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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 1902)
American Goods in the Land of the Alps N - B .. lap- '.-.jb . rt 1 ... "'' -. 'It, :.1 ', Jin. 1 it i Hi . . '. J ? . - ; ' ' . - - ' '" .-" THKIIB ARE I'ASTl'KKS HIC.II I P IN THE ALrS. BAKERS USE BICYCLES IN GENEVA. (opyrluhl, line, by l-'rank (J. Carpentrr.) 1ENEVA, Nov. 12.-(SiiciI Corro I Hpiinili'iii'i' of The lice.) I am iiiitiiiiK " nt'uui iiik luur IIU UUK'I Swilzcii mil on I lie track of th Ainrrlciin InviiHion. Thin little liiountalnouH counlry In the kcnul of Eu rope, and a rich, Juicy kernel it In. It Is only twice an big ns MaHxachtiHct ts, and It hitH not hh many people hh New York, but It buys more foreign koo'Is than the whole Chinese empire, an. I its people have wants which correspond to almost every branch of our manufactures. But first let me j'ife you a bird's-cyo view of this little land of the Alps. If you could Ball over It In the new flyln? machine, which Ir. I-annley of the Smith sonian Institution is makltiK. you woul 1 find that it Is by no means all barren. It Is only the snowy p aks of the mountains that arc good for nothing. Fully ono-thlrd of It Is covered with forests, there are pastures hl(?h up In (he Alps, and further down arc thousands of small farms and vineyards. There are more than 1,1)00,000 people here engaged In agriculture. There are 300,000 ponsant farmers, nearly every one of whom o.vi'.s his own land. The country Is made up of villages, with a very few cities of size. Zurich, tho largest, has only K.O.ooO; Basel, on tho German frontier, has 111,000, while thl town of Geneva, on tho lake of that name, not far from the French bor der. Is still smaller. I have been to the capital, the city of Berne. It is a sleepy town of 65,000, while Lucerne. Chaux-de-Fonds, Lausanne and St. Gall havo from 30,000 to 40,000 each. There are villages everywhere and little huts scattered through tho nests In the mountains. Tho SwIbs aro among the thriftiest of all the Caucasians. They believe in making everything pay Its own way, and every man here has a profession or business, Just as lti the l ulled States. Thpre are but few mil lionaires, and very few paupers, but many who havo money invested in stocks, bonds and mortgages. Indeed, millions of dollars' worth of American securities are held by the Swiss, and a steady s'ream of foreign money pours Into Switzerland from outside. Investments, as well as from the thousands of tourists who come here for their sum mer vacations. Switzerland has thirty-five banks, with an average capital of $1,000,000 apiece. It has 5,000 different factories, and the whole country Is a beehive of house Industry. Every village has Its specialty, and the people of every section are employed In making things to sell. Swiss watches are sold everywhere, and the best watches of the world today are the Swiss. We make good timekeepers, but our watchmakers are machinists. The Swiss are artists, and the very finest of goods are turned out by them. Nevertheless, American watches sell here, and also American watch cases. At Geneva one of the specialties is music boxes. Not far away is the town of Chaux-de-Fonds, In which, with Its surrounding country, 300,000 watches are made every year. In the mountains wood carving Is done, and about Zurich there are great silk weaving works. Near St. Gall they make vast quantities of embroideries for Europe and the United States, f.u.ooo people being employed In that business alone. There are other thusands who work iu Iron and steel and other thousands who make chceso and condensed milk, specialties in which Switz erland leads the world. I have said the Swiss are rich. They have plenty of money to spend for what they want, but they must have their money's worth. This our exporters should consider in figuring upon the trade of the country. Taey should remember that they will have to sell better goods and cheaper goods than are now In the market to get the trade, for they will have to displace the goods now used. They should send commercial traveler! here. There are thousands of drummers now on the Swiss roads from Germany, Belgium and England, but comparatlrely few from the United States. Licenses are required for com mercial travelers, and of 23,000 such re cently Issued none were credited to the United Slates. The drummer should speak German or French, but ho can get along with English. Tho railroad fares are low and hotels arc cheap, so that a good man ought to bo easily able to earn his salary and expenses and a good profit for his em ployer. But let me tell you something about the American goods already sold here. I havo visited the largtst cities and I And the tracks of the American Invasion on every street and on many of the country roads. I saw an American automobile yesterday with a dashing French girl acting as en gineer, and I find American bicycles on al moKt every country road. Somo are used here, In Geneva, by the bakers, to deliver the bread from baskets which they carry thus about on their backs. You see a basket full of bread scorching up and down the street upon two wheels, and you know that the man manipulating it Is a bread peddler and that tho wheels belong to a bicycle which in three times out of Ave comes from the United States. Switzerland, hilly as it Is, Is a good land for bicycling. You have to do much walking up the mountains, but the roads are everywhere good and there Is much chance for excite ment in flying around a curve on the edge of a precipice with your legs over the han dle bars. We sell several hundred thousand dol lars' worth of American machinery to the Swiss every year. Our sewing machines aro humming away In the cottages on the Alps and our mowers and reapers cut the crops on the plains. Our leading agricul tural Implement factories have their head offices at Zurich, and their travelers go from place to place drumming the farmers. I am told there Is a good opening for American plows, and I see our hay rakes and spades sold In many of the towns. The Introduction of such things is slow. The Swiss are conservative. "They are the same that their fathers have been ; They see the same sights their fathers have They drink the same streams, they feel the same sun And tiiey do the same deeds their fathers have done." I have seen plows used here which ex actly correspond to those Id the scrip tures, having one handle and a wooden point shod with Iron. 1 have seeji man and women mowing with scythes, and a few miles further on found women riding American sulky rakes. I saw a woman plowing with a sulky plow, two cows doing the pulling, and In the same region found a mowing machine drawn by two fine draft horses from Germany. Switzerland has plenty of wood and Its people are skilled In handling It, but they cannot make furniture as low as our fac tories. No European carpenter can com pete with us, and the result is that Ameri can furniture Is pushing its way Into all parts of Europe. This Is especially so of American roll-top desks, flies and unit bookcases, which are often sold In connec tion with American typewriters. There are large American furniture stores In Zurich and Basel, and roll-top desks are sold here In Geneva. The goods come knocked down, as the freight from Naw York to Switzer land la 1 cent per pound. Some of the desks come overland from Antwerp and Havre, but others ate shipped to Rotter dam and are sent up the Rhine on barges. Switzerland Is spending millions of dol lars every year for fuel for Its homes and factories. It buys coal of England, Ger many, Belgium and Austria, and it Is be lieved that it might profitably purchase of us. The coal could be sent to Rotterdam and up the Rhine to Switzerland at a com paratively low rate. At present Germany sells 900,000 tons of coal here every year. France and Belgium about 200,000 tons each and, In addition, there are thousands of tons from Austria and England. As to the American shoe there Is no doubt but that Its sale might be largely r p wii , ....... h. I I? -" : " . , ,;..,- , ' ""rGS 1 t " I ' SWISS MILKMAN. Increased. It is claimed that our shoe is too expensive for the Swiss, but I found Ave stores in Zurich selling Massachusetts and Chisago $3 shoes for high p ices, and doubt not they can be sold all over the country. The consuls tell roe that the Swiss need a thicker sole than that found on the ordinary American shoe. The roads here are rocky and hard on the feet. A duty of about $1 a pair Is charged, and this must be taken Into consideration In fixing the prices. I had an Interesting chat as to American trade the other day with Consul Lleber knecht at Zurich. Mr. Lleberknecht is a well known country editor of Geneseo, 111., who was appointed by President McKlnley to represent us at Zurich. He Is a good business man and Is full of common sense views of Switzerland and the Swiss. Said he: "Our people do not understand the Swiss nor their wants. They think they are long ing for American goods and that they will snap at them. They do not realize that this Is one of the oldest markets of Europe and that people lived here very comfort ably long before America was discovered. There are store buildings in Zurich which rontained merchandise while our fore fathers, dwelling In log cabins, were bar tering with the Indians, and these same store buildings are still filled with all the necessaries and luxuries that the Swiss need or waut. If we would sell goods hero we must show the Swiss that our goods are better than those they are buying. The people must see the goods and handle them. They won't buy without they know what they are getting. "Our exporting Arms should study the Swiss and If necessary modify their goods to suit the demand. They should have supply houses at Zurich, which could feed the stores of the villages and smaller places as well as those of Zurich. This Is a small country and the people live largely from hand to mouth. In many of the stores al most the whole stock Is kept in the show windows and the merchants will not lay in a large amount at one time. "The Americans need their agents on the ground. If they can send them here from home It will be better, but if not there are good Swiss who can be engaged. Their agents are needed to examine into the credit of the merchants, for, although they are in the main trustworthy, still they are divided Into good payers and poor payers, as are traders the world over. There Is no use of trying to do business In Europe except on credit. The merchants can get this from the other exporters and the Americans will have to give it. Tho ordinary credit is from three to six months." I find a great deal of American grain used in Switzerland. Wheat srows well ou the plateaus, but only half enough is pro duced, so that there Is a good market for American wheat and American flour. As It Is now, we sell as much as $3,000,000 worth of cereals a year, and It would seem to me that an Increase might be made In the sale of oatmeal, hominy, and other breakfast foods. There should be an open ing here for American corn, as tho Swiss have to buy cattle feed, and In the same connection cotton seed cake might be sold. The chief light outside the cities is from American coal oil, and among the meats sold I Bee Chicago haras, bacons and canned stuffs- The sale of carpenter's toois Is large. Our hardware holds It own in all parte of Eu rope and our machine tools are acknowl edged to be the best American saws are frequently seen, and there should be a de mand here for the old-fashioned wood saw. In many of the cities the chief fuel Is wood. It is brought In from the mountains and sawed and split in the streets. Tho ax used has a short handle and a blade about three inches wide. It is a sort of cross between an ax and a hatchet. For cutting down trees some American axes are sold. I saw a lot from Findlay, O., In one of the stores of Berne. After the wood is sawed and split It Is carried up into the houses on the backs of men in great baskets made of staves. There might te an opening for American electrical machinery here, for the Swiss are rapidly turning their streams to ac count. There are little power plants every where, and many factories are run by elec tricity generated by water. Here at Ge neva the water works run the street cars and furnish the electric lights. They also supply power to workshops large and small throughout the city and its suburbs. Tho power plant is on an island In the Rhone, right in the center of the city and only 100 feet from where the Rhone runs out of Lake Geneva. There Is quite a fall at that place, and the turbulent stream moves twenty great engines by means of turbines. The machinery was made at Zurich, from where comes a large part of the electric supplies of this country. Many of tho cities have electric trams, and most of them are lighted by electricity. The tram cars are trolleys. The electric lights hero at Geneva are of the Brush variety. The most of western Switzerland Is French, and Geneva might bo called its capital. The city is one of the most beau tiful of its size in Europe. It has mag nificent store buildings and many fine homes. It lies in a nest In the hills on the shores of Lake Geneva at the point where the Rhone flows out on Its way toward the Mediterranean sea. The Rhone divides the city forming several Islands, over which bridges go from one side of the town to the other. On the islands are bath houses, restaurants, cafes and the water works. One tf the bridges is on the site of a bridge which Julius Caesar destroyed when he had his first battle with the Helvetil. Geneva is a city of schools, and it has students from all parts of Europe. I like Lake Geneva. It Is a beautiful ex panse of glassy green, with Mt. Blanc and others of the snow-capped Alps look ing down upon It. It is only from a mile and a half to eight miles in width, but it is as long as from Baltimore to Washing ton, and in most places very deep, reach ing a depth of 1,000 feet in some parts. The lake is in the form of a goose neck squash, with Geneva at the end of the neck. It Is covered with steamboats and sailboats ef various kinds, which ply from town to town and village to village along its banks. In traveling from Geneva to Berne I skirted the north side of the lake going through the rich orchards and vineyards which cover its shores. Tho land Is well tilled, the farms arc divided by hedges and the hills are so terraced with stone walls that every patch of them is used. Every vineyard has a sort of doll house in It about the size of a large store box. This is intended for the men who guud the ripe grapes from birds and other two legged thieves. As in France, the vines are tied to stakes. Each vine has its own stake and it Is trimmed down to a stub every year. FRANK G. CARPENTER. Speed is Costly Boston Globe: They tell great things about the speed of the ocean greyhounds, but omit to eay that speed costs as does every other luxury. They expect to drive Kaiser Wilhelm II twenty-four knots an hour, but It will take an expenditure of 40,000 horsepower to do it, whereas 14,000 horsepower will drive Cedrtc, the largest ship in the world, seventeen knots. Every additional pound of steam means more coal, more "hands' and more ex pense in every direction, until the In creased speed is soon forbidden by the In creased cost. An attempt to drive either a ship or a man too fast soon costs more than It Is worth. Why not take it easy? Fond Hopes Blasted New York Sun: "Dearest! Say 'yes. " She hung her head and was silent. "Say 'yes.' " he entreated. The maiden raised a cold, determined face and looked him squarely in the eye. "Percival, I cannot." "But why?" he persisted. 'Surely you do not hate me?" "Hate you?" her voice broke as she spoke. "Hate you? I love you more than words can tell. But but er " "But what?" he demanded almost fiercely. "Percival, do not pain me by asking me again. Do not cast temptation in my path. Once for all, I cannot. Your station Is too far above mine." At Fourteenth street she arose and left the car, while he, crestfallen and heart sick, continued on to One Hundred and Forty-fifth street. Pointed Paragraphs Chicago News: Don't try to drown your Borrows In a Jug. It's a wise clerk who laughs at the pro prietor's fool Jokes. Dealers who sell Bibles 6ay there are great prophets in them. The head of the Weather bureau is some times a weather-beaten man. A bad temper Is an awkward thing to have and a dangerous thing to lose. It is much easier to see the way we should go than It Is to go the way we see. Though a man's will may be strong In law, a woman's won't Is a law unto Itself. There Is almost as much realism In fiction as there Is Imagination in history. If a baby could say what it thinks when people kiss It, one kiss would be sufficient. Buzz saws are usually temperate, but occasionally they take two or three fingers. Probably the worst feature about the wis dom that age brings us is the short time we have lift to use It. After eating onions a girl should sit down and read a ghost story that Is calculated to take her breath away. Many a man who objects to carrying a bundle home from a dry goods store goes home from his club loaded. The endurance of the amateur cornet artist would bring him fame and fortune if directed In some other channel. If you are anxious to have a lot of people mourn your death all you have to do Is Join an assessment insurance association. 1
