Amador ledger., 1900-09-07
LETTER FROM ". J. M'GEE
Attorney J. W. Caldwell the
Recipient.
PHOTOGRAPHED EX.CONSUL SpAGNOLrS HOUSE
Body Of the Late Nathan S. Fisher
Shipped to Relatives In
the East.

Through the courtesy of Attorney
}. w. Caldwell, our readers are favor
ed with the following interesting and
instructive letter:
GENOA, ITALY, Aug. 16, 1900.
]. W. CALDWELL, Esq,
JACKSON, CAL.
Dear Walter: We were in
Paris thirty seven days and left that
gay city on the Goth of July for Gene
va, Switzerland. Our route took us
through the great vineyard districts of
France for nearly four hundred miles
and we did not arrive at the beautiful
Swiss city, which is just beyond the
border of France, until late at night.
Geneva has a population of 6s, 500
and is at the south end of the lake
from which the Rhone, clear as crystal,
emerges dividing the city into two
parts which are connected by eight
bridges. Geneva is particularly noted
for the Swiss watches that are made
there, said to be the best in the world.
After spending few days there we
went by steamer to the northerly end
of the lake, thirty-fve miles distant,
and visited the castle of Chillon of his
toric and Byronic renown.
From Lake Geneva we travelled
northward through Lausanne and
Freiburg to Berne the capital of Switz-
erland. The city is noted for its bears,
living and sculptured, and its great au-
tomato clock which is over five hun
dred years old. The clock is in huge
tower and its faces are almost as large
as the side of house. When it strikes,
roosters appear on the tower, flap
their wings and crow, bears perform
and bronze man at the top of the
tower strikes the hour with hammer
on big bell.
From Berne we sailed over Lake
Thun to Interlaken, which, as it's name
implies, is between the lakes of Brienz
and Thun, and no place in Switzerland
is more tourist haunted 1t is little
town but has twenty five hotels, some
OF them quite large, and the procession
of hotel buses at train or boat arrival
is very amusing.
While at Interlaken we made an ex-
cursion into the high Alps to Grindel-
wald and climbed glazier; its front
wall which we ascended faces the val
ley and is in some. places almost per-
pendicular; ropes were tied around our
waists and the guide preceded US with
the end of the rope. In one hand he
carried a small pick with which he dug
steps in the ice, and, by means of these
steps and the help he gave us with the
rope, we assembled nearly one thousand
feet in safety. The climb was made in
two hours, but we came down by q
path over the rocks, away from the
glazier, in fifteen minutes. The glazier
we assembled was rent with huge crew
asses, and in one place tunnel pene-
trated the ice two hundred feet.
At Giess bach, on Lake Brienz, there
is a beautiful waterfall, or, rather, q
succession of seven falls, and at night
these falls are Illuminated, the effect
being magnificent, even eclipsing any
thing saw at the Paris Exhibition in
the way of electric fountains.
The Lake of Lucerne is unsurpassed
for it's wild and picturesque scenery,
and is moreover memorable from its
association with the heroic legends of
William Tell. We went by boat from
Lucerne City to Vitznau, about ten
miles, then by steam cog railroad up
the Rigi 59O6 feet high or 4472 above
the lake. The ascent in many places
is very steep, covers about five miles,
and takes an hours time. 1t was quite
pleasant when we arrived at the sum-
NIT but during the night the ther-
mometer fell As degrees and we were
glad to take the first train down the
mountain at six O'Clock in the morning.
The view from the Rigi is superb; we
saw gorgeous sunset and sunrise with
snow capped peaks and mighty GLACIERS
on every side. The kuln or summit is
small bare space from which the eye
may sweep over the whole panorama,
300 miles in circuit, within which are
many lakes fringed with pretty vii
lagos.
After leaving the Rigi we went to
Zurich, which is q great silk manufac-
turing city, and the metropolis of
Switzerland, with 16O, 900 people. Like
all the Swiss cities it is beautifully
located on lake. From Zurich we
travelled southwark to Altorf, the
starting point of the old highway over
the st. Gothard and where Tell is said
to have shot the apple from his sons
head. The Pass of st. Gothard is the
Oldest route across the Alps and the
way by which many of the barbarian
hordes made their way into Italy in
the old Roman days; and here, in 1899,
French, Austrian and Russian armies
tiercely contested the rugged passage.
On the pass is the famous Devils bridge
or Deufelsbrucke described in Long,