The Princeton union., 1900-08-09
EUROPEAN :, .|; SIGHTS.
A Letter from the Old World =.



across the far-famed Simplon Pass to
Brieg in Switzerland.
One hours drive in the cool morn
ing air, out into the country where
peasants were already hard at work
in the meadows, the saw-mills and the
granite and marble quarries through
which we passed, brought US to Gravel
lano where we took the train to Donna
dOssola at which point we were to
take the carriages for the Pass.
While we were waiting at Gravellano,
local musician furnished entertain
ment with his accordion. which he
played very skillfully, comb strapped
across his mouth and the counter for
drum, making use of his foot as
drum-stick. This last performance
brought the house down and the pen
MES dropped freely into the modest
little cup which he presented at its
close
At the beginning of the long drive it
was very warm but we felt ourselves
SO favored in having clear dav that
the discomfort caused by high tenn
perature counted for naught and ere
we reached the summit at Simplon,
more than 5000 feet above the sea, we
were glad to draw our wraps closely
about us.
At Condo, curious old mountain
village, the drivers stopped to rest
their horses and to take on extra ones
for the harder climb before us. so we
all dismounted and did" the town.
Behind the quaint little church which
looked as if it had stood for ages. one
of the party discovered ''God' Acre.
in which were six or eight little graves
most pathetically decorated with tiny
paper dolls. flowers, ETC., and an open
ing beneath the church disclosed a
ghastly little scpulchre where bones.
skulls. ETC., were piled to the height of
two or three feet. All bodies as soon
as the flesh has fallen from the skele-
ton, are deposited here and candle
burns constantly upon a rude little
stone altar in the CENTER one of the
many strange customs to be found
among these mountain people. We
saw many Alpine climb bers with their
plumed hats and alpine stocks, lunch
ing upon hard bread and beer before
starting out for the perilous heights.
The scenery, lovely at first with soft
green valleys, wooded mountains and
lace-like waterfalls, became more and
more grand as the journey proceeded.
This road, built by Napoleon, occupied
six years in construction and is a mar
velous piece of engineering of the
famous mountain passes of the world.
The exceptional clearness of the at
mosphere made every peak distinct
and yet there we're enough of clouds to
produce a most wonderful sunset. We
passed the Fletschom (also called Ross
bodenl glacier and that of Mt Leoni
where waterfalls we could trace dash
ing madly from their SUBMITS down
into the valleys far below and after we
had passed the hospice which marks
the highest point, we passed under one
of these magnificent falls and could
look through the openings in the stone
arch built over the road and see the
mass of waters hiding us from the
world below. The drivers whip
through these places at a break-neck
speed and their wierd call, the clatter-
ing of the horses hoofs upon the rocks
and the roaring of the waters above
and around produce an effect that is at
least ''scarey.':
Just before we passed this point we
saw Brieg lying, seemingly, a good
Jumping" distance in the valley
below, yet it was some hours be-
fore we reached it over the winding
mountain road. From this point, too,
the beauties of the sunset began and
after we had exhausted our entire
vocabulary of adjectives we could only
sit in silent contemplation of that
majestic scene. The shadows deepen
ing, darkening in the valleys, the
lighter tints and shades of the noun
tain sides crowned by the rugged
peaks, many of them snow-capped, the
sunset glow gliding the cloud-folds,
changing the rocky SUBMITS to opals
and resting like a halo upon the
pointed crest of the Weisshom, the
rosy after-glow softening into the
gray of night, t,-words fail at such a
time, amid such scenes.
We passed small avalanche of stones
which had been washed down by a rain
OF the day before and dashed, into
Brieg, Hotel du Poste. our first stop
ping place in Switzerland, at $50 P. M.