-stick.
always in advance Of his companion,
Count Lehndorif, how he talks and adj
dresses those he meets on his way,
described in telegram few days ago.
When his Majesty sits down with the