Omaha daily bee., 1902-11-23

N1A - LII ~ III
they are divided into good payers and
poor payers, as are traders the world over.
There is no use of trying to do business in
Europe except on credit. The merchants
can get this from the other exporters and
the Americans will have to give it. The
ordinary credit is from three to six
months"
l find a great deal of American grain
used in Switzerland. Wheat sTows well on
the plateaus, but only half enough is pro-
duced, so that there is a good market for
American wheat and American flour. AS it
is now, we sell as much as s., 200, 600 worth
Of cereals a year, and it would seem to
me that an increase might be made in
the sale of oatmeal, hominy, and other
breakfast foods. There should be an open
ing here for American corn, as the Swiss
have to buy cattle feed, and in the same
connection cotton seed cake might be sold.
The chief light outside the cities is from
American coal oil, and among the meats
sold I see Chicago hams, bacons and canned
stuffs.
The sale Of carpenters tools is large. Our
hardware holds it own in all parts of Eu-
rope and our machine tools are acknowl-
edged to be the best American saws are
frequently seen, and there should be a de-
mand here for the old-fashioned wood saw.
In many of the cities the chief fuel is
wood. 1t is brought in from the mountains
and sawed and split in the streets. The
ak used has a short handle and a blade
about three inches wide. 1t is a sort Of
cross between an AK and a Ratchet. For
cutting down trees some American axes
are sold. l saw a lot from Findlay, o., in
one of the stores of Berne. After the wood
&c G uyNd and gn1ff II 10 narripH IN intn
the houses on the backs of men in great
baskets made of slaves.
There might De an opening for American
electrical machinery here, for the Swiss
are rapidly turning their streams to &C
count. There are little power plants every
where, and many factories are run by cleo
tricity generated by water. Here at &C.
neva the water works run the street cars
and furnish the electric lights. They also
supply power to workshops large and small
throughout the city and its suburbs. The
power plant is on an island in the Rhone,
right in the center of the city and only
100 feet from where the Rhone runs out
of Lake Geneva. There is quite a fall at
that place, and the turbulent stream moves
twenty great engines by means OF turbines.
The machinery was made at Zurich, from
where comes a large part of the electric
supplies OF tnlS country. Many OF tho
cities have electric trans, and most OF
them are lighted by electricity. The tram
cars are ~trolleys. The electric lights hero
at Geneva are of the Brush variety.
The most OF western Switzerland is
French, and Geneva might be called its
capital. The city is one of the most beau
tiful of its size in Europe. 1t has mag
nihcent store buildings and many fine
homes. 1t lies in a nest in the hills on the
shores of Lake Geneva at the point where
the Rhone flows out on its way toward the
Mediterranean sea. The Rhone divides the
city forming several islands, over which
bridges go from one side Of the town to the
other. On the islands are bath houses,
restaurants, cafes and the water works.
One Of the bridges is on the site of a bridge
which Julius Caesar destroyed when he had
his first battle with the Helvetii. Geneva
is a city of schools, and it has students
from all parts Of Europe.
I like Lake Geneva. 1t is a beautiful ex-
panse Of CLASSY green, with Mt. Blanc
and others Of the snow-capped Alps look
ing down upon it. 1t is only from a mile
and a half to eight miles in width, but it
is as long as from Baltimore to Washing
ton, and in most places very deep, reach
ing a depth of /, 900 feet in some parts. The
lake is in the form of a goose neck squash,
with Geneva at the end Of the neck. 1t is
various kinds, which ply from town to
town and village to village along its banks,
In travelling from Geneva tn Berne l