The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1900-01-04
AWHEEL IN FRANCE; FROM
GENEVA TO PARIS.

My last letter brought the narrative Of
our long journey aw eel to Geneva, one
Of the most interesting and famous cities
Of Swi.zerl md, and to for g ,er- the best
known, perhaps, OF all the cities Of this
little mountain reI ublic.
Here Calvin wrought and taught, the
vigorous thinker and dogmatic the'logian
OF the reformation. Weak kneed Chris
tians in these degenerate (?) "a d.pre-
cate the harshness of some of his teach
ings, but 1t is notorious that since Calvin's
time the grand. aggressive move m 'nts OF
the "church militant" have been led by
men stepped in Calvinlsm. His system
moulded the rugged New England char
acter, producing some choice Christian
virtues, and, In extreme cases, bitterness
and bigotry. We now see that this char
acter needed the liber alization of modern
times to give it sweetness and light"
If Calvin emphasized unduly the sterner
features of the Gospel, his distortions
have been duly connected In the protestant
churches of our day by the emphasis given
to Divine love and grace.
We visit the cathedral, on an eminence
In the old part OF the town, where Calvin
went to illuminate against the "hoary
church." whose corruptions of doctrine
and practice he felt called Of God to de-
nounce, his denunciations echoing round
~ No md oil no OH
of the beautiful lake, around the lower
end of which, in crescent form, the city is
built; up and down its shop-lined streets
and bazaars, erjoying the pr"fuse display
of Its artist-artizans' skilled handiwork-
curios, "Suneniss de place." carvings Of
every description, gold and silver orna-
ments and watches of rare beauty and ex-
cellence-enough. one would think, to
stock the bazaars of the world.
Four days we loiter here, the last two
prisoners Of storm-a furious downpour
The storm passes and "ur wheels invite
us, though dark clouds skud across the
sky and the winds are out for an October
frolic We venture to mount.
Now Paris Is our destination, and we
are to find our way into France by the
Fancille Pass, through the Jura noun
tains. Happily we are not pioneers on
this route. Napoleon has blazed path
for us-a good, broad macadamized road
Of easy grades. Out of Geneva, past it's
tempting shop windows, before which we
remember with regret that wheel boxes
are not ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS for us
to carry away "gim cracks" "articiss of
virtue"-we ride toward the pass for 10
miles through beautiful scene, we'll
kept vineyards lean orchards and mead
ows AT Grand Saccenex we pick up at
Swiss customs station the ten francs
and fifty centimes, deposited at Basel by
one OF our rarty. for the privilege Of
bringing an American wheel into Swirzsr
land. Gex is the last town # Importance
on the East side of the Fancille Pass.
Here We dismount and measure "by foot
rule" the winding course to the summit,
eight miles. 1t Is the easiest possible
route by which to reach the heights. AT
every step the view behind US broadens
and grows more beautiful. Lake Geneva
ia the center Of the panorama. A fog
lies along the eastern hills and mountains.
Only the lower stretches at first are visi.
BILE. AS we draw near the summit Mt
Blanc, and then In succession a dozen
other snow-capped peaks lift their heads
above the sea Of fog, like islands In ar
arctic ocean. Then at the very summit
of the pass the whole white -robed range
Mt. Blanc towering above all, stretches
along the eastern horizon In ghostly
grand perspective against the sky, a Wis
ion we'll worth the climb to see.
Two great national thoroughfares oper
before us as we begin the descent, one tx
the southwest, the other to the north
west, ending in Paris, $50 miles distant
Following the latter few rods, we find {
sunny corner under a beetling cliff fo
lunch. 1t Is p. M, and the climb hal
made us hungry. Bread and cheese from
our pack are our sole dependence. Lik'
Captain Da'getty and other soldiers o
fortune, we have learned to prepare TO
emerg ncies. A better lunch epicur'
never dreamed Of; for hunger, sweet con
fiction of health, mountain climb and air
Is toothsome sauce to our simple fare
On these heights the world lies befor
and beneath us. We are grand monarque
du chemin, In American parlance some
times contemptuously called "tramps.
With light hearts and packs, sount
wheels. bread and cheese In pocket, ant
this rarely beautiful prospect under on
eyes, what have we to fear from man o
chance? Pride goeth before fall. Is
proverb as old as human experience-o
vanity. Ready for the descent, we dis
cover, to our dismay, that one wheel 1
ION its RIM" It Is the ''mule," of course
backslidden. But expt rience has by thi
time taught us not to be surprised at an
Of his antiques" or to fear what he ma
do. In ten minutes we have him cor
raled, lassoed and--patched. Mounting
In haste, we skim on, as the birds fly
down easy grades, over smooth roads
mile on mile, quiet. peaceful valley a
our left, far. far below US the woode
hills across sweepir & up to the western
horizon in blaze of autumnal glory, fore
tOk ening branches bare and winters com
ing rigor. No tillable acres on the hig
altitudes-only. ragged, broken pastur
lani and picturesque beauty. On we g
past shepherd huts and shelters, an
dairy farms at leI 9Th; past the Swiss Gus
toms station In the mountain village Q
La Vattay to Les Rousses. When at ful
speed we are hailed by French custom
officer In full uniform. AS his office ad
joins soldiers barracks swarming wit
johnny Graz aus. we prudentlY obey hi