Mexico weekly ledger., 1902-07-10
THE COLORADO OF EUROPE.



land. Whether this is due to the
mountains with their breezes and
snow caps or to the republican ten
denotes Of the people may not be said.
Certainly, howeyer,in Switzerland the
traveller from the States finds himself
much at home. Switzerland is not
Switzerland. II is the Helyetian Re
public. This Is the Official, corporate
name, so to speak. 1t appears on
coins, documents, buildings, flags.
Like all Ganl, Switzerland is divided
into three parts German Switzer.
land, French Switzerland and Italian
Switzerland make up this tiny repub-
lie. Altogether the trinity contains
about as many people as Missouri and
covers one-sixth as much territory,
mostly standing on end.
The republic is the playground OF
Europe. In 1.-THE season. which il
from early June until late September,
the country is filed with pleasure
seekers from nations far and near. A
good hotel may be found on every
street corner, in every valley and
perched on every mountain peak.
Switzerland indeed is chiefly hotel and
snow. 1t has more telegraph wires
than any other country, its hotels are
clean, neat and comfortable, it has
model schools since Pestalozzi's day
and its railways are organized upon q
system that other countries might
well initiate.
SECOND FIDDLE TO COLORADO.
Did we say that Switzerland was
the Colorado Of Europe? That is pay
ing the Helvetian republic an undo
served compliment. The Rocky Noun
tains aregrander, more massive, more
impressive than the Alps. There are
more charming lakes In the Centennia'
state than far-famed Lucerne or thar
Leman with its limpid depths. The
scenery along the Rio Grande Rail
way, the Colorado Midland or through
any one Of a dozen eanons In Colorado
SURPRISES anything in Switzerland
And there is much more Of it. o
course romance and history and thu
favor Of antiquity attaches TO Swift
zerland while Colorado has, so b
speak, just been brought into tn
tourist market. Switzerland is tn
place where william Tell did mot
Hive and the country where Arnold
Won Winkelreid did mot make wa.
for liberty as the speech books have il
People come 10 Geneva and Lucern
and Zurich and Interlaken for thes
reasons. Colorado has no counter al
: fractions. Ii must rely on scener
/. and climate but in these two particu
. lars 1t outdoes its more yenerabl
I rival.
n The New Yorker who comes acros
the water 10 Switzerland to see Mon
Blanc and st. Gothard Pass, rattle
than 90 to Denver and beyond, merel
. gives testimony 10 his proyincialisr
9 and to his ignorance Of his own couE
G try. The west scarcely knows its ow
e present beauties and future pOSSibil
ties. AS for the east-it knows III
e west not at all.
y LUcEREE, ITs LION AND ITS LAKl
Lucerne lies in an amphitheatric;
q situation, on the beautiful lake
y Lucerne with snow-crowned Alps {
G every side. The city itself, the ceI
e ter OF tourist travel in ~Switzerian
+ has scarcely 10000 people except wh'
Of tourist comes. 1t is fun Of hotels, n
Of t~aurants, railway and steamboat ST
tions and those appetizing shops up
s which all the art Of the shrewd me
IS chant is bestowed In order to captu
5 the money Of the visitor. Across Il
river Reuss which empties into ltl
lake at Lueerne are nine bridges, Son
e ancient and all attractive. Why ca
S not Americans build bridges viii
a win be beautiful as well as useful?
e stead our feIlOw-eountrymen swing
E ugly iron structure across a Strea
and point to it as a triumph Of enI
neering. 1t is a triumph Of engines
= ing no doubt but 1t is also a spasm
It hldeousneSs.
II Bridges are built in Europe 1
Al beauty-as well as utility; moreovG
they are built to endure. There a
ie iron bridges over many MissOV
10 streams which are alread unsa
though not a dozen years old, VIII.
~ here 10 Luceme are wooden bridl
le constantly in use which we're CT
ID structed more than 800 years ago. I
ir roof Of one Of these bridges is paint
Of with scenes from the lives Of the p
Ne ~rOn-saints OF Lucerne. These pail
he ings date from the 18th century. Q
Id any one imagine q painting on {
ic Perche covered bridge, the only Gov
4 ed bridge yet standing in Boone COZ
aty2 II any advertisement OF Barth
T. Fredendall lasts three months TIN
A. it is lucky. IL must be the diierer
n. In the climate.
,rs The Lion OF Lucerne is worth gOi
ed many miles 10 see. IL is bewn from
ae sandstone blud, a tinelg-fOrmed be
re- Of great size, translxed with a Ian
tfand dying while its outstretched p
Dis guards the Bourbon lily. titus d
or honor 10 the memory Of the Sw
guard that suffered death In Defend
s. the Palace Of the Tuileries in FraE
n In 1892 against the Commune
n forms a most impressive monument
AL After the Lion In ~attraetiyen
odcomes the lake Of Lueerne. II is
ed allytwo lakes In one, the Brst shaT
1T like a cross and the second a long a
nd narrow sheet Of water closely bemn
in by mountains. We saw the lake
steamboat from Lucerne 10 Fluell
a at its extreme end. There is an
a descrlbable glory about the scene. 7
lis lake is green in color as all Swiss lal
save the blue Geneva. Its shores
ye dotted with Swiss chalets Of the y
aso familiar 10 all who read or ira
be while here and there are villages a
around all like a giant frame Of VIII
In the mountains rise in grandeur.
y BERN AND IT'S BEARS.
The capital Of Switzerland Is BE
!, a medieval city Of $1,000 people. I
old town, with its narrow streets a
i its shops under curious arcades,