Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-30

of the South all the way. Another hour
and We reach Champery, high and alone on
its valley side
There are pleasant walks everywhere
past quaint wayside shrines. picturesque
old chalets, gorgeously painted; past cow
herds and pig-boys and -girls-from
whom to ask the way. The Dent du Midi
is mountain whose ascension can be done
In eight hours, the descent requiring five
more. In the latter part Of the summer the
path Is almost free from snow, and there
are no glaciers to cross. The view of Mont
Blanc and the Alps of the Valais and Bern
formed by the Alps of Dauphiny and Pied
mont; and the Lake of Geneva is visible
from Villeneuve to Vevey.
That is the sort of thing we do. We hire
mules and asses from the folks Of Chanipery
and make "ascents' to the tail-ends OF
glaciers, picnic in pine forests. fish for
trout in the pools of torrents and the rivu-
lets of pasturages or take long walks max
ing snapshot photographs. How heavy
ought lady be before renouncing to mar
tyrise a poor little thin-legged ass or pitt
full donkey no bigger than a St. Bernard
dog? Nine-tenths of them-I refer top
risiennes--fear to ride muleback because
the mule is so high So they squelch their
poor little ass. l have seen the legs of one
bending and trembling. Once, when the
lady was really plump, to put 1t mildly, the
unfortunate beast seemed Observation-Disclosures
legged and broader-backed than before she
had sat on him.
Why Women Wear Mems Pants
The inhabitants of Champery are all
farmers and MISUNDERSTANDING trees &C
cording to law, each tree being numbered In
a census. In the town they live very much
on tourists, because Champery is becoming
a winter resort, with winter sports much
advertised, like Davos. But the town fox
even. own their fields outside. here or there
in the valley, and the wearing of men 8
pants by women had its origin, they say,
in the farm work of summer and snow
wading in winter.
Can YOU imagine what the winter Is like
in one of the isolated chaiets of this valley
far from the town? We are now In Sep
TENDER, and snow has already fallen. The
mountains are covered with thick drifted
snow that began at their tops and crept
down, down, day after day. In october they
will be snowbound.
Then the inhabitants of the isolated cha
let must depend upon themselves TIL late
next spring. Families are large. Chalets
are commodious. Also snug. There is any
quantity OF dry wood under the house IN a
kind of open-air cellar the chalet being
reared on standards, as II it had legs. What
do you think is one of their great re-
sources?
Making bread.
In the absolutely snowbound period they
mix and knead and bake their pread lor
the whole year.
l have seen, handled and eaten this
bread You would imagine 1t dry after be-
ing kept, say, six months. 1t is dry. And
they take good pains to keep 1t dry, spread
out on shelves in a particularly dry room
which Is called the bread ROOM. But
when they desire to eat a loaf they take
1t down and let it rest in a moist room
for two or three days. And you might
not know ii from bread three days old when
1t has limbered up.
. Men Do Wood Carving.
You see. the fire that bakes the year s
supply of bread heats the house at the
same time. With the perfume of bread
baking in the air they sit all warm and
coy. The men do endless wood carving
with razor-edged knives. gouges and other
appropriate tools. 1t is they who carve
the jumping jack wooden bears. the cuckoo
clock cases. the toy chalets, the wooden
dolls. the wooden penholders. inkstands,
brackets and endless wooden jimcracks sold
in every Swiss bazaar from yileneuve to
Geneva. Also they carve wooden shoes
not for themselves. who must wear heavy
hobnailed leather brogans In the mountains
but for the folks of the plain as far away
as France.
Outside are nothing but snowdrifts Now
and again some husky son will take his