Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1911-09-08
IN GERMAN TOWNS.
Editorial Correspondence.
Hutchinson News.)
Cologne, Germany Aug. 9.


This is the big town of the lower
Rhine country in Germany, though it
has rivals which may some time take
the title away. 1t is also the old town
and there have been many hot times
in its history. It was started in the
first century of the Christian era as a
colony by Aggupina, the mother of
Nero, and a lot of Roman soldiers
were given extra rights for settling in
the new town. A couple of hundred
years later a bridge was built across
the Rhine and Cologne became of COM
mercial importance. When Christian
ity was extended this section it was
made the seat of a bishop and then
of an archbishop. 1t grew rapidly and
was independent in its tendencies, so
when the breakup came of the old
Roman empire it became free city
and with some boSSing by the arch
bishop the people ruled, that is the
Weather and more important, sort
OF aristocracy. Napoleon annexed Co.
logne to France but when he was
overthrow the city was handed over
to the king Of Prussia and 1t has been
PrusSian ever since. In the last hun
dred years Cologne has developed as
the great jobbing and commercial city
Of this section. It is full of quaint old
houses, marrow streets, medieval ar
chitecture and has the best cathedral
in Europe. Dutch and German cathe-
dras are generally Protestant but the
Cologne catheral is Catholic. When
the Reformation came the Lutherans
especially enjoyed capturing a cathed.
raj tearing down the images and stat
Iues, destroying all the artistic beauty
they could, and making the house Of
God as plain and uncomfortable as
possible. On the other hand the Cath
ohcs believed in identifying and
adjoining their churches. The present
day Protestants doubtless wish their
predecessors had been less jealous
and that the beautiful decorations AM
paintings had not been defaced by
whitewash. The Cologne cathedral is
the finest specimen of Gothic archi-
lecture in the world. Of course it is
in the shape of cross and is 157
yards long, 94yards wide, POI feet to
the roof 957 feet to the tower over
the center and the towers are SIS feet
high. These figures give no idea of
the impressive and imposing interior,
and the exterior which is a profuSion
of twTets, gargoyles, cornices, gal
leries and other decorations, makes
the visitor cacth his breath as he
looks at this great structure. The
foundation of this cathedral was laid
in 124S and the work was completed
80 years ago, so there was no rush
about the job.
Twenty-Five miles below Cologne is
Dusseldorf, also on the Rhine and at
the place where the iron and coal de-
velopment in Germany seeks its mr.
ket. You know what iron and coal did
fer PittSburg and it is the same with
, Dusseldorf. 1t is the growing city of
the section and threatens to pass
Cologne. AS Dusseldorf is largely mod
ern having developed since the days
of railroads and steel bridges, it has
wide streets, beautiful buildings and
its architecture is of the present gen.
Grafton. Dusseldorf is noted for its
municipal ownership, and is often call
ed a modern city. The town owns
the street cars, the light system,
the docks on the river, the water
plant, a pawn shop and lot OF other
things, including a couple of brew
cries. Municipal ownership comes cas-
Tier in the old world than in the new
II was formerly the custom of the
government to own everything and to
lay out parks and provide utilities for
the people, who were then too poor
to do much themselves. So the mod
ern European government, which is
largely popular succeeds to the power
of the ancient monarchial rule, and
provides the big things for the people
A strong handed ruler who can con-
denim private property, and wisely pu'
the good of the entire community
above the property and welfare of in
dividuals does these public works
much better than our own municipal
governments which have restricted
powers and which have to do what
the people want rather than tell the
people what they ought to do. Gener
ally speaking the public ownership OF