The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-03-02
EUROPEAN OBSERVATIONS
The Sight Seeing Portion Of Mr.. Nor
cams Trip

the narrative Of Merritt B. Morgan
of Bennington, who was a delegate to |
the last international convention of
the Independent Order of Good Tenn
plars held at Hamburg, Germany:
At Geneva we saw the celebrated
castle and fortress Of Chillon. 1t is
situated at the east end of the lake, |
on an isolated rock, almost entirely
surrounded by deep water. 1t is said
to have been built in 1888, is famous
as the prison of Downward. the prior
of st. Victor, and has been immortal
lied by Byron's Prisoner of Chillon.
The educational institutions of Gen
eva, and its scientific collections are
very celebrated. 1t is the center of
Calvonism, and remarkable for the
manner in which it's citizens through
centuries and at every risk have
! shown themselves equal to their po
| sition The Duke of Brunswick who
died at Geneva in 1873 bequeathed to
the city his whole fortune, about $780,
100000.
In our party was a man from Bos
ton, Mass, named Thomas, who on
our way up the Rhine was trying to
buy all of the various castles in sight,
and so finally after he had invited
us all to visit him at his castle next
summer we presented to him with
due ceremony at Geneva a TOY chal-
ct" and invested him with the title
"Sir Thomas Aquarium" First Earl
of La Petite Chalet The Aquarium
was because of a fishing trip indulg-
ed in by him at lnterlaken, where he
caught no fish, but bought two tiny
ones from an Aquarium and brought
them to the hotel suspended from the
center of a,pole borne on the should
ers of himself and an assistant
AS the itinerary of our party did
not include the-Vale of Chamonix and
Mont Blanc, left it for a time and
saw these, and returned to the party
at Geneva The recent extension OF
the electric railway from St Grevois
to Chamonix has brought what was
once a remote little Alpine village in
to the front rank as a tourist center
1t is now possible to go by train from
Geneva to Martigny, on the Rhone
valley by way of Chamonx and Ar
igentiere. The great feature of Cham
OniX is of course, the Mont Blanc
range, the monarch of European
mountains The village lies at the
very foot of Mont Blanc and the two
= great glaciers of the NIer de Glace
and the Glacier des Blossoms can each
of them be reached in an easy walk
There is now a funicular railway TO
l 81 III
! mands a magnificent view of the ice
world This view is said to be one
} of the finest in Europe The Glacier
des Blossoms is remarkable for the re.
covery OF the body OF Captain Ark
! wright which was brought down TO
the valley by the glacier after having
: been embedded in the ice for thirty
. one years. and was inferred in the
English churchyard at Chamonix
From Geneva we went by day ex
2 press to Paris, where we devoted
) much time sight seeing and driving
= Perhaps the greater number of our
/ party had their expectations too high
I about Paris, and being disappointed
2 did not seem to enjoy IT, Said that
4 it seemer like an old dirty drunken
+ immoral. WORKOUT city, living on the
J ruins Of past splendor and grandeur
/ Napoleon's tomb is finer than any
? thing Of the kind we have in the
y United States. The gardens anc
i fountains at Versailles and Fountaine
} bleau were superb The palaces haC
a deserted air, and there was a sad
a ness about them. for glittering a,
a they were. twas all semblance OF
o past beauty and grandeur. and on,
e seemed to see those people OF othel
|. days living and caring only for them
@ selves, the gay life they lead, ant
y their individual pleasure and it wal
Q such glimmering shallow pleasure.
II From Paris to Hayre, and a fin,
r crossing OF the English channel 4
r. Portsmouth and London. where W,
d spent eleven'days, with ease and com
Il fort, witnessing the royal progress
and seeing the elaborate preparation
made for the Coronation OF George Y
When we entered the harbor a
$ Portsmouth the war alips of all ma
L lions that had been gathered for IN
% ceremonies attending the Coronation
were all there in eight lines, extend
ing for miles, 1i3 of them, and W
q passed through the same course b,
o tween them as the royal party ha
s two days before. To be sure the sal
"a ors were not all lined up on the ba
tleships, the flags were not all III
furled. the bands were not payin,
and there was no gun-fring for N
The authorities were probably NJ
aware of the arrival of so many 80,
ereign' American citizens, as W
had not given previous notice this
we were to be there at such a time.
| was glad to observe that III
shapely IT, 5. ship Delaware ranke
as the largest and most handsome
III the assembled warships We a
s liked London, and regrette
we could not stay longer, and n
Il, Seamen's and Firemen's strike whic
,e was getting serious in England an
prevented many steamers from lea
ing Liverpool on schedule, indicate
at one time that our holidays migl
he be prolonged We saw the kin
nd queen, Prince OF Wales and the Pri
&C. cess Mary several times. as well
Sc all the representatives from 9th,
or countries who were In London (,
he the Coronation ceremonies and festi
Ike tiles
Y. II is we'll to note here that his ma
nd cSty King George has piVen Wi