River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1910-09-22
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- lovers and admirers. 1t Is al
a ways beautiful. Surely its peo-
pie have found the fountain of
perpetual youth, for nothing stales its
infinite variety. 1t is the country OF
seasonal and perennial attractions,
possessing that rare thing that even
Vandal men cannot destroy.
The peasants love their home and in
many instances preserve the delight
fully quaint customs which so greatly
charm the tourist. One would be mis-
taken to Judge these people as igno-
cant; the constitution of the country
enables them to obtain an insight into
general state affairs and great care
is taken in the education of the
young to broaden their knowledge In
every direction. Their intelligence,
therefore, strikes the visitor as re-
markable.
During the summer one Is not
troubled with snow until one reaches
about eight thousand feet altitude. In
the winter snow is, however, as low
as 1000 or even 1000 feet. The white
line thus moves high or low according
to the season.
The pageantry of the season indeed
IS nowhere else SO crowded with de-
lightful surprises in which the people
move in sympathy. The peasants are
true to the nature that has mothered
them. In the spring the villages are
agog and abustle, holding picturesque
old-time festivals, preceding the start
of the herds to the mountain pastures.
The matrons Of the herds are provided
with melodious bells, globular in form,
but thin and light and differing In
size from twelve to two inches in d.
ameter They are as varied in pitch
as in size, and their tones mellow into
a gentle, harmonious effect without
harshness.
The herders and the dairy maids
meet on the village green to enjoy
day Of song and dance. Preparations
are made for the summers round OF
activity in the mountains, where, In
spite of hard work, an almost idyllic
experience is lived by the light-heart-
ed peasants. The verdant and aro-
matte pastures, amid these wonderful
scenic settings, provide vistas opening
on wide horizons of jagged peaks and
profound gorges clothed with the rar-
est verdure The mountain herdsmen
and their comely companions of the
churn are hardy and blooming, and
song and yodeling continually ease
and relieve the labors Of the summer
when duties are arduous and results
imperative.
1t is a unique and inspiring sight to
witness the annual spring parade or
procession starting for the mountain
pastures. The usual cooking and dairy
utensils have to be transported, for
these migrants from the wales must
remain with their charges in the
mountains until the time of return in
the fall of the year. They occupy their
mountain huts, which are fitted suit
ably for themselves as we'll as for the
necessary dairying. AS soon as the
snow begins to disappear from the
lower pastures the herder marshals
his herd and starts out. In the fes-
tive procession the bull leads. On his
horns are placed milk stool, and on
his head a chaplet of flowers. He
bears, hanging from his neck, the
deep-toned bell These melo6ious
b Ills are made Of alloyed silver. From
their tones have originated the imita.
tive yodeling or warbling of the herd
era sudden changing from the fall
setto to the chest voice, and vice
versa. Following the monarch Of the
herd comes the queen of the kline,
gayIy decorated and wearing the best
bell of the COWS. Every COW has her
bell. and so accustomed are they to
them that losing them Is a disaster,
even causing a loss Of the "cud." The
kline know their places. At the start
the strongest and best assert their
precedence. They will battle among
themselves for the right of way,
which, once settled, all is peace. The
bellcow leads in the search for pas
lures new and she brooks no interior
ence.
The mountaineer's response to the
sound of the herder's joyous yodel Is
the "alpenhorn," long horn, the eff
feet of which must be heard in the
Alps to be appreciated. The noun
tains echo it with infinite sweetness,
and the effect Is tender and thrilling.
The farther the distance from which
its tones are heard the more fiute-like
seems its answer-powerful, mellow.
Strong and sweet, it fills the valley,
while the echoes are flung weirdly and
strangely from the mountain ram
parts. In the former times, when the
sturdy Scaweitzer often had to leave
his herds and repel an intruding force,
the alpenhorn was the means of sum
moning h~.a to arms. Even now the
melody has a haunting sound that
seems to speak of martial deeds. No
wonder the sound of the alpenhorn
was forbidden during the days when
the Swiss served as mercenaries to
France and Italy and other countries,
says a writer. "Its sound would
cause hundreds of otherwise faithful
soldiers to desert for their Alps. And
the songs with which Alpine herders
call their companions from hill to hill
and from crag to crag are of the same
nature"
There is very practical relation
sip between good singing and good
dairying, and this was proved at