Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1905-06-21
INTERESTING OLD LAN0EAIs. :
Fascinating Combination of Castel-

Fascinating Combination of Castel~
lated State and Amenities of Life.
For the best example Of the ancient
stronghold serving the purpose of the
modern dwelling we must leave the
Indre and go to Langeais, on the far
side of the Loire. This magnificent
edifice has everything it should have
for the purposes Of the tourist. 1t Is
rich in remains Of the great period;
it has a tower of old Fulk NerFa an
tedating the Conquest; it is modern
Inhabited house,! You range from
the mere shell Of the Norman ruin to
rooms still interesting enough as dat
ing from the early Renaissance, yet
but lately decked with the lightest
knick-knacks from the boudevards.
The simple reason is that the place
Is, or was but the other day, in eff
fective occupation-one of the few
lived in simply and solely for the sake
Of living pleasantly. The contrast be-
tween the massive furniture, all "of
the epoch" Of the earlier time, wheth-
err Of ancient or modern make, and
the latest superfuities of Partisan lux
ury was, as it used to be seen, most
striking. You found an album Of the
Figaro" or a silver ball for warm
ing the interior Of a lady's muff, ly-
ing Oh an oallen cabinet Of mid-ff-
teenth-century make. They had evil
IDENTIFY been left where they were last
tossed aside, and with no thought of
catching the eye Of the visitor. The
parapet Of the house. where the FAM
lily might have taken breezy walk
in fine weather, has done good serv-
ice in it's day as deatk-trap for I'M
welcome visitors engaged in hammer
ing down the door below. It's pro-
jecting floor is removable in sections,
to show where the garrison dropped
stones and the brown ruin of boiling
oil, or the black of pitch, on the heads
Of intruders.
The building is we'll contrived for
those who like to combine castellated
state with the amenities of modern
life. Nothing can be finer than the
massive towers, the great gateway,
and the drawbridge, as you come upon
them by the main approach. It's hab-
liable advantages are best exemplified
in the view from the courtyard. 1t
would be preferable, think, in its
summer uses. The semi-darkness of
some Of the rooms would be more
welcome then, and the flooring, some
times tiled in tender green's and vel
lows, more grateful to the feet. For
do what you will with these old cas-
ties, you cannot bring them altogether
up to the standard Of modern require
ments. The walls are too thick; the
windows, though fairly capacious,
waste too much Of the light on it's
passage through the gorge Of solid
masonry. The great fireplaces warm
the birds above quite as much as the
inmates below; and they need a lib
eral supplement Of hot-air piping to
accommodate them to the wants Of a
generation that shivers at gust. 1t
Is ali matter Of habit, no doubt, but
the habit is there. Then the ceilings
are low-more or less incurably so,
for the beams that support them are
hardly to be shifted now without
bringing down the structure. One at
tempt, however, has been made, and
with success to knock two stories
into one by taking liberties with the
chambers Immediately under the roof.
They have been united by suppression
Of floor, and they make a hall of
imposing dimensions in height as in
breadth.-Richard Whiteings 1.-THE
Chateaux Of Touraine" in the Cen
fury.