Show u c On the Ahr and Mosselle During the Vintage I I Charming District In Germany Where Nature and Man Work I in Delightful Harmon V A A visit to the Rhino district during the height of the vintage Is n rare treat and tho best place to spend the I I few weeks IB In tho more favored Io I alttles of tho Mossolle and tho Ahr Tho Ahr Is generally considered tho most northernly point whero tho vine Is cultivated In any quantity and visitors Itors cannot do better than make Re magen a center while exploring tho alloy and watching the vintage Re magen a small town on tho loft bunk of the Rhino Is noted principally for tho elegant Gothic Apolllnnrlsklrcho as well as for being the place whoro ho greater part of thu many million bottles of the famous Apolllnarls water Is loaded In barges for tranship ment at Rotterdam and other pert to all parts of the world The church of St Apolllnarls Is on a hill a little below tho town prettily surrounded by wellkept vineyards and forming altogether a charming introduction to ho beautiful Ahrthal Tho tlrst town of importance to my subject is Ahr woller about nine miles from Ro margon an Interesting place with n population of nearly 3000 Fine old walls encircle tho town In which there are four gates and numerous old buildings to delight the archaeologist I Primitive Wine Pren getting to tho various terraces so that one can Imagine the patient and la borloua labor required in tho culUva tlon of the vine Soil manure and occasionally water have to be carried on tho shoulders of the workers to these almost Inaccessible vine plots From hero we proceed to the delightful I delight-ful villages of Dernau and Rech and I thence to Lochmuhlo where are the rather important vineyards of May schosB Tho extreme industry required re-quired In vine growing Is horo well observed Every accessible shelf of r rock has b < M > n natlentli bronchi Into use and i know of no liner stretch on tho Rhino itself than tho vineyards about horo Tho day Is fine and about ton oclock when tho sun has got some power tho whole scene becomes allvo with men women and children turning out to gather tho grapes It is a case of many hands making light work t no too old at 40 In thin I business but every pair of hands however feeble are of use at this most critical time The gathering scorns done by magic for no sooner do tho pickers commence than tho men start bringing down tho grapes In speciallyprepared baskets to tho vats In carts on tho high road In some Instances tho bunches aro passed between rollers and In others pulped In a more primitive manner thus on abllng largor loads to bo carried and the vintage gets on apace Tho wholo available population of tho valley seems to turn out for tho vintage and tho road Is thronged by happy groups young and old trundling tholr little carts Joyously to and from tho vineyards vine-yards ten horses but horo and there a team of soft ed creamcolored oxen led by quite a child pass along the road ladon with deliciously sun warmed grapes that Boom to 1111 tho country side with tholr fragrance yi is I tt lttl Div i 111 t t r l Terraced Vineyards In I the Ender Thai and nrtlstlcallymtiided traveler Tho trade of this ancient town IsI might say exclusively wine Most of the vineyards between hero and Altonahr a distance of sovon miles aro owned own-ed by residents in Ahrweller It is at Walporzhelm a short distance from Ahrwellor that tho wild and picturesque pictur-esque scenery of the Ahrthal begins Here the valley narrows and the road and river have Just room to struggle strug-gle through a cleft In tho rocks with a curjouslyprojoctlug ledge called the Bun to Kuh Near by in a short walk from the main road Is a pic turesquelysituated wine house where the wines of the Ahr may be satisfactorily satisfac-torily sampled and beautiful views in every direction enjoyed At Marien thai wo aro in the midst of the vino Industry and on the right adjoining the road are tho ruins of the nunnery of Marlenthal The vineyards appear reaching as a succession of terraces from the top to the bottom of the hills I and in places are so steep that only by artificial means can sufficient soil be retained to glvo the necessary foothold foot-hold to the plants However although the conditions of culture are so difficult diffi-cult the vines seem to flourish exceedingly ex-ceedingly and aro now teeming with their luscious bunches of purple grapes quite ready for the vintagers In some places stops are cut In the rocks in others ladders aro used for The wino iodide on the Ahr prlncl pally redIs of tho Burgundy type fairly strong the finer kinds being greatly sought by tho trade from allover all-over Gormany Another couple of miles brings one to Altonahr time crowning sight of tile valley Tho cas the perched or a rock several hundred hun-dred feet high Its slopes covered with vineyards appears to entirely block the valley and one wonders what lao l la-o become of tho river to say nothing of tho road However tho river swoops round tho base of tho castlo for about a mile and a half returning return-Ing to nearly the same point A tun icl passing under the castle rock carries car-ries the road Into the Interesting town of Altenahr Wo must now return to lemagcn and take the train there for Coblenz and thence to Cochera a most beautifully situated town on tho Moselle Hotels aro alive with Germans Ger-mans from all parts of the country como to speculate in tho vintage lore also the vines havo done exceedingly ex-ceedingly well and there aro rumors of the difficulty that will be experienced experi-enced in getting vessels sufficient to contain the yield I have many opportunities oppor-tunities of seeing tho vintage tho grape gathered with the greatest I care and each bunch rigidly Inspected Inspect-ed as snipped off tho vine Mosellea of tho delicately flavored kind demand every care In this direction Tho bettor bet-tor way of seeing the Moselle is by steamer but owing to tho tourist season sea-son being practically over before vine ago tlmo nomo other way must be found Tho railway Is not very convenient con-venient but It being a matter of Hobsons choice the visitor can rail to Borncastlo Sues station changing at Wengerohr At Bern castle there Is a good oldfaslrtonod inn Drol Konlge In which the trav eler will experience a real sense of welcome The principal part of the town lies over tho bridge on tho right hank of tho rivera quaint huddled up place of groat Interest and doing a large trade In wine I consider the Moselle much moro attractive than tho Rhino The banks when not under tho cultivation of tho vino aro thickly covered with woods while tho Innumerable villages together to-gether with the complicated windings of the river and the undulating hills are u source of pleasure not easily forgotten The people one meets could not be kinder they are extremely extreme-ly cheerful and tho evenings in tho hotels have all the delights of tho family circle H DUNNING |