La Junta tribune., 1908-08-22
MuNcnEN. August 9. l9Os.

MuScHES. August y. 1915.
On the 2Sth Of July crossed over
the Alps through Simplon Pass. from
the land of Italy to the equally fam
ed country of Switzerland. There
were forty-two in our company. We
took train from Stresa on Lake
Waggiore To Domodossoia where We
approached the Swiss frontier and
had to pass through the custom
house. This ~as our second Gus
toms examina tion-the other at
Naples. The examination is in
formal. None Of us were required
To open our grips or suit cases. The
official simply came along and. be-
ing assured that any baggage be-
longed to our party, he made a
blue chalk mark and pasted a small
slip Of paper on the luggage simply
TO indicate We had passed the Gus
toms. From DomodossoIa we again
took train 10 lselle, near the Sim
plon tunnel, which is over eleven
miles long. Here we took carri-
ages and drove over the pass.
The passage Of the Alps is not to
be forgotten. 1t is rich lin its
beauty and its charming mountain
scenery. Here and there. as we
ascended towards the top. there
Swiss mountain cottages, construct
ed Of wood. but with tile or q coarse
slate roof, and little window and
postern, sometimes at the bottom OF
the valley we were ascending,
though it is so narrow and steep
that only at long distant intervals
was there room for even a small
Swiss cottage and meadow plat. and
sometimes upon the steep mountain
sides. and at times high up among
the pines, scarcely visible to the
eye. nestled in field of brightest
green, wee bit of field or mea-
dow. surrounded by the dark green
pines and in the midst of great
rocky and lofty cliffs, a picture that
cannot be described by pen. by the
eloquence Of the orator. the imag-
inatioE and figures Of the poet or
the brush of the painter. Still
higher up, at the top. and as We
near and descend from the crest of
the pass. one is filled wi h an in
spiration and ecstasy that he cannot
utter word He stands and looks
and wonders and .there rushes
through his soul sense of awe, of
beauty, of grandeur and of the sub
lime that overwhelms him. and he is
silent in the presence of the great
works of nature. He turns his head
in this direction and in another and
another. sweeping the great pano-
rama near and far, high into the
clouds and down into the deep val
leys. and over and over again does
one survey the vision of the Alps.
until he realizes it is not a dream.
To my right was the Breithorn.
clad in perpetual snow. and by this
lofty peak another | did not know.
but separated long distance-to
me but few PAGES by glacier.
and the furtherest makes a vast
field Of white. glistening snow that
has been growing deeper and higher
through the long ages of the un
known past, save only as it is writ
ten in her securely buried records,
but by its increasing depth and
weight, is slowly moving down the
mountain sides, from cliff here, a
precipice there, :and from thou
sand assures and gorges which pour
the great depths of ice and snow
into the great central gorge. like
streams forming the river, and with
the increasing weight under pres
sure not to be measured in tons, the
the snow is crystalized and becomes
a solid mass of clear, blue ice. The
glacier moves but foot or a very
few feet each year. and as it reaches
the lower heights of the mountains
by the increasing heat Of the earth
and sun. it is slowly melting and
flows down in mighty. roaring cat.
aracts. cascades and rapids. enrich.
ing the beautiful valleys and pass.
ing on into the rivers and lakes. on
whose bosom is born the traffic and
the traveller of every cline.