The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-10-03
A Comfortable City, in which There Is Located . Cave Twelve Miles Long. Filled With Cham pagne--A Cathedral
 City, Too.

Long. Filled With Cham
 pagne--A Cathedral
 City, Too.
 suppose that Rheims. che scene of the most famous gathering of flying machines and flying men yet held. is better known to English people by name than most French places of It's Importance and size. Every schoolboy knows that Joan of Are experienced here the moment of her greatest tri- umph. when Charles VII. was. thanks to her victories over the English troops, crowned in the cathedral. The tackdaw of Rheims, is familiar to us all through an Ingoldsby legend. Fur as "the place where champagne comes from"
 Yet though we all know something of 1t. few English people visit Rheims. except those who have the good for. tune to motor through the pleasant land of France eastward from Paris. and they. if I may be permitted a "bull." are mostly Americans. So far as its present tourist prosperity goes Rheims owes 1t almost entirely to the motor car. Every evening in the ho- tels there are arrivals of men and wo- men begoggled and be-cloaked in loose brown dust wraps. who stump through the courtyard looking as though they had brought with them ali the dust be. tween here and Paris, but who re. appear a little later. fresh and de- bonair, to sit down to the excellent meal which the good inns of Cham pagne can always be relied upon to provide.
 A Great Cathedral.
 Often they spend few days here. and wa11 worth wh11a fnAv dnd if Rheims is a very good specimen of characteristic French provincial town. and it's cath edral is reckoned. after Amiens, the finest in the country. J myself should place 1t below Amiens. but not above Chartres. My standard. however. is purely one of personal preference. The very uniformity of style which endears Rheims Cathedral to the archaeologists and guide-book writers leaves me. when am In. side 1t, little cold. Certainly 1t is marvellous that. in an age when archi- lecture changed so rapidly. the plans of the original architect should have been adhered to for more than cen- tury. The building he conceived in 1911 was completed. so far as Middle Age cathedrals were ever completed, 140 years later. almost exactly In &C., cordance with his designs. All the 
 as to be a trlfie dull.
 But 1t Is not the interior which is the glory of Rheims. It is the marvel ous west front. AS ono drinks in its beauty from the square in front. where the statue of Jeanne d'Arc Is dwarfed into fnsignificance by the vastness and grandeur of the overshadowing fane, one feels, with moro emotion than one can feel anywhere else. the nobility. ko mtA k- nA LNsnn h Gothic. mother of all the Gothic styles which have added so much to the splendor of the modern world. It seems impossible that the brain of one man can have conceived the perfect har- mony of this West Front. springing upward from the great pointed door. ways and rising with majestic vigor to the height of the towers, immense ly impressive in their simplicity and strength. It is like some handiwork of Nature One can almost as well imag- inc a man designing Niagara or Mont Blanc.
 The other principal sight" of Rheims tto descend from the sublime to the effervescent) ts--the champagne cellars. Here and there are interesting old houses, such as the one with an or. chestra of musicians scufptured upon it's front There are 6 Roman arch, rather dilapidated. and c church of some interest. dedicated 70 St. Remi, quiet old cobbled streets to wander through, typical of provincial France. in which the tall houses make e re- freshing shade even at midday their shuttered windows suggesting inte- riors of exouisite coolnesN and peace There are charming gardens. too, with flower walks and fountains, wide bou- Ievards, and public promsnades. But these are all mere side shows to the cathedral and to the Caves du win de Champagne"
 The Champagne Harvest.
 As vineyard country this eastern part of France has been famous since the Middle Ages. witness the lifelike representation of grape narvesters on one of the pillars Of the cathedral nave. For many years past 1t has supplied the whole world. or as much of the world as drinks champagne. with the foaming. sparkling amber wine which Is the special accompaniment of festal occasions in all sufficiently civilized lands. From this district, particularly from Rheims. Chalons. and Epernay. there are sent away every year be- tween 2O.oo0.000 and 30.oo0,O00 bottles to make glad the heart Of man. I fell Into a reverie yesterday. saw a fam. lily group around dainty cradle drink ing to the baby's health on It's chris tening day. saw a young wife flush ing with pleasure and pride as she lfted her glass in response to the good wishes of her wedding guests I saw an old couple ordering oAampagne to celebrate their fortieth wedding day and pledging one another with hands which trembled. but with eyes that love still made radiant with his ten. der glow.
 And what causes the wine Of Cham- pagne to spread so cheerful an in- fiuence7 Simply carbonic acid gasl Of course. the grapes are specially good and very carefully selected. But the difference. (so far as I can understand sD between still wines and wines which sparkle lies in this--that in the pro- cess of fermentation the latter keep the carbonlc acid produced, while the for mer let 1t go.
 No wine Is more delicateiy made than champagne. The grapes are pressed at the vineyards but the must" from the first three crushes onfy is consld- erad good enugh to send to the famous firms. These receive 1t in nuge casks, where it Is allowed to torment. The sugar in the must" turns to alcohol and carbonic acid. For the present the acid Is allowed to escape. Next comes the 'racking"-that Is - pouring the must" into other casks so as to get