The times., 1893-12-15
From an owosso Missionary.

From an Owosso Missionary.
TThe following very readable and inter
esting letter was written to OwOssO friends
by Miss Media Hess. who left Owoss0 with
Mrs. Marden in September for Marash,
Turkey. Ed.
ATHENS, Nov. 2l, 1898
have been with you in spirit very often,
and have sent you messages without num-
Der, but owing to the present Imperfect
system OF mental telegrapny L presume
shall have to resort to the Old fashioned pen
and ink method in order that my communi-
cations may surely reach you.
Now unless you have time you had better
put away this letter until you have plenty
of time to listen TO my tale Of we, for II Is
going to be as tedious az travelling is tedious.
am constrained to share 1t with you all,
hoping it will either tire you or rest me.
Well. we started from London Nov. o.
DIR. Harpster and wife going to India, ac-
companying US as far as Milan, so there
were six in our party. We decided to saw
IS. 90 a piece in our fares by going from
New Haven to Deppe instead of via Dover
and Calais, a much shorter Journey we
left London at . p m. reaching the boat at
about 10 or IL and going Immediately to
bed, but not to rest. oh. mol You KNOW the
channel is famous for its rough voyages.
and we were so i'll il seemed as if we would
dieoat first. and presently. we were so i'll 1t
seemed as If we couldn't die but really
should have to live. At about four O'clock
they reused us up. and having decided
against burial at sea we did finally get on
deck. Mrs II. was almost carried there.
The night was black and a dense tOg made
the lanterns look ghostly. l saw extending
M into the darkness fully as high as
house, and nearly straight venture to
say an angle of rs degrees Cleats were
nailed along its slippery wet surface, "cas-
ually,n as Mark Twain would say. and
Judge my feelings when l learned that we
must climb that.
Ours not to make reply.
Ours but to climb or fly
if we would reach land, and that was our
ultimate destination. For my part climbed
and carried two enormous bundles. a sailor
at the upper end pulling me over the last
three feet of tie way as the final step had
been omitted. A train to Paris was wait
ing. Now these trains are like our Omni-
buses; have two long seats facing each other
and a door at each end. These are locked
and there is 10 way of getting out or in ex-
oept at stations, where guard may happen
along to thrust some vagrant I'm upon you.
Fortunately our party nearly filled the COM
partment, and by making ourselves as large
and numerous as possible we kept people
out. The only way of warming these cars
is by large stone bottles of hot water for the
feet. These are changed once or twice a
day. That morning going to Paris
realized what DIR. johnson meant when he
told me that no one was really sea sick
until they were perfectly cold. We did
ourselves up i'm our steamer rugs. but oh,
what wretcbed party reached. Paris that
morning. After fracas at the custom
h0use we went to our hotel, had breakfast
and went to bed. 1t IL an excellent and
rather expensive hotel. but there was no
FIRE and no provision for having one. unless
YOU call hole in the chimney not bit
larger than a pie tin Fireplace. That
night we decided we must have a fire and
and paid 6Oc for few-say eight sticks Of
wood to burn in that place. We had
candles as indeed they have everywhere.
But we did have good food. and must ad
NIT that French cooking and olive oil are
both delicious on their native heaths. but
outside their own countries l have found
them delusions and snares.
We had one whole day in Paris and
visited the cathedrals of NOtre Dame and
the Madeline, saw the Eiffel tower and Arc
de Triomphe i'm the distance, went up to
the Place de la COncOrde and the Tuileries,
and the famous gallery of the Louvre where
are treasures of art enough to last one
wears. was mostly interested in the
Venus of Milo and Muril0s famous Holy
Family and Madonna. There were many
by rRaphael, Titan, VanDyck. Turner.
Rembrant. etc.
Surely Paris must be the most beautiful
CITY on earth One can hardly imagine any
thing so beautiful and harmonious.
We had a great time getting our train.
There are no checks here and one must
keep an eve on the luggage" until 1t is put
in the s'van.n 1t generally fell to Mrs. NJ,
like David, to ''stay by the stuff" while we
reconnoitred and pre-empted compart-
ment. We were nicely settled when she
came along, saying, "Herel what are you in
that smoker fOr?" We silently dispersed,
80 to speak, It having dawned upon us what
"Fumare" really meant.
We enjoyed our ride through Alsace. The
.bIue AIsatian mountains" and quaint
houses were extremely picturesque 1t was
dark when we got into the mountains of
Switzerland, but we could feel and hear
how hard the engines were working. Once
they seemed almost to stop, and Instantly
take breath and run on again.
We reached Lucerne between ten and
eleven. There we und stoves made of
tiles, but no fire, of course. In the morn
ing we had until half past ten before train
time and we sailed forth. Behind the
town rose a mountain, and turning several
short crooked streets we came face to face
with the most majestic thing 1 ever saw
The Lion of Lucerne. The mountain has
been cut In half and cleared away, the top
is fringed with beech trees, the stone is
almost white, and In the centre Is cut out
great niche, on the floor OF which lies the
jon-ail In the solid rock. He is dying
with spear in his side, but under his paws
he IL guarding the lilies of France. The
expression on the face is positively human,
and the agony and bravery shown just bring
tears to ones eyes. 1t is to commemorate
the ibravery of the Swiss guards who were
cut down, one by one, guarding the palace
and defending Marie Antoinette think.
IL was done by Thos. Waldsen, the sculptor
They say the lion is 20 feet long. can't
Judge.
We started from Lucerne to Milan. and
oh, that day in the Swiss mountainsl am
reminded Of what Beecher said concerning
the strawberry: Doubtless God could
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