The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1902-05-13

nlaid glass mosaic pieces and were
,aken through show rooms where we
saw carved and embroidered glass until
we were dazzled, among the collection
being punch set made for the Sultan
Of Turkey, its value being $1,000. Some
of our people were so dazzled they
left $500 and $500 in glass and carved
wood orders.
One of the points of antiquity is the
Rialto, which was the first bridge ,
across the Grand canal, and whose |
sides are filled with shops. Even on |,
the Rialto he rallied against me and my |
we'll won thrift which he calls usury,"
so says Shylock of Antonio, according
to Shakespeare. We saw the reputed
homes of Shy lock and Desdemona.
If our lawyer friend who volunteered
at Celtic entertainments and who sue
ceeded in giving us Shakespeare from
eend to eend, could have met us on the
the Rialto, he certainly could have
held his audience. He was good as
an elocutiOnist but was little daffy on
oudhCSpcdEO. buO bloh VIM ob-
tempts to be Shylock, Antonio, Bas-
sanio and Portia all in one evening.
either Overrates his ability or has no
sympathy for his audience, and there
is such thing as ''rlding a willing
horse to death"
Wages are very low in Venice, the
expert lace girls making one Lira go
cents) per day, while the expert man in
mosaics, which requires very skilled
labor, gets as high as S. per week.
This trade is handed down from father
to son, and is confined to the family. A
man in charge of the show room told me
he had skilled men who did not know
their value; not being able to talk any
thing but Italian, they are content with
what is large wages in Italy.
We saw many soldiers all over Italy
and it's little wonder that she keeps
large standing army, for she pays her
soldiers only twenty centesimi per day,
four cents in our money.
After four days visit, we leave Ven.
ice with its 245 canals and 81 bridges,
and our next stop is at Milan famed for
its magnificent Cathedral. It's beau
tiful city of over half million and is
the nearest approach to an American
city we have yet seen.
From Milan our route is via the world
famous St. Gothard Tunnel Line, the
most fascinating railroad we have ever
taken, SURPRISING the HudsOn River.
the Horse Shoe Bend on the Pennsyl
vania or the Chesapeake and Ohio
scenery. Being far more picturesque
than the awful grandeur of the Denver
& Rio Grande or the rugged Mt. Shasta
route. The railroad service on this line Is
far better than we have been accustom-
ed to, and is equal to any in our cOun-
try. The engines are small compared
to our Big Four engines, but they carry
us along very rapidly.
BY q curious coincidence when we
take the train at Milan, we find twelve
Celtics, all bound for Lucerne, all in
same car, and all save one are from
Ohio. Through numerous tunnels,
past the lake and city of Como. which
nestles at the foot of the mountains
with their snowy tops, skirting
around the lake of Lugano, through
tunnels, more lakes, green fields and
mountains, we finally come to the lar
gest tunnel in the world, ST. Gothards,
about ten miles along. Below us in
passing through is the little village of
Andermatt, while directly over US some
5000 feet, is the little lake of Sella.
And still there are tunnels, spiral tun-
nels that circle around in the rock,
making complete circle and coming
out above the track we have just left.
| Now we pass the place traditions and
our old Readers at school made histori-
cal at the meeting of William Tell and
Gessler, where Tell shot the apple
from off his sons head but reserved an
arrow for Gessler. Little did we think
when We used to ponder over this at
school and admire the Swiss love oi
liberty, that we would ever pass
through this portion of the country
And when we looked up the narrow de-
files in the mountains and saw the
tramped pathway in the snowwhere the
hardy Swiss mountaineers climbed tt
reach their homes, so steep that only
those born to the mountains could climt
them, we can understand how they
could climb into their mountain retreat!
and defy armies.
Lucerne is beautifully situated OF
both banks of the Reuss, surrounded
by high mountains and OvertOppine
them on one side, stands the white
peak of Mt. Riga, and on the other side
of the city is Nit. Pilatus.
Il On leaving Lucerne for Paris, We
change cars at Basle and have to under
go German custom examination again
but it's a mere matter of form, but a.
Petit Croix, an hours ride. we strike
the French frontier, and here they
seem to be going through the baggage
for sure. Those ahead of us seem u
have to dump out everything they
/ have, for the French would not suffer
an article from Germany, subject tt
duty, to pass unscathed. But they sizl
us up as Americans and when they say
something to US, we vigorously shake
o1r'h heads, and our baggage is chalked
up without examination.