The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1893-07-12
THE SWISS EXHIBIT.
What Our Sister Republic Shows
at tho Exposition.
The Finest Collection of Watches Ever
ExhIbited-woodC Carving as a Zine Art
a House Built of Glass-St- Goth
ard Railway Eodels.
lspecial Words Falr Lelisr-l

The Alpine sister republic has done
as well as-or perhaps better than
could have been expected The com
mercial relations which that small but
interesting country entertains with
other nations are bound up. about in
proportion Of % per cent, within the
limit Of her three great neighbOrs-
GERMANY. France and Italy With
these powers Switzerland has intimate
and mutually profitable mercantile re-
lations. and since the hardy and in
tensely practical race of men that
people her valleys and mountain sides
have a very keen eye 10 business and a
shrewdness exceeding that of her
proud neighbors, they have always un-
derstood how to turn these relations 10
good advantage. AT Paris expositions
heretofore Switzerland has exhibited
quite Iavishlv and brilliantly-consid-
ering her size and population-but the
case was different this time. First Of
all was the fact that Switzerland ex-
ports but httle-espeeially directly
to America. Even in watches-where-
in she used to have a monopoly in the
United States-there has been, of late
wears. such an enormous falling of,
due to the experience and to the vast
eapital invested, as well as TO the
steadily improving quality Of the goods
turned out by our own large watch
factories. that the Swiss continued to
think, up to quite recently, it would
hardly be worth while exhibiting here.
And then the Mckinley bill-which
has cut little Switzerland quite sorely
it was no wonder there was no enthu-
siasm on the subject of our worlds
fair throughout Switzerland. However.
wiser counsels prevailed in the end, and
in the late autumn of last year the
resolution was formed to exhibit any
how. The Swiss federal council ap-
pointed James Perrenoud, an inhnen-
tial merchant Of Ia Chaux-de-Fonds.
as its commissioner TO this exposition
in November last-and extended TO
his wisdom and integrity the unusual
compliment of opening up for her
an unlimited credit on the federal
funds 10 organize and arrange the
Swiss section az the fair. Considering
that this was done at 50 late 4 date, NJ.
Pcrrgnoud has done wonders since.
The Swiss section in the Manufae-
lures building was one Of the first TO be
opened and ready for inspection, and
within its narrow limits the exhibit
as a whole reflects decided credit on
the intrepid mountain nation that sent
it over. One thing, though, IS very
French part Of Swift
zerland whence the commissioner
halls, though in point Of size and pop
ulation ly far the smallest, IS consid-
erably the strongest in the size and
value and Importance Of the exhibits
shown. German Switzerland, com
posed of three -fourths Of the popula-
ton and two-thirds OF the territory
Of the whole federation, Is inadequate
II represented-such industries as the
velvets Of Aargau and Thur, the laees /
and curtains Of Grisons, the furniture
and clock industries, etc, being wholly
lacking. And the Italian part OF
Switzerland is not represented by q
single object. These facts, Of course,
are partly owing 10 the circumstance
that the French part of Switzerland IS
at the same time the one where indus
trial development has attained it,
highest point.
Outside OF Manufactures building
Switzerland is weak There Is on /,
vieyv-so as 10 cover the whole in one
paragraph-an elaborate exhibit made
10y the StGothard railway company in
Transportation building. About six
teen hundred square feet of wall space
are taken up by it-relief plans and
water color paintings showing the
whole wonderful piece of engineering