The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-09-08
'cription below it is fitting one: Fidei

To stand in the Hall Of the Swutzer
hof and hear the different tongues. ont
might imagine that the Tower Of Babe
had just been broken up around th'
corner. Yet that wonderful person
the most remarkable produce Of modern
Europe. the PORTER, has reply to every
one IN his own speech. even to tn,
twang Of the far Northwestern. do not
like the European hotel system. an
accustomed to good honest American
hotel clerk, who wears his diamond
pin, can answer in his own proper per
son three hundred questions in five
minutes, look over the postoffice behind
him. give orders to thirty messenger
boys, cell every new arrival by hi:
name, aud come accurately back to the
point in his remark about two hundred
and twenty-nine without miss or a
skip. This is my friend. yet | must say
that l doubt if even this prodigy
OF our civilization could supersedt
the continental porter in the mat.
ter of languages. | know one. Richard
at the grand Hotel Bretagne at
Bellagio. who is walking PoIyglot.
languages. and Is now for entertain
ment studying Arabic.
To return. however. TO Lucerne.
as in 'Greenland 5 Icy Mountains. -
every prospect pleases and only man
is vile The road down to Jericho
must have lam somewhere in this di-
rection. for such robbers as the trades.
people are cannot be found any where.
Their one standard is the amount
they can screw out of the people. Even
the mild eyed children, who sell green
peaches or over-ripe plums on the
quays. practice extortion with a ripe
ness to which their wares are strangers.
How many for france" you ask "A
meekfased little girl. "Trois." You
shake your head. ''quaire. No.
"Cing.' So it goes on from infancy
until they meet the last customer who
will not be cheated. Yet they are so
polite with it all that it is a positive
pleasure to be overcharged by them.
We all went up the RigTone evening,
not to see the sun rise next morning.
but to say we had been there. for, as a
matter of fact. the sun never does rise
on the Rigi. People 90 there day after
day. and year after year, but no one
vet mas ever seen the sun rise there
Mr.. A. says he has been there often him
self. and he has talked to over a thou
sand people who have been there. ana
he not only never saw the sun rise him
self. but he has never seen any one who
has seen it rise. do not pretend to say
how the sun gets up. but Of one thing /
am a. certain as am that the Eidweiss
is the most prolific of all cultivated
Swiss flowers, and that is. that as Eng
land is the ore place where the sun
never sets. so the Rigi is the one place
were it never rIsss.
We did not undertake u walk up
Rigi, although G. had provided himself
with an aspenstock for emergencies.
We preferred to get behind the putting
little engine, which sits up like a kan
CARGO and roots you up around the
perilOus-lcokins curves which bend up
around the sheer rock at angles which.
if anything should break. would mean
4 shorter road to Heaven than most men
look for. On the way, just as we
reached the top, we were treated 10 a
scene which cannot be surpassed by any
sunrise. The clouds. which had OBJ
scured the sun all day. suddenly broke
away Just "a the sun sank 10 his
setting. and the valley below Us was
flooded with rosy light. The lake was
by the solar alchemy into a
basin of liquid fire, and the mountains
were kissed into a golden glow. As the
train came out of cut su ldenly on
this beautiful vision the entire company
burst into applause.
BY the time we reached the Kuhn the
clouds bad closed again. and we were
once more in the mist. A more cheer
less spot than that cloud wrapped
mountain hotel ] have rarely seer.
We were shown to the rooms assigned
us: they had balconies. from which we
could see the sun rise. If 1t should ever
rise, but our minds Just then were CEN
tered on a light much less sublime
We wanted fire. We would have
swapped the finest sunrise ever served
up for a good stove. for although IL
was the heart of summer, the noun
tains around us were covered with the
snow which had fallen the night be-
fore. Our rooms had no stoves, SO we
descended and demanded other rooms.
There were none to be had except the
saloon. said the porter. and that we
could have for fifty francs. This we
refused to pay
The porter was sorry, with many
shrugs of the shoulders. We were too
cold to be fooled with, so we ordered
our baggage brought down; we would
walk back to the hotel at the station be
low. Had the porter called. | don
know what we should have done, but
he laid down his hand on the spot. lie
did have another. perhaps we would
look at that. Yes. we would very
grandly. II had stove in il which
looked as if il was made of tOmbstOnes.
and was as cold as ice; but we took it,
and by dlnt of bullying and bribiug the
servants. about bedtime it got warm
enough to sit on. However. il was bet
ter than nothing. and we had won the
the game.
Next morning. as usual, the sun did
not rise. and neither did we. but in
stead slept until 9 clock, which Is not
so romantic TO talk about, but Is more
comfortable than watching sunrises at
the inconvenieut hours at which they
usually occur. If. however. we missed
the rising, we saw a wonderful vision
made by the risen SUI. which could not
have been excclled by any sight what
ever. We saw the clouds. which had
been spread around Us, first settle like
a vast sea between the mountains, and
then melt. rise, and drift away in vast
white pillows. disclosing the green
earth and the azure lakes below. lt Is
impossible TO convey IA idea OF the
beauty and sublimity Of the scene as
the valley and the lakes. far below,
came silently into view through the
slowly-di solving clouds. II gave one
an idea of what will be when the noun
tains and the sea shall melt away.
About midday we returned to Au-
mach and took the little steamer Tor
Fluelen and AltdOrf.
THE FLUELES END OF THE LAKE
is the finest, both for scenery and asso-
citation. The mountains rise right out
of the blue water, and every cove or
iutting point is associated with the
career of Tell. The chapel erected on
the iutting rock, where he is said to