The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1894-03-10
a FAMOUS FLOWER.
Wholesale Destruction Of Edeiweiss
Stopped in Switx erIand.

Every lThNtltT III pNllI'Ilulh - u
miliar with the tender Star-shaped
flowers Of this curious plant, whose
sage green blossoms are stuck into
the hat Of every guide and collected
with rare ingenuity by the importu-
nate little rnscals who rae the ear
riagcs ON the road, or start out like
rabbits from the bushes as the pcdcS-
TRAN begins his solitary climb. The
plant is scarce and very partial. 1t
is found i'm the Engadinc, seldom in
the BcrncSc Overland, and has par
ticular n and mountains that it
loves to affect. This scarcity and
partiality gave to the cdelwciss II
somewhat unhealthy notoriety, ac-
cording to the Philadelphia Times.
The rarcr il becomes the more ambi-
tiOuS were the cXCurSiOniStS to obtain
II sprig. Some years ago every cock
ncy hat was adorned with the curious
bloom, fcathcrcd, as its botanical name
applies, like an old mans beard, and
il was no longer a sign of patience
and endurance to wear this pretty
badge that hitherto had denoted Il
long climb and Il patient search.
When tourists began to brand their
asenStocks down i'm the valley with
the name OF II mountain whose base
they touched. but whose top they
never attempted to reach, then was
edelwciss sold by the handful at In
terlaken, ChamouniX and Grindel-
valid, and the guides, porters and
boys were tempted to rifle the noun
tains of their peerless flowers. When
the rage for art green's came upon us
in full force aesthetic young ladies
nattered themselves that II wreath of
these soft petals would look becoming
in the hair, and some went so far rs
to appear at fancy balls in the char
ter Of The Alps smothcred in edel-
weiss.
As for the flower itself, it refused
TO be in any way g%raciousat the touch
of the botanist and s~ternly declined
to be transplanted. The more obsti-
nate was the edclweiSs the more de-
termiucd became the florists, and
they purchased it by the root, care
fully tended it during the journey
home. nurSed it across the sea,
watched it at every railway station
and handed it to the family gardener
i'm order to hear in Il few days that the
plant, sickeuing and signing for its
mountain home, had refused to exist
i'm England with the aid of any artit-
cial process. There have been only
one or two rare and exceptional cases
where the edclwciss was induced to
live and give forth flowers in England,
and thcn the result was only obtained
by n system of nursing that would
have worn out the majority of botan-
lists.
At last the Swiss government deter
mined to put down 10y law the whole
sale destruction of this popular
flower. 1t was rapidly disappearing
altogether from the country when an
enactment made it penal to take a
plant up by the roots. The dignity
and Importance Of legislation gave IA
new impetus to the interest that was
attached TO the plant, and going in
search of the edelweiss became rs at
tractive a source OF danger rs any to
be found in switzerland Cnaccom-
panied by guides. and strayiug from
the beaten tracks. more than n
tourist has risked his life. and several
have been killed in the quest
Washington Star.
lT is alleged that on the island OF
Leri, in the Gulf Of California. not
more than sixty miles from the Mex
lean mainland, there are remnants of
race of giant cannibals. This start
ling discovery was made early in 1891,
and has since been affirmed by both
United States and Mexican explorers.
5lGoldthwaite's' Geographical Mag
azine.