The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-11-16
A Letter From Germany.
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Editor BreSS n Banner:
The town Coblenz,. when approached
from the south side, presents a choppy.,
unpleasantIy, irregular appearance. A
large apartment house, seven stories high,
standing alone ON a block, holding in its
expanse Of bare sides waiting for other
houses to come and nestle up beside it; an
empty lot being filled up by rubbish and
garbage; plank fences to keep the paths
from running across the would-be blocks.
All Of it speaks, or rather shouts, OF pro-
sale modernism. But when n gets thru
this part of the town to the river bank the
place becomes interesting, though still
modern.
There is q little ferry boat that carries
people back and forth across the river, but
as the ferry boat ride costs five pfennigs,
mostof the traffic goes on across the pam
toon bridge above, where the price is some
thing less than half. Tknew that the river
boats went from Coblenz on-up the Rhine,
and was curious to know how they would
get over, under or otherwise by this stout
looking little bridge. 1t is the simplest
once see it. The bridge works on the plan
Of the ,jointed snakes, for which the noun
tains of North Carolina are SO famous.
When a ship comes along the bridge drops
out q couple of its joints and let's them
float down the stream out Of the way. AS
soon as the ship Is past the joints come
snorting and putting back, and are not 81
their old place, filling up the gap left by
them in the bridge.
On the other side, about $50 feet above
= the river Is q fort, Ehrenbreilstein, which,
like all the rest Of the strongholds on the
Rhine, was In 1899 destroyed by the French.
It Is ready for another storm, however,
and Is strong enough to keep the natural
enemies Of the Germans busy for some
time, I suppose. But q perfectly good fort
well as when the passage Of Janus is open
and 80 Ehrenbreilstein is used as a look
out point, and for fifty pfennigs, n can
get from here g remarkable good view of
the Rhine, coming In to view from among
its vineclad hills and flowing by; of the
Mosel which joins the Rhine here; OF the
stretch Of level valley below, the conflu-
ence of the rivers, and Of a horizon Of blue
wood-capped hills. Baedecker says that
the statue Of William /, standing at the
meeting point Of the two streams, looking
down the Rhine, Is the greatest statue to
one man in existence. The equestrian
statue alone is forty-two feet tall, and the
stone pedestal and half circle foundation
are in proportion, and harmonic with it.
Only we should see it from the distance of
a quarter Of a mile to appreciate this har-
mOny.
From Coblenz down the valley broadens
considerably, making a level stretch OF
land favorable for potatoes and grain. But
the German women, as If they did not
have enough to do digging potatoes and
cutting hay, are busy here also with max
ing brick. The soil here is only one or two
feet thick, and underlying it Is a bed OF
gravel from which the brick Is made. The
gravel Is mixed with sand and lime and
then moulded into brick, which are laid up
on racks to dry. I think everybody likes
to stop a minute and watch tEn wOrkmen.
There is something indescribably attrac-
tive about work when some n else is do
ing it. 1t was Carlyle, I think, who so apt
ly said, 1.-THE miracle Of human toll" thus
explaining why VT like to watch it. The
women, or the men either for that matter,
for YOU must know that thel- are also
some men in Germany who work, have bits
of plank large enough to hold a brick. On
one of these bit Of board a bottomless box
is set, filled with mortar and packed. Then
the box is lifted off and the board with its
brick Is set up to dry. This industry is
carried on for miles and miles along the
bank.
Before we get to Bonn we pass the fac
tory where the Apollinaris bottles are
made. The springs are also near. The
water, possessing alkaline mineral proper
ties, is reinforced by artificial means be-
fore bottling, SO I was told by a mar who
is in the employ Of the botting establish
ment.
Bonn is the birthplace Of Buthaven. The
little house In the heart Of the city is CAFE
fully noted by my guide, Carolus Baedeck-