Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-04-28
TRAVELS In EUROPE.
NOTES ABOUT VARIOUS PLACES
AND PEOPLE.
Tunnel-The Famous Catne-
dral at Milan


very fine. They are about twenty feet
wide, and are kept solid all seasons of the
year. They are kept in order by the State
evidently with the view of conveying
heavy artillery over them. They save tc
the land owners forty feet of land, and
when once constructed are not difficult tC
keep in good repair.
Grapes, fruit and vegetables are the pre-.
vailing products Wine is the curse of the
English, French, Italians, Germans and
Austiians. Many of them are unable to feed
their hungry children, but seem to think
it no sin to predispose them to inebriety
and mental stupidity.
At Basel, Lorraine, | had my first view
of the German soldiers. Lorraine, it will
be remembered, was taken from the French
during the Franco-Prussian war, and is
now guarded with vigilant care The Eng
lish soldier is not mullen-stalk fighter,
and although he is without Joints, he is
well made and holds the fort or dies at his
post. For the French soldier ] have little
admiration. He goes where he is hidden
and calls it by name" Patriotism" A
soldier is not a dude, the cultivation of
whose moustache occupies the attention
and time not devoted to other toilet A
soldier is a man still, and should not only
guard the State from external foes, but
also set it an example worthy to be fol-
lowed, both for its virtue and its nobility.
The Italian soldier is a ponderous fellow.
lie walks (marches) from the hips, and
when at right shoulder needs a town lot all
to himself, lest his bayonet gouge his COM
rade. He is on duty. 1t is his duty to go,
and to come, and to remain, and not to re-
main. The German soldier is aggressive
in war, conserved in peace and more desir-
Gus to preserve peace than to engender
war.
At Basel Germany, we took up paper
of March 9th, and read of the death of the
German Emperor. The real grief of the
calamity, as it seems to indicate, should
Friedrich" soon die, is here seen as it
cannot be told by pen or worded thought.
The conversation of officials and German
citizens was done in subdued tones. "Der
Kaiser ist todtr' The paper chronicled
the sad event thus briefly: 80 Marz-Wa-
nige tage vor vollendung DIES einundneun-
zigsten lebensjares hat er die augen fur
INNER geschlossen." "a March 9th-Sev-
eral days before the completion of the
ninety-first year of his life he closed his
eyes foreyer")
Lucerne, Switzerland, is a summer re-
sort in the Alps. Its lakes and crested
mountain peaks give it pictorial appear
ance. The river Reuss connects it with
less important sheets Of water. Lucerne
is the capital of the canton, and has popula-
ton Of 10000. The lion here seen is a
huge sculpture designed by Thorwaldsen,
in 1921, in memory of twenty-six officers
and 760 soldiers of the Swiss Guard who
fell in Paris in defense of the Tuilleries in
1892. The Lowendanllmal Museum, NV
er's Diorama and the Glacier Garden, are
among the important historical and natural
scenes to attract visitors; but the invigor-
ating climate has more to do with its
crowded hotels than all other inducements
combined. Schiller and his William Tell
has invested the shores of Lake Lucerne
with much that is romantic and beautiful.
Later in the season it would have been
delightful to have spent several days here
in recreation.
The ascent of the Alps is fine piece of
engineering. St. Gotthard Tunnel is
$500 feet above sea level, and the lowest
point in the pass rises 5000 feet above the
tunnel. The writer has several times
crossed the Rocky Mountains and the
Sierra Nevadas as often, and has four
times assembled the Columbia river from
Astoria, on the Pacific, to Wallula, twen-
ty-four miles above, through mountain
gorges, and is not inclined to be prejudiced
in favor Of his own country, but feels COM
petent to pronounce upon the comparative
grandeur of the scenery. When | recall
the imposing nights of Mount Whit
ney, Mount Shasta, Mount Hood and
Mount Renter, | cannot, in candor, say
that they are surpassed by any sight of the
most magnificent dome that towers above
all other in these Alpean attitudes. Echo
Canyon, near Salt Lake, by far surpasses
the deepest ravines; and the Palisades are
marvels Of the Divine handiwork com
pared with any of these declivities. The
Sierra Nevadas, with lakes and rivers
1000 feet above the sea, and with more
than 90 peaks rising above 5000 feet, and
some of them lifting their lofty snow
crested domes above the clouds, reaching
the enormous figure of $1,000 feet of alti-
tude, are not here excelled. The Alps are,
however, colossal in appearance, and will
never cease to be looked upon as an exhi-
bition of infinite omnipotence. 1t is nine
miles through ST. Gotthard Tunnel and,
having once reached the exit, there comes
change of people and language. You
are still i'll Helvetia, but the Swiss, or
German language, has ceased to be spoken,
and you hear nothing but Italian, except
from 4 few railway officials.
Sunday, March llth, was spent in Mi
Ian. The Cathedral of Milan is the only
building of public note here. 1t far sur
passes all attempts to describe it. In A.
D., $50, on this spot, stood the metropoli-
tan church of the town. 1t was called
Santa Maria Maggiore. The site is held
sacred by the Catholics, and upon it rests
one of the sculpture-wrought architectural
wonders of the century Giovanni Gale
ago Visconti, Duke Of Milan, by special
vow, founded it 1886. 1t is built of white
marble taken from the quarries of Gando-
glia. The front of it is of Grecian style
by Pellegrini, but will soon be changed to
Gothic, so as to correspond with the re-
mainder of the building.
Whatever boast is emphasized concern
ing the antiquity of this unrivaled monu-
ment, the historian will remember that it
was an unfinished marble heap at the dawn
of the nineteenth century, but by decree
of the Emperor Napoleon, June s, 1906, it
was ordered to be completed, and statue
Of himself placed ON one of the exterior
turrets among the monuments of Catholic
deyotees. This "sacrilege" so effronted
the Catholics that they say: "There
stands the devil among the saints" But
he is there all the same, and in his right
hand holds lamp, which, although it has
neither oil nor smoking fax, shines forth,
dimming lesser lights
The shape of the cathedral is Latin
cross, and has FIVE naves, the longest OF
which is 4S6 feet, and their united breadth
2SS feet. The breadth of the cross is 35l
feet. The arched roof, supported by 81
futed columns, is 164 feet from the main
nave, and from the pavement to the vaulted
cupola it is 224 feet, and to the top of the
exterior statues it is 355 feet. The 50
columns are s feet in diameter and ~ in
hight The designs are ever varying, and
each complement of designs peopled with
statues and supported with splendid ara
besques.
What the writer said above concerning
the marble heap" must not be construed
! To leave tho ip,pra-siOn fbot +ba o1;Goc