St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1899-11-15
SWITZERLAND REVISITED.
Editorial correspondenee.l

see the grand mountains that |
ought to see from the window of my
hotel. In this | was much disap.
pointed and in six days spent in Cen
eva only saw Mt. Blanc once. tits
aggravating to travel few miles
from the Bernese Alps and read in
your Baedeker ION the right side Of
the track is fine view of the Jung
frau" and then not be able to see
rod on account of the fog. OF course
| took the wrong time of the year to
see Switzerland at her best and you
cannot have sunlight every day in
the year at any price.
So will branch off to a more ma
terial subject and speak of the pros
peritv OF this little confedera ton or
republic and it's wonderful progress.
The Swiss are clever people along
many lines. We can beat the world
on cheap watches, but we cannot
beat Geneva on fine watches, and the
trade in this industry alone will be
25 per cent. greater in 1899 than in
1898. They are fine machinists, and
the way they have developed electri-
city is almost marvellous. The little
waterfalls are harnessed all over the
country and waterwheels run dy-
namos that furnish heat, light and
power at the same time. The Rhone,
which looks so peaceful at the mouth
of Lake Geneva, has been utilized by
the same engineer that harnessed
Niagara Falls and the same system
used there furnishes power to the
Geneva factories and light to the
city. Mr.. Field, the American en-
gineer, has secured the control OF the
surface railroads in the city and all
its suburbs, and will build this win
ter an overhead trolley system, using
the power above mentioned.
The Swiss use the same skill in
agriculture that they do in mechan.
ical arts, and the way the foreigners
work their small farms would put a
New England farmer to shame.
Every inch of the land is cultivated,
and the vineyards extend up the
mountain sides, sometimes almost to
the summit. This is equally true of
France, where, among other good
laws, is one forbidding anyone to cut
down a tree without the permission
of the authorities.
The week was in Geneva was the
time for harvesting the grapes and it
was most interesting sight. The
vines are not nearly as large as one
sees in California and the fruit is
much smaller. They are about four
to FIVE feet high, each one being tied
to straight stick, and the grapes
are at the bottom of the vine. l
passed by many vineyards, but as
there was heavy fine for touching
the fruit | could not sample it on the
vine. Men, women and children
were engaged in harvesting the crop
on t1e Sunday morning that | saw
this sight. The clusters were cut off
with knife and all put in a wooden
basket carried on the back. When
this was filled a man came along and
crushed the grapes in this receptacle
by the same process that our grand
mothers made butter in barrel
churn. The mass was then strained,
the pulp being saved for brandy and
the juice for light or dark wine, &C.
cording to the color of the fruit.
The juice was put into great hogs
head and drawn into town by bull
locks, horses or, sometimes, donkeys,
to be sold as new wine to the cafes
and private houses. AS fermentation
has not been completed, if drank at
this time it not only gives one a
tremendously swelled head but a
very disordered stomach. 1t takes
about 10 days to harvest the grape
crop, and after it is all done the men
begin to feel how much hard work
they have done and they meet and
are served new wine by the women
and children who have sense enough
to leave it alone. AS natural result
the peasants have a regular Sher-
brooke fair drunk which lasts nearly
week.
1t has never been my good fortune
to climb Alpine heights, but the near
est came to it was a visit to Les
Avants, mountain resort $500 feet
above the Castle of Chillon, at the
upper end of Lake Geneva. This is
one of the few places that is open all
the year round and where, owing to
the altitude you wear your breath