The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1910-01-29

themselves in the water and give
real touch OF nature to the crowded
city.
In front of this Alster basin are To-
Gated the leading hoteIs-and a fas-
cinating view 1t is from the hotel win
dows.
There Is one big branch of trade in
Hamburg that l personally took more
interest In than any other-the trade
in wild animals. Hamburg Is the
greatest market in the world for
beasts. birds and reptiles from the
most remote sections OF the world.
Thousand of these animals are sold to
supply circuses and ZOOS the world
over. The principal dealer is Hagen
beck. he keeps the hundreds of ami
mails he always has in stock at great
'tierpark." where they move about
freely in environment as nearly as pos
sible like what they came from.
Hamburg has a sister city in Al
tona. which is in Schleswig Holstein
territory, formerly belonging to Den
mark. but now in Prussia. 1t Is hard
to find the boundary between the two
cities. which. though politically sep
arate. are practically one. Altoona has
an enormous number OF attractive
amusement resorts and open-air cafes.
where there is splendid German cook
Ing. good beer and good music. The
shows are Of infinite variety. from
Punch and Judy shows to regular cir
cuses. The big circuses in the United
States draw largely from Hamburg.
not only for wild animals, but for
bareback riders, trapeze performers.
people who put their heads in lions
mouths, etc.
| wish l had time to tell a lot more
interesting things about Hamburg. es-
pectally about Its scientific institutions
and schools, Its enormous children's
Fairgrounds. its popular dining rooms,
which are such great benefit to the
poorer classes. etc. Hamburg is espe-
cially famous for public lecture
courses in such subjects as interna-
tional. commercial and naval law, ma
val engineering. tropical hygiene.
colonial politics, etc. subjects which
show how by specialized education for
Its people. Hamburg has attained such
a proud position commercially. and
why the remotest parts of the world
bring 1t business and wealth.
From Hamburg to Copenhagen you
60 by train all the way This may
seem astonishing. since the capital Of
Denmark is on an island. many miles
from any land. This. however. is true,
owing to a marvellous train ferryboat
service connecting Germany with the
Danish island Of iceland.
The train leaves Hamburg and in
about four hours Is at Warnemunde,
where 1t goes on a big ferryboat, to-
gether with the train from Berlin and
a freight train or two. The passengers
can stay in their cars. or they can
walk about the ferry and watch Ger.
many recede and Denmark come into
view.
The Danish coast is not visible, how.
ever, for nearly an hour. 1t is a voy-
age of about two hours across In the
meantime you can have lunch for
about Is cents. and 1t is fit for king.
The ferryboat belongs to the govern
ment Of Denmark. and the cooking Is
Danish-somewhat different from the
German cooking, but just as good. The
Danish customs officers go through
the train during the ferry boat voyage
and ask you. Have you anything?"
and. when you say. NO, only a few
personal things" they are satisfied
and pass all your luggage.
l will never forget the pretty pas
toral scenery of Denmark. The coun-
try looked like bright green velvet
carpet, in which attractive animal
patterns had been designed-especiai-
ly fat COWS and horses
All these cows and chickens are
most Industrious In their habits and
great money-makers, the cows produc-
ing some of the finest butter In the
world, most of which goes to Eng.
land, and the hens being busy layers
of eggs. mostly for the London mar.
ket. As the train approaches Copen.
hagen, we go through some pretty
woods and see some old castles. Fl.
nally we are In the capital Of dear
little Denmark" which I will describe
in . later letter.
| HARRY BAKER