Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-11-27
SCENES ON THE RHINE.
Julian Hawthorne Writes Of Co
logne and Bonn.
The Most Magnificent Specimen OF Gothic
Architecture In the World-Ths Multi
lation OF = Monks Corpse and
What Came Of It.

"AAoS CoAAAO "a 49,
1t was quite dark long before we reached
Cologne, writes Julian Hawthorne IN the
Chicago News; in fact, it was near mid
night, and nothing could be seen as we ap-
preached the city but lights, gradually null
tiplying. The great cathedral was invisi-
BILE, but when we emerged from the railway
station, behold there it rose directly over
our heads, a mighty cliff of carven stone as
cending to and losing itself in the darkness
of the midnight sky. We gazed and clam
bered into our wagons and were driven
around the Zulichs Platz (Which contains
not only the cathedral, but the establish
ments of the various firms which profess to
sell the only genuine cologne water), and
through some narrow and devious streets
to our hotel, situated about quarter of q
mi4e away. After o mouthful Of supper
there was nothing so attractive for the mo-
ment as bed, and to bed we went. Our beds
were Of the familiar German pattern, short
and narrow, with wedge-shaped pillow
and q wadded coverld; but we slept the
dreamless sleep of exhaustion.
The next morning we took the train to the
university town of Bonn, twenty miles
away. AS we left Cologne and got out into
the plain the vast mass of the cathedral,
with its twin towers, rose higher and higher
til at length the city sunk altogether out Of
sight and the cathedral alone remained and
possessed the horizon. The proportions Of
this wonderful structure are so perfect that
1t Is impossible, while, in its immediate
vicinity, to realize its enormous dimensions.
They are revealed only by distance, but
when they are revealed they almost suT-
pass expectations. It is beyond question
the most magnificent specimen of gothic
architecture that the world has ever seen
-one Of the few creations Of man that abso-
lutely satisfy the craving Of the human
mind for perfection. Bonn is one Of the
prettiest Of university towns, with long,
shady avenues and handsome villas in the
outskirts. The college buildings are Of the
simplest architecture. The broad Rhine, of q
yellowish green hue, hurries by on one side,
and few miles further up rises the mount
ain of the Drachenfels, with its ruined
castle on the summit.
At the little church on the hill near Bonn
there was q wide view over q broad and
fertile plain for the members Of the expedi-
ton that visited it The cathedral rose like
a distant mountain peak on the horizon.
The Rhine flowed through the landscape In
long curve, and along its banks crept
three or four regiments of hussars engaged
in some drill 1naneuvers. There were
udSSCS VI ClOuQ6 Ia LuC SKY anu SQaQOW8
| and sunshine fitted across the face of the
earth. A fresh westerly breeze was blow
ing and the atmosphere was exhilarating.
We descended in the crypt of the church,
where the dead monks lay in cofins on each
| side Of the dark and narrow vault. The
| flesh had dried and shriveled upon their
bones, and their garments had partly crum-
| bled to pieces with age, but the expression
and character of each face was preserved,
and the sight, strange to say, was not disa-
| greeable. The withered faces had an aspect
| ofprofound peace. Each figure lay with
| his hands folded across his breast. One of
them, however, had died of lockiaw, and
his mouth was wide open, giving him most
singular and grotesque appearance. There
| was also story connected with this indi-
vidual. An Englishman with a mania for
relics had broken of thumb from this body
and carried it away, but many years after
| ward he had sent it back with the request
| that it be restored TO it's proper owner, and
| adding that misfortune had pursued
him ever since he had committed
the robbery. The ghost of the out
ragged monk had given him no
rest. So there lies the thumb on the with
cred breast, and the letter is preserved in
the archives of the church. The amiable
| little priest who told US the legend smiled
| db uS dS iC OORo IL Will q plS6SuT6 In
this confirmation of the reality of his re-
| ligion. 1t was memorable scene-the
dark crypt, lighted only by the lantern in
the hands of our guide, the dusky corpses
in their open collins and the silent crowd Of
Americans gazing and listening
Returning to Bonn we got into a river
steamer, under the guidance and by the in
vitation of the American Consul at Cologne.
a gentleman who throughout treated US
with the utmost cordiality and attention.
and proceeded up the river to the Drachen-
fels.
The ruin of Drachenfels shows the amaz-
ing massiveness with which the old builders
built. Only fragment of the town re-
mains, rising straight up from the vertical
face of the precipice for sixty feet, but so
true are the lines and so ponderous the
workmanship that 1t may well stand as it Is
now for another thousand years. We
clambered and rambled over it, and the
photographer took our photographs, and we
made very merry in the old robber strong
hold, where the noble robbers themselves
had been merry centuries before. But the
hour came when we must depart, and be-
fore long we found ourselves back in Co
logne, with the memory of a day on the