The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1906-07-12

e., surely Switzerland is Il most
~ husinessIike. no one can con-
urIer and annex Switzerland;
but that is SwitZerlaEds AFFAIR. IL
doesAnot parade its Internal organlza-
+ion. though. from q close inspection OF
the Official notices on public buildings.
yone may gather that every Swiss from
youth to middle agei is required to prac-
tice shooting, and that it trouble arose,
these William Tells of a later day
would lie behind the shoulder of an i'm
mipent avalanche and pick the apple
from the invaders Eye.
But the ordinary visitor to Switzer-
land is only dimly conscious OF Delng
IN a w~eil-goyerned country. vaguely
he Knows that Geneva watches are ia
NOUS. that Swiss milk is on the worlds
market. that the native population
seems well fed, we'll dressed and re-
markably clean, as compared with the
English peasant, who washes
his hands. but when they gets ard,
] lies 'em." And in a moment of re-
fection he may realize that this is
not a nation composed exclusively or
hotel managers, walters. porters and
the rest of the people that smooth their
manners to make the tourists path
easy.
By some extraordinary combination
of circumstances a motley gathering OF
Italians. Germans and French, Prot
estants and Roman Catholics, Conser-
natives. Liberals. Socialists. Anarch-
lists, walters. peasants and statesmen,
have combined to form the most pa
etriotici community in the world.
In the last weeks I have had to re-
construct my ideas Of patriotism while
lettering about the shores of Lake
Leman and talking and mixing all the
languages of. which | have a smatter-
ing, not excepting an artful adaptation
of the ancient Greek of Oxford to the
modern Greek of Athens. No u
the late Mr.. Buckle would have called
Swiss patriotism geographical. Thucy-
dides gave the hint when he touched
the phrase that may be translated
community Of interests" Switzerland
has that community of interests" and
to the ordinary tourist who spins down
to Dover. lunches on beef and pickles
aS d bI1IOu SAOuiu. uISA IL bAA~
steamer, dimes in Paris. and break
fasts upon rolls, butter, coffee (such
eofeeA, and honey in Geneva the Won
der arises.
how is this managed? The question
went round the dinner table at Geneva.
What is the name of the king, premier,
president or ruler Of this happy coun-
try? No one knew. The thing is done
without fuss or tumult, without crowns
and robes and baubles. 1t vas only
when the Anglo-Indian shouted for a
waiter that the whisper was given
the name of the gentleman who hap
pened this year to be the head of the
=. Swiss Republic.
Very businesslike is the Swiss Re-
public. It has arranged its seasons
In winter you may skate, toboggan
and enjoy many winter sports, OF lie
in pure mountain air and get rid OF
tuberculosis affections. In summer
you may crowd Lucerne and hang in
= punches over Zermatt on the ends OF
ropes-guaranteed not to snap. But
Switzerland has another line under the
counter. It has a spring season-and il
smooths the way. Gently it invites
you to the shores of Lake Leman-Witl
premises OF flowers and the. protection
Of mountains that ward off the horriC
winds from north and east.
From the very first the way j!
Binoethed, for you may fill your peck
Cts with a tourist aGency's hotel cou
pens, and way them languid'y as vol
a 5o55o. ,or,r1 4ho JoI-o froro Tono1yo T.
Eyian and back again. l was rattle
neryou about these coupons. fearin;
that the hotelkeeper would complain
that I was not playing the game. Flo
mel stood on velvet. There was N.
food and lodging at so much per day
and the only eXerti0n demanded was t
tear a bit Of paper from a little book.
But the Swiss Republic is business
ike; the ~hOtelkeeper knows that h
can make his profit out of the luxurie
Of life when the necessities are Pre-
TidGd. I hear him m~urmuring. 9Th
little more, and how much it is" An
the traveller departs without murmul
1ng. since he knows that the neces
saries of life are in his breast-pocket.
Switzerland knows well enough tina
the spring visitors to the lake are nc
intent upon climbing, or, indeed, upo
any physical eSertion that can be ref
sonably avoided. There is just tn
hint Of peaks to be surmounted, an
from the middle of the Pont du NJ
= Blanc at Geneva the old gentleman O
crutches surveys the snowy summit h
has no hope of reaching. He is a tyr
Of the spring visitors to the Lake {
GeasyS (Which you may call alte
nately the Lake Leman.) We louns
on'deck chairs before the hotel at La
same and comment on the extren
blueness Of the lake, while one Or tW
remember that Tyndall grew almo
furious at it's blueness, and insiste
upon a crOss-examination. But we {
not worry ourselves as to why the laI
is blue. We place ourselves upon
comfortable steamer and contemrla