The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-08-31

ride. Inc particular OplSCb VI WtSASSs
on the trip is tho National Denkmal,
alias tho Watch on the Rhine monu-
ment, that stands on the heights above
Ruderheim and that is so eligibly situa-
ted that passengers on the boat can
scan it with their glasses for full hall
hour at least. 1t stands directly vis-a-
Wis to classic Bingen, fair Bingen on
the Rhine" You have probably read
something in your day about Blngen
on the Rhine. Show mo the man that
hasn't. II so, you arc aware that the
soldier OF the legion" who clay dying
in Alglers" was born here-the person
who said so many pathetic and beautl-
FULLY reminiscent things about that vii:
lage that tourists are all in state oil
mind as they come down the river on the
boat whether to fasten their gaze on
Bingen or on the "Denkmal." Ii the
Watch on tho Rhino song had been
sung in America % it has been sung
day and night in Germany since the
war OF 1901, Bingen on the Rhine
would not divide tho honors with the
Dentmalso evenly, because us u matter
OF fact thero is nothing ut all scntinen-
tai looking about Bingen whereas there
is world OF picturesqueness and senti-
ment attaching to TIE great monument.
l had seen tho grand sight only two
days before and hence was not IN the
state of mind described above: In
other words ] had made special trip
Of thirty miles to SEQ it face to face at
nv leisure, instead OF hurriedly Mt long
range from tho dock OF o Rhine steamer.
l had come from Wicsbadcn by rail to
the town OF Ruderheim and at that
point had debarked and taken the in.
cline motor that winds up tho heights
to where the great monument ovortooks
n magnificent sweep OF country on both
sides of the river. ] had put in two
hours up there walking. around the
monument and surveying it from every
tangent, and had como away feeling
that had been well repaid for my trip.
What contributed to this feeling was
the fact that while / sat on bench in
front OF it trying to take it in, a battal-
ion OF soldiers came along on their way
from the hill country to the river. and
while they were yet good way oil and
could only SEQ Germania from a!ar,
they began singing tho "Wacht am
Rhine" song, and they continued sing.
ing it as they approached, louder and
louder, Just as tho boys at homo sing
Marching Through Georgia" when
they get cnthused. And thus they
came singing right to the point, where
was observing the great work, and
there they stopped and drew up in
line, and taking off their hats gave
three rousing cheers Tor the grand
Vaterlaud monument and then pro-
ceeded on their march to Ruderheim.
l eaid TO myself after they had de-
parted that these young fellows might
be conscripts, might have been torn
from their homes by the strong hand OF
power, and all that sort OF thing, such
as we are accustomed to hear about,
but all the same they are'no mere hire
ling soldiers OF the Fatherland, nor are
they devoid of the fire and sentiment
that carried their predecessors to Paris
a generation ago. They are exactly the
same sort OF stuff. And while on this
subject I may as we'll say that my
three months sojourn in Germany,
where have seen soldiers marching
and parading nearly every day, has i'm
pressed me that the war service OF tho
German soldiers, conscripted though
they are, is not an unwilling and
grudging service, but on the contrary a
service con amore.
INTELLIGENT SOLDIERS.
They are, it is true, very poorly paid,
in fact hardly paid at all, (about 8 cents
per day. and not luxuriousIy fed, but
they are healthy set of men who give
no evidence OF unsatisfed appetites or
OF insufficient clothing and housing.
Moreover they do not look discontented
and they step briskly and not as "driven
slaves to their task" The German
army is not made up OF ignoramuses:
The boys can nearly every one read and
write. The percentage OF illiteracy is
the lowest in Europe. They under
stand tho military situation as well as
tho average OF the people. 1 nm more
and more convinced that their army
life has both its bright eide and its
advantages. But this is not the place
to enter upon that subject. At present
am engaged in reaching Cologne as
the objective point OF this letter. The
seeing and hearing OF those boys at the
.'Deniman up on the heights Of Ruder-
helm quite enthused me with the SOL
dier element. The engineer who located
that monument made no mistake in its
site. Neither did the artist who con-
ceived its personnel. 1t would be hard
in Europe To find such an imposing ar
ray OF lite sized bas reliefs Us those
bfonzes o: the old Emperor, and OF
Bismarck and Won Moltke and OF
"Unser Fritz and Prince Carl and the
fighting Kings and Dukes and Generals
who went to the front in '70and remain
ed there until the empire was created
and declared at Versailles. Over all
there stands tho heroic figure of Ger
mania upon whosc face, ne Shakespeare
would say, "Eyery God had set mis- seal"
to give tho world specimen Of oil that's
quoenly and noble and commanding in
IN emblem OF majestic power and SOW
ereignty. There she stands, like tho
mother OF the Gracchi. her jewels in
tho persons OF hcs sons at her feet,
looking far away over tho Rhine to-
wards France but with no expression
Of either aversion or apprehension but
simply look Of the utmost composure
and dignity, such as so well bGfts and
the best feeling OF Germany
Us respects the future.
After steaming along the shores OF
tho noble river until half past four in
the afternoon, and after passing the
great university town of Bonn and tho
strongly fortified city of Coblentz, and
after seeing vineyards innumerable and
grain fields without ond, we rounded to
at the ancient city OF Cologne, tho pointat
which orr TRAVELLING comnittee was once