The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1910-07-19
By c. L PIONEER

q BY c. l. PIONEER /
81 Copyright, 1910, by American Press +
& Association.
dssxAAa4ssaAxxx4aAAxssa,sxasxx2
was making a tour of Switzerland
on foot. All the luggage had with
me was strapped on my back. and in
my hand carried light alpenstock.
One morning started from Inter
laken to walk to Thur The road !
took leads along the west bank Of
Lake Thun, or Thunder lake, one Of
the prettiest bodies Of water In Swift.
zerland- From the road one has q per-
petual view Of the Bernese Alps, the
Eiger, the Monk and the Jungfrau,
whose snowy peaks rising high In the
heavens may often be mistaken for
light clouds. The sun was shining on
the lake. over whose bosom the little
steamers running between Interlaken
and Thun loaded with tourists were
passing back and forth.
Not fnr from Interlaken the road
passes through tunnel In perpendic-
ular cliff that forms the bank Of the
lake. While walking through this tun-
mel I caught up with a youth who.
judging from his pack, was making a
foot journey the same as L He spoke
to me In German, the language Of that
part Of Switzerland, but i signiied that
! did not understand him, and he re-
peated his question In French.
"How far is 1t, SIR, to ThunY
"Ten or twelve miles, believe"
He was inclined to let me go on
ahead Of him; but, preferring compa-
ny, adapted my gait to his. He was
apparently not more than eighteen
years old. No beard had yet started
on his face, and his hair and complex
ion were fair. took him for Swede
or Norwegian, though such light hair
and skin are common In northern Ger
many. We walked on together, chat
ting and enjoying the beautiful pam
Drama Of the lake, the hills beyond and
still beyond these the mountains. For
awhile the young man was guarded In
his speech. He then discovered that
was an American-he had supposed
me to be an Englishman-and this
seemed to awaken confidence, though
it was rather a fellow feeling, for he
kept me still in ignorance as to who
he was or where he was going. /
knew, however from his conversation
that he was highly educated and one
of those persons who are born to think
deep. was astonished at his familiar
ity with the various schools of philos-
ophy. That he was dreamer as well
as thinker was apparent from ideas
he advanced, which to me seemed a
century ahead Of the times.
At Meiringen we halted for lunch
beer at table under the trees in front
Of hotel. We rested for an hour
after luncheon, smoking, I my pipe,
my companion cigarettes (the usual
form Of smoke In that country.
The subject that most interested him
was America and how to get there.
told him that it all depended on where
one started from and waited for him
to tell me from what point he would
begin. 1.-THE Riviera" was his reply.
Whereupon informed him that from
any point on the Riviera-say Nice or
Mentone-one might by short rail-
way journey reach Genoa, from which
port steamers are constantly leaving
for the United States. He seemed
much interested in this and more so
when told him that / had engaged
passage by that route myself. When /
asked him If he had any intention Of
visiting my country he replied that
he had not
We reached Thun about o'clock,
and, after refreshing ourselves with
glass Of beer in the gardens Of the
Kursaal, went to my hotel, my COM
panion going / knew not where. One
meets all kinds of people travelling
abroad, especially If one likes to form
acquaintance as / do OF all those
I have met In any Of my tours the
person who made the most impression
upon me was the young philosopher
about whom learned nothing.
I went by rail from Thun to Paris,
from there to Nice. and from Nice to
Mentone. found at Mentone General
A., who had been minister Of the
interior in Russia. Indeed, stopped
In the same hotel with him. Those
who knew told me that several at
<av,,nko hoI I,oon ,nodo x,yov hfo lfFo
revolutionists, or, as they were then
called, nihilists, and that he was close
ly guarded. During his incumbency
In Office he had sent hundreds of peo-
pie to Siberia, besides those he had ex-'
ecuted. He had been prescribed by
the nihilists, they having vowed to
kill him. asked why he should dread
his enemies so far from home and was
told that they could work to better
advantage beyond the Russian borders
than within them. In Russia the gov
eminent could act direct. In other
countries more or less red tape was
necessary to arrest a suspect, and be-
fore it could be done an assassination
might take place. General A. was
spending a season at Mentone for his
health, being afflicted with some nerv-
Gus disorder. 1t seemed to me that
man living in fear for his life would
be likely to have nerve trouble. He
was very regular In his habits, going
out to walk in the morning and to
drive In the afternoon, always attend
Il - IT, a1%f
closely eyed every one who approached
him.
Notwithstanding the precautions TAX
en- the general was assassinated at
Mentone and at the time was there.
1t was In June and the days were long.
About half past o'clock one evening
I went up to my room after dinner
and, lighting cigar, stood for mo-
ment at my window, which was on the
north side of the hotel Several build
ings were near, and from a window of
one of them saw puff of smoke and
heard a crack. There was nothing
to be seen in the window, for the
blinds were closed. If shot had been
fired it must have been from between
the stats.
The occurrence did not make much
impression on me, but an hour later,
on going downstairs, found the hotel
proprietor, the servants, the guests, all
horror stricken. On asking the cause
/ was told that General A. had been
shot by some one who had fred bull
let into his room through an open win
dow. Upon asking the time the affair
occurred / was told that it was about