Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-09-29

/ EtTO4C tiLe. In THIS :slIHt pihNt ""' 49,
| IN. colossal Bavaria" female figure
| hfty-four feet high, which stands on an
eninence in front OF the Hall OF Fame,
built By King Ludwig, and looks sirlk-
,nyiv Tho the St,tu. Of Liberty In
tightening the World. at New York.
reached Lucerne IN Switzerland, after
| pleasant Journey through broken
and romantic country: but i wish 70
remark right here that distance lends
! enchantment to the much-Vaunted SWISS
| chalet- and that you can see more Deau-
tifuI ones in New Jersey in day than
Won can find In the whole OF Helveta In
a year But, oh, that lake OF the Four
| Cantons Cvierwadstatter Sec. at the
| head OF which Lucerne sits like queen.
/ and "uber weicke entzuct. liebend der
| hilnmol SIGH wolbt" (over which the de-
| lighted sky bends lovinsly)-how can l
| describe the inGescribablc? Seated on
| bench near the great stone bridge, had
J before me n scene Of such enchanting
! loneliness that no painter on earth could
( delincate It. The blue lake stretched
| out it's placid surface. gay with nag
| decked craft Of every kind, while bcsut-
ful buildings followed the serpentins
curves Of the sea-wall. and climbed, one
behind the other. along the rising slopes.
Still further away were the green hills
dotted with orchards. field and forest.
and behind all these. the majestic back
ground OF stupendous mountains. wrap
ped in their blue and purple mist. ]
could not tear myself away. The sun
set the shadows OF night gathered. and
] stlll fingered entranced. Above the
stony brow OF Mount Pilatus. just be-
tween the two peaks, a star came up
cleaning like a rich jewel in a crown.
while far to the east the full moon rose
behind the Riris crest and sent silrery
shaft toward me over the shinmering
lake A great longing seized Inc TO
stand upon those distant pinacles, and
the next morning at an early hour ]
stepped on board the little steamer at
The wharf and was borne swiftly down
the lake For an hour We ploughed its
blue waves. with an ever-chansins noun
tain scene on either side, until we reach
ed the little pirce called Vitznau, whence
the rack-and-pinion railway ascends the
Rigi
MAKING THE ASCENT.
This road. as steep as the roof OF a
house. is constructed in the usual way,
except that in the middle OF the track
there are two additional rails. about six
inches apart. connected by steel cross
bars, I'm which a cog-wheel under the
locomotive works as II ascends. The
sturdy It'll. engine. made high behind,
like = hyena. to fit IL for II. peculiar
position on the rails, puffs with titanic
emphasis as it butts its solitary coach
slowly, but surely. up tn. hill. With
pent breath you clutch the sides Of your
seat as you survey the vast masses Of
rock rising 20 the very sky on your right;
while TO the left you creep along the brink
Of awful precipic.s. plunsine down hun
dreds, thousands of feet below you;
but by degrees the tension relaXes. and
you lose all thought OF danger in the
glorious sight before you.
In one hour and a quarter you reach
the Kuhn, Of apex, on which rises a
wooden bclvidere, from which you view
the scene. And such a scene! "Ossa on
Pelion piled" the snow-clsd Alps rise to
the east, stretching their icy heads
thousands Of feet above your lofty
perch. while nearer you rise the now IA
nliliar outlines of grim Pilatus. Stanser
Horn. and Burgenstock. TO the north
and down the sheer prccipice of the Rigi.
mile below you lies the crucform
lake of the Four Csntons, dotted with
its towns and villages. and even the
distant spires OF Lucerne, are dimy WISH
bic.
There. shut in on every side by guardian
mountains, in a circumference OF 800
miles, lies the lovclie.t scene In Svitzer-
land. Chequered with green fields and for
ests, between which wind silver streams
and white fill.ts OF roads all unplea-
SAINT sights and sounds are shut away
in the dim distance. Trees are shrunk
TO shrubs, and shrubs to mushrooms: and
with the blue sky smiling down upon you,
you stand as in II dream, till. like n
shock. comes the shrill signal that you
must quit this land Of livelinsss and again
descend 10 the common, work-a-day
world
AS ! left the belvidere and turned my
face towards the station | stopped 20
buy a sprg of edelweiss from a girl OF
10 or L, who waylaid me with her
basket of flowers. Now. from the very
apex Of the mountain Ghc climb-ax,
as one would say). runs down a steep
path, slippery as glass. and as the un-
lucky maid attempted to descend before
me ner wooden sabot. went suddenly
from under her. and. falling backwards
with n duh thud.' she sped TO tn. edge
with such velocity that ! thought she
would take a hyins leap into space. ia
ellis est descsnsus" Never was there
such n tumble since the f.ll Of Adam
Her two "spars." very much en- evil
dcnce. and the flying "salls' made me
think Of the launching of a ship.
INlLNSH HEAT.
After few delightful days In Lucerne
| departed To Geneva, where / hoped for
an equally pleasant experience: but the
heat was 90 intense that the first long walk
l took reduced IN. 10 a state OF l,qui-
faction, and I promptly cut my visit
down from a week 10 tive days. and
shaking the dust of that lovely city from
my feet, / turned my face towards
Paris-the haven Of all good Americans"
where ] am now. awaiting the sailing
of the French ship Boargogue, next Sat
urday, from Havr-, and in the mean
time seeing what / can OF tho metropolis
OF the World
l attended service at the American
church, on Rae de Berri last Sunday.
and to my surprise heard the pastor
pray pecially for the Queen OF Great
Britain, while he threw all the other
rulers Of the earth iyto hotch- potch, ana
dismissed them with few general good
wishes.
Now, Queen Victoria is an excellent
lady, and every risht-minded American
honors her for her virtues and respects
her as the head OF one Of the greatest
nations on earth: but she Is In no sense
the representative OF the Methodist
Church-tout au contraire. Besides, our
own Grover probably needs praying for
more than she does; for they do say the