Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1901-04-30
LUCERNE TO MILAN.

(EXtract from Hon. ID. +. Balley's LettersJ
Spent three days at Montreux, which
is situated at the head of Lake Leman.
We visited the Castle of Chillon, immor-
talized by Byron, and saw the dungeon
where Downward was chained to pillar
four years, with no floor but the ground.
The guide showed us the rock on which
condemned prisoners passed their last
night on earth, the remains of the gibbet
on which they were hanged, and the
opening in the wall through which they
were thrust into the lake, three hundred
feet deep at this point. We also ascend
ed by the funicular railway at an angle
of about forty-tive degrees to Glion, and
thence by ratchet and cog railroad to
Caux, three thousand, seven hundred
and fifty feet above sea level. We visit
ed the famous old Cathedral at Lau-
same. 1t is about six hundred years
old, and has beautiful chime of bells,
and telephone, high up in the tower,
thus strangely blending the old and new.
From Lausanne, we had superb views
of the mountains of the Bernese Ober-
land, including the Yungfrau. The val
leys, now free from snow, with their vii
lagos of picturesque cottages, were very
pleasing, contrasting with the snow-clad
mountains. The forests are almost
wholly of evergreen. Among the Alps,
we again see wooden houses. Since our
arrival at Lucerne, have been enjoying
some of the most delightful scenery
have ever seen. The lake is surrounded
ON all sides by gigantic mountains, COW
cred with snow and glowing in the sun
shine. This place has thirty thousand
inhabitants, of whom only about five
thous I'd are Protestant.
After leaving Lucerne, we passed
through the mountains to Milan by the
st. Gotthard tunnel, one of the greatest
feats of engineering in modern times.
There are about eighty tunnels in all,
the longest and principal tunnel being
three thousand, seven hundred and fifty
feet above sea level at its highest point.
The railroad, in places, forms spiral
curve, to reach a higher, or descend to
lower, level. In one place, three stories
of the track can be seen, one above an
other. We emerge from the main tun-
mel at Airolo in Italian Switzerland.
Here begin the mulberry orchards, which
extend to Milan, and which cover the
fertile plains of Lombardy to Venice.
We saw men and women working in
the fields, sometimes carrying out the
dressing in large basket, or spreading
it on the ground with a fork. These
people have to work hard to wiring out a
scanty subsistence from small plot of
ground. We Americans do not half ap-
preciate our magnificent opportunities,
when people in very moderate circum-
stances, what we call poor, enjoy what
would be considered luxuries.
We arrived at Milan Saturday evening
in a rain-storm, though it was pleasant
on the other side of the Alps when We
started. There was drenching rain on
Sunday, but, in spite of it, we visited the
great cathedral and climbed to the fifth
floor in the tower, two hundred and
twenty-four feet above the pavement,
and by four hundred and ninety-four
steps. Monday, we hired carriage and
guide, and visited the colonnade, con-
sisting of sixteen Corinthian columns,
one built in the time of the Romans, and
still standing in the middle of the street;
also the church of ST. Sorenzo, formerly
a pagan temple, still showing some parts
of the original building, triumphal
arch built by Napoleon, and parts of the
old wall, about sixty or seventy feet
thick and twenty-five feet high, on the
top of which there is now boulevard
around the city.