Cañon City record., 1909-11-18
"Fair. .Binsen on the Rhine"

In the sunset we passed Bingen-
fair Bingen on the Rhine"-a beau
tiful old town with fine river park
and some handsome buildings, and we
thought of the soldier of the legion
who lay dying In Algiers." where
there was dearth of woman's tears"
And he and the church spires and
his sweetheart and all the furniture
of the legend were as real to us as
II we had lived in truth. instead OF
in a song.
After we left Bingen. we were re-
galed by two German gentlemen who
were carrying a large brown bun;
that is to say. they had on a gor-
geous skate; which means that they
were supporting a beautiful jag. or
to put 1t simply. they were orieyed.
corned. picked. paralyzed. wooIy. or
just plain. bowling drunk. We had
been three months in Europe without
seeing a drunken man. We had seen
enough liquor OF one kind and another
punished to float n battleship. but had
seen no one drunk. except the cab
drivers OF Florence. who are chroni-
cally sugarcured. All day the Ger
mans-men. women and children
had been eating on deck between
meals and washing their victuals
down with a mild. white Rhine wine
about as innocuous as vinegar and
not much more appetizlng.
They were gay-mere spiritB-but
nothing more. But early In the after
noon the two men aforesaid began to
put the kettle on. Deponent has at
different times in early youth lifted
his voice in song to abjure the land
lord to fll the flowing bowl until It
doth run over.
Once deponent wrote some verses
about somewhat flowing bowl" But
In a long career in crime. he had new
er until that night In June" actually
seen a flowing bowl" The bowl Of
conviyialIty he supposed was a myth
like the latch-string and the iowly
;hatched cot. and the letter in the
candle.
But on the Rhine boat the two men
above mentioned employed n bowl for
the manufacture OF their guilty Joy.
II was a large bowl-bigger than
bed room wash bowl. And Il was
nlled-from time to time-with an In
sldlous looking red ink that stung
like a threshing machine when II gave
color In the cup.
They ladled out this liquid folly in
to tall glasses and devoted themselves
seriously and earnestly and eagerly
to the task OF carrying it about. Then
at about sundown or such a matter.
they put their arms about one anoth-
er's necks and began to sing. And so
In the darkness they left the boat and
wandered into the dusk of Mayence.
loaded to the guards and splashInh
vocal Joy upon the patient. silent
stars
The next morning we set out for
StrasBberg to have a look into the
great cathedral II Is another such
a structure as that at Cologne. and
we arrived for the morning service. |
1t was some festal occasion OF the
church that we did not understand
nor care about-(perhaps Corpus
ChrlstD for the great pillars OF the
interior OF the church we're bedecked
with evergreen at the base and the
clean. straight column was spoiled In
n measure.
Also the presence OF the congrega-
tion took away the impression OF soli
tude and the silence OF the forest
primeval." that was the chief charm
of the Cologne cathedral. But for all
that. II was beautiful creation. and
the music OF the great organ made up
for whatever the congregation might
have taken away We hustled into
the train that took US back to the
children beglde the lake. with the