Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-10-26

noise and pretension for so small a stream,
into the Rhine. Quaint, sleepy, OF for
gotten age, it rests there as a sweet picture
of poetic past Bingen is at the foot OF
| the Rochus mountain, upon which are the
ruins of the ancient fortified Castle Klopp,
in which Henry the Fourth was imprisoned.
| Upon the summit Of the mountain is the
Roman chapel of Rochus. Opposite Bingen,
across the Rhine, rises grand mountain,
upon the top Of which, and circling away
many miles to the right, is the Niederwald
Glow forest). From the temple here, it is
said, can be had the finest view of the whole
Rheingan. At the further edge of the
mountain, commanding noble view, stands
the colossal statue OF Germania. commemor-
ative of the late Franco-Prussian war;
while the side of the mountain which de-
scends toward the Rhine, and forever smiles
upon Bingen with joyous plenty, is one of
the most famous vineyards in all Germany,
its purple glory making the little village
beloW, Rudesheim, famous the world over
for its wine.
A FAMOUS BRIDGE.
On arrival at the fortified city of May
ence, in due order 1 visited the famous pom
toon bridge across the Rhine; the splendid
railway bridge, with its mighty fortified
castles for defense at either approach; the
great castle of the city; the Bishops palace;
the Gutenberg Platz and the noted monu-
ment to dear old Gutenberg; the MaYence
theater, looking for all the world, from the
interior, like a moss-grown gas reservoir;
the Bierbich castle, and the splendid statue
to Germany's immortal poet, Schiller.
Then came an inspection OF the great fortif-
cations of Mavence. These cost IL, ,000, 900
marks. Ten million came from the impe-
rial treasury and 5000, 900 was levied upon
the city. They are of gigantic proportions
and completely surround the city, though in
my judgment they are too near the vital
spot to be protected.
An enemy's shot or shell which could
reach any portion of the stupendous works
could pass over them and thus work great
and even absolute ruin to this the most i'm
portant base of military supplies in all
Europe. Returning to my hotel was re-
minded that had not seen the one great
object Of interest in Mayence, the mighty
Dom. On my way thither, though it is
not quarter mile from the station, 1 was so
interested in the quaint, narrow streets of
the city-some OF them not over eight feet
in width, but with handsome shops and
cafes within the dark streets, lighted all day
long with gas or candles-that the cleaning
of the evening had come down upon the
town before 1 had reached the Dom, or
cathedral. The business part of the city
is built about the great pile, up against,
into it, under its roofs. Cropping in and
about weird old courts, I finally came
upon a stupendous gate, in which
was little iron wicket half open. Enter
ing this, / stumbled about for time, finally
coming upon plump maid who was work.
ing away at a gigantic pump.
All, no, the Dom was closed, she said.
After 6 O'Clock no sacrilegious traveller
could enter. 1 reckoned differently. Away
over there-it seemed mile distant-was a
thread of light streaming through the mold,
the ruins and the ivy. Barking my shins
and humping nv head much, brought me to
it. Peeping through the lattice saw an
ancient verger doing some sort of religious
service all to himself 1 knocked at the
door. The old man seemed Mortified at the
sacrilege. Finally he bade me enter. I
spoke eloquentIy with my hand. 1t was
full of small coin, among which, remem-
Der, there was some white money.
MONEYS MAGIC POWER.
What magic this thing money has, in
deedl In q few moments the changing of the
gates, the creaking of the hinges and the
flare of the verger's lighted cresset awoke
the sleeping pigeons within the gables, and
soon down, down, down, and up, up, up,
and then down and up, and, winding about,
we came to the heart of the sacred place. It
was all told me in whisper, most reverently.
1t was all showed to me in stealth and
gloom. The great font with its olden brasses
fared back at us reproachfully. The won
drous crucifx seemed to move and change
restlessly. The tombs in stone and iron and
brass had, somehow, horrible movement
among them.
The great paintings, with their oaken
frames, shifted about uneasilY. The massive
pillars and columns loomed through the
shadows nightly. And away up there,
height upon height, the groined arches
lessened and grew, and retrested and dis
closed until one got dizzy with looking.
One point of light only, this from the very
apex of the dome, told of the dying day
without. Westminster Abbey, st, Paul's,
the Cologne Cathedral, one and all have no
measure of the solemn grandeur of the
majestic interior of this great pile, begun so
long ago that the time of its beginning is
lost in tradition, and built in such proper
tions and strength that it will remain when
a thousand other great edi6ces of our time
are crumbIed and forgotten.
EDGAR L. WAKEMAN.