The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1886-01-20
OUR EUROPEAN LETTER
Our Correspondent on an Extended Foot TOnr
Through the TyrOlsse Alps.
Spit Chickens-A Landlord Who witnessed
the First NapoIeon's Invasion-Inns-
bruek-Mountain Scenes and
Seenery-Klausen.
rspeoial sentinel Letter.l

with nothing less than an extended foot tour
through the beautiful Tyrolese Alps. En-
dued with the importance of our under
taking. and stimulated by the discouraging
prophecies of friends. we that is, baby, nurse
and myself began 70 put ourselves in tram
ing. For week or more we undertook al
most daily tramps of ten to twelve miles a
day into the country or neighboring villages,
where We often had the most delightful ex-
periences. Upon one of our skirmishing ex-
petitions we came to an old fashioned road
side inn, where we learned young
chickens, cooked on spit,
could be had, provired they were
ordered day before hand. This novel ex-
perience we determined should be ours, SO a
dinner OF spit chickens was ordered for an
other day, when a party was organized for
their consumption. On that eventful day
the black, but Immediately clean kitchen
was invaded, and the entire force mounted
guard over the spit, where the tender victims
frizzled and sputtered before the clean fire,
while the butter was being dipped up on Of
the little pans underneath, and pOu-, ,...t
them as they were browning. The s,,.. us
rested at either end on little rack. There
were two of these rods, one on each side of
the fire, terminating in handles, which were
constantly turned. At the end of about
three hours our chickens were pronounced
done, and at the end of four
hours, they had become one with US. and
the most delicious bit of meat that ever
tickled mortal palates was the final verdict
sent in. While we were waiting and long
with levies on the landlords stock OF in
formation. He was funny, little old man
of nearly ninety, in a black skull cap, slick
and stiff with age and use, and smoking his
huge pipe. the inseparable companion of the
Tyroler. He was chuck full of reminis-
cences, and his chief glory, aside from tina.
of his age, was having been an eye-wit-
ness to
THE FRENCH INVASION
by Napoleons troops, who had passed his
home, leaving the scars of their cannon balls
IN the house where he still lives, while he
himself, then mere boy, was concealed in
| the mountains.
But to return to our own "reminiscences.
In due course of time we reported ourselves
10 the head of our little family as in good
! marching condition and asked that he leave
| his peasant interior for week TO command
our forces We had set the 18th o. Septenc-
Der as the most favorable time for setting out
on our expedition, as then the weather is
neither too hot nor too cold. 1t was with
| anxious misgivings, however, that for two
weeks beforehand we saw it rain in the val
ley and snow in the mountains every day.
| Every day, then, for two weeks we sat shiv
ering in our rooms, peering out into the
heavy, chilling fog and celebrating upon
| the question of to go or not to go. The peas
ants ON the mountains who are born
weather prognosticators told us however,
hof rrha no ont and
| the clouds once lifted, showing the
mountains white with snow. that we could
| then be assured of fine weather for a couple
| of weeks at least. On Sunday morning, the
| 18th, the sun rose clear, the clouds and fog
were gone, and behold! the mountains had
on their white caps Monday morning then
| found us on our way rejoicing, with few
necessaries packed in our baby wagon, and,
as is the way of all good packers, the most
necessary article of all 1.-THE baby placed on
| top Our dress was as light in weight as we
| could possibly make it, and our shoes old
and easy, with low, broad heels At night,
after the days travel, in addition to the
usual bath, the feet were trated to an extra
bath of strong salt water, which prevented
soreness and blisters, so that at the end of
nearly one hundred miles tramp our feet
showed no sign of bruise or blister,
| but, on the contrary, the skin had become
| tough like leather.
The first day we walked distance of only
| twelve miles, as our commander, who Is Il
prime walker, had warned US against over
| tasking our strength at the outset. This
| brought us to Halle, an ancient town, with
| fine old tower rising cOnspicuously above
all the other buildings of the place, and so
| old that no one could tell US when nor why
| it was built nor to what use it had formerly
been put. The next morning we went on ID
| INNSBRUCK,
| the capital of Tyrol. and spent the remainder
OF the day in seeing this beautiful city.
| Innsbruck is situated in the middle of a
valley, with high mountains on all sides.
Ii is one of the loveliest cities of
Europe, and every foot of ground
| in and around it teens with
| historical associations. Some of the greatest
| rulers and Emperors of Germany and Aus
| tria have held their courts here, and not a
few notable personages are buried within
hen. erypts. Among the latter IS Andreas
| Hofer, the peasant leader of the Tyrolese in
their struggle for independence and against
the inroads of Napoleon. There were so
| many things to see and know about in Inns
| bruck that it would be impossible to notice
them in limited space, unless simply to
| enumerate them. Even this we forego lest
| we be found guilty of plagiarizlng on guide
book literature. Suffice it to say that Inns
bruck is wondrously beautiful in her sur
roundings, and in her historical associations
| and souvenirs of the past, more interesting,
perhaps, than any city OF her size IN Europe.
On Wednesday morning we set out on our
| journey with renewed enthusiasm, for at
Innsbruck we took the road over the Bren-
ner Pass, down through Southern Tyrol.
| Our destination was Rotzen, about eighty
miles from Innsbruck, which we hoped to
reach by Saturday evening, giving ourselves
four days to make the trip. This road across
the Alps is the Oldest leading into Italy, and
is mentioned even in the lines of Horace. In
the Middle Ages it was still the great COM
mercial highway, and the only thoroughfare
between Venice and Germany. 1t is now a
perfect roadway, the ascent and descent over
the Drummer being so gradual that little or
no difficulty was experienced in prepelling
our baggage and baby. 1t wBs with pleas
urable sensations that we pictured
in our imaginations the long
| trains of merchandise as they
| througed this road in former days, and con-
trasted them with our little caravan, con-
sisting of single wagon, containing a sim
gle treasure. jewel, priceless, but not mar
ketable neither the object of covetous
greed our treasure was not guarded from
the attacks of lawless robbers, but attended
by keepers, happy and free from anxious
care, pleasing contrast indeed to the
| heavily laden WACO ,roaninp with the