Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-06-06
TN THE V ATICAN
DR.. w. B. LAFoRcE TELLS OF
SOME OF THE ART TREAS.
UREs IN ROME.

Impressive Easter Services At st. Pc.
ter's Visits the catacombs Tho
illumination of the Coliseum-At-
tended Concert There.
Some Of the art treasures to be seen
in the Vatican, impressive Easter SER
vices at the Church of ST. Peter in
Rome, the coliseum and interesting
features of trip from Rome to Botzen,
Austria, are described by DR.. w. B. La
Force, who with his wife, is touring
Europe, in a letter to relatives in this
city. The letter is as follows:
| ThesLetter.
We left Rome Monday, stopping one
day each at Pisa and Genoa and
two days each at Milan and
Verona. From the latter place
we desired to take fast train for
Innsbruck, but it was full and they
would not sell us tickets for it, so we
had to take slow local train. Being
quite tired after seven hours ride
thereon we stopped at this place,
Botzen, a charming spot in the valley
of the Tyrolese Alps The scenery is
much like that of the Swiss Alps, ex-
cept that none Of the mountains are
as high as some of the highest in
Switzerland. The neatness and clean
illness everywhere, the purity Of the
atmosphere, freedom from bad smells,
scarcity of beggars and the compare
lively few attempts to cheat form a
pleasing contrast from our experiences
i in Italy.
You probably visited the "Tyrolean
Alps" the exhibition of that name on
"The Pike" at the worlds fair at St.
Louis. If you did you obtained some
idea of the beauty of the scenery.
Many of the mountains, around us are
capped with snow, and are SO during
all the year. We expect to leave in the
morning for Innsbruck.
Bremen Pass.
Monday morning and we are on a
"schnellzug' Cast train) going to Inns
bruck, up the valley of and along the
J side of the river Eisak. The valley
with its rapid river and the steep
mountains on either side remind one
much of the Royal Gorge in Colorado
} but in some respects is more interest
ing in that there are many neat little
cottages and villages, the latter al
J ways with one or more tall church
| spires, all along the valley Occasion
) ally one sees an imposing castle like
villa, the summer home of some rich
man, perched upon the top of some
: cliff or on a green, but rather steer
: hillside. The valley is termed the
Bremen Pass, and was used by the
Romans.
There is magnificent drivewa,
3 along the river, which has been thu
2 main route for.travel for many centu
: ries from north Italy into central Ger
2 many and therefore there are to b.
! seen the ruins of many old castles o
I the feudal times, however, not 81
:, many nor SO important nor so pic
turesque as we saw in the vale.
! down the Rhine. From Verona il
S northern Italy, where we were las
Friday and Saturday and where w
$ saw the tomb of Juliet, and the hous
q with its balcony where Romeo an,
S Juliet had their famous meeting, al
q along the valley up to Botzen, wher
q we stopped over Sunday, and for abou
9 twenty-five miles beyond there ar
|. many vineyards and, like in the vale
I of the Rhine, oftentimes on such stee
e hills and mountains sides that the
a had to be built up by strong terrace
!, to keep what little soil there wa
u from being washed away. AS we pre-
9 coed up the valley, the elevation get
;, too nigh and therefore too cold for tn
u vine and SO we see only rocky bluff
|, more or less covered by pines, wit
little patches of meadow and mour
v tains capped with snow. After tn
8 dust and dirt and foul odors of tn
y dirty Italian streets, it Is very pleasan
!. to get up among the mountains. TIL
:, scenery is much like that of the Swis
II Alps, but so far we miss the clea
= sounding tinkle of the Swiss mou1
p tain bells which were often on tn
D cows, sheep, etc. At home a COW be
= is anything but pleasant, but in Swift
:. erland they are indeed delightful t
g hear. 1t seemed that each mountainee
- We'd with his neighbor to have tn
- finest chimes of bells for his flock
y and herds. Some of the bells wer
= quite large, foot in diameter at tn
u base and often of peculiar shapes.
y Easter Services.
- To return to the description of on
- stay at Rome, probably the culmin,
tlOh VI IllC lnlSISSl WdS III leSdIu I
:; the Easter time with the various Sc
=, vices of Easter Sunday and of tn
9 week preceding. In visiting st. P
- ter's think l mentioned the variou
- sacred relics kept there and in som
81 Of the other important churches. Gel
"a orally they are not to be seen by til
~ public, but are shown only on speci
"a occasions. On "Maundy Thursday
N we were at ST. Peters and the relic
"a were exhibited from high balcony
i the immense crowd below, various
"a estimated to number 10000 to 40,0(
.. the faithful all kneeling in devout re
i. erence, while the priest immediate
30 after the sound of bell held aloft Il
sacred objects, which, as wrote b
m fore, are claimed to be fragments
Is the cross on which the Saviour WI
Or crucified. the spear with which Lon
mus, the Roman soldier, pierced H
side, and the handkerchief whit