Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1907-09-05
A BIRDS EYE VIEW
OF SWITZERLAND


wrote so Interestingly several weeks
ago of his impressions of Edinburgh
and Scotland in general, has sent an
other letter to friend in Danville.
DR.. Diseroad. after leaving Scotland,
journeyed to Switzerland, by way of
Paris and spent some time exploring
the wonders of the highest peak of the
Alps. His letter which is given be-
low shows him to be a close student
of nature and capable of an interesting
portrayal of the incidents of his jour
neys.
The letter follows:
II arrived in Geneva yesterday and
today I am taking a climb up Mt
Saleve, the highest peak in the vicin-
ity of Geneva. Seated on a huge boul-
der thousands of feet above the sea, I
am writing this letter.
From here I can see Mount Blanc,
ninety miles away, the highest noun
tain in Europe. In the other direc-
tion l can see across Lake Geneva and
100 miles down the valley. To my left
is the beautiful city of Geneva. Down
the valley toward Geneva the air is
clear save a few white clouds obscur-
ing part of a distant mountain. On
my right, looking toward Mount Blanc,
am impressed with the black clouds
moving up the valley, and some dist
ance below me and for the first time
am looking down on thunder show
er.
''It is strange experience to see
the lightning flashing below you and
the roaring thunder in the valley.
"Above the storm an eagle is sor-
ing gracefully around in the majestic
glory of its power 1t appeared quite
near as l focused my glasses on it,. l
waved little American flag at it and
as it did not take fright I judged it
surely must be an American eagle.
DR.. Diseroad also writes another let
ter, this one being written during his
ascent of Mount Blanc, several days
after the incidents of the above:
"This letter am writing from one
of the highest peaks of Mount Blanc /;
12, 600 feet above the level of the sea.
Yesterday l made the ascent and reach
ed Mede Groce, one of the finest glaci-
ers in the world. 1t is a wonderful
river of ice about 2000 feet wide and
miles in length. The ice varies in
thickness from 100 to 500 feet and is
moving down the mountain at the rate
Of u to 20 inches day. 1t carries
with it huge boulders of rock and
granite weighing thousands of tons.
"The glacier is white in places but
as rule it is of beautiful grayish
hue. There are great wide fissures at
several places and one is unable to see
bottom on looking down.
1--WE crossed the glacier with the aid
of ice shoes and picks, and spent the
afternoon until sunset high up on the
foe ana from there watched the sun
sinking over the distant mountains
1HC shs SUM GllduBcu W Ibilcdte
pink and reflected its color OH the
snow covering Mount Blanc changing
the whole TO pinklsh tint and giving
the effect of the entire top of the
mountain being ablaze. Likewise the
glacier took on various hues as the
sky changed with the sinking sun
Am very high in the mountain
this afternoon and all around me is
snow and ice of unknown depth. But
directly in front l can look down into
the fertile Chamonix valley and see
the meu working in the harvest field
The contrast makes the scene very in
teresting
Am enjoying this stay in Switzer-
land with two recent graduates of Ok
ford, whom l met in England and
joined at Paris. This morning Oh our
way up the mountain we met two
young men from Yale university We
had an interesting chat, and after Civ.
ing our respective college yells, we
parted. ~