Show life chalet in a swiss village y A E MUITA t r asi v y w v Cf tae A i HAT happiness Is to be found come where outside himself seems to be an almost universal feeling among mankind dort wo du alst dort la das gluck As the years pass by the fallacy in it begins to make itself felt but each individual has to find it out for himself in the school of experience nor must he hope by any argument to convince those who have not yet learnt the lesson thousands are now accustomed to take an an nual holiday in the alps but most of these hav ing aply a few short weeks at their disposal stay at a hotel there are however many and their number Is ever increasing who go out with their families and spend the whole season in the mountains yet who grow weary of continual hotel life and seek after something that shall be not only more independent but less expensive tor to many the question of expense looms larger every year such can hardly do better than take a furnished chalet in the hills there are many such to be found and although rents tend to increase they cannot yet be said to be excessive tho swiss have realized the fact that there la a growing demand tor well appointed chafets chalets in good sit nations so that many have recently been built and others are being adapted those thinking of taking such a chalet tor the winter months would be well advised to see that it stands at an altitude of not less than 3 feet above sea level should it be lower there will be some risk ot fogs from the plains and lakes ris ing above it and of wet mud taking the place of firm dry snow it may be remarked in passing that for housekeeping purposes it Is useful to choose a place within easy reach of some town such as montreux or though much shopping Is best done by post it the bouse Is large it will sometimes happen that the owner will retain a few rooms tor his own personal use in this case he will almost always be glad to give help whenever it Is asked tor the average swiss village let it be said does not usually provide the luxuries of a capua but the visitor will quickly discover where to obtain everything that he needs he will soon find that bis chalet can be managed with remarkably little servant power central heating may be called necessity and in a private house where the ventilation can be proper ly attended to it does not produce the stuffiness that is such an undesirable feature in so many hotels at rome as at rome Is a useful motto or those who live away from their country the swiss peasant has bis own opinions and bis own way of looking at life therefore a visitor should not be angry with him when he finds that he baa a fixed notion that all foreigners are semi mil lion alres Is it surprising that the villagers being intelligent it somewhat narrow and uneda bated should look upon the gens de who come from afar and live in nice bouses and so far as they can see do no work whatever as almost inexhaustible gold mines they would hardly be human it they did not use their of making hay while the sun shines only it rests with each visitor to see that he does not personally contribute an unreasonably large share of the hay the dw eller in hotels sees but one aide of swiss character the outside tor though the swiss may be business like he Is emphatically not obsequy lous by nature on the contrary he is vigorously independent the father of a large family will be grateful to receive any crumbs from the rich man s table in the chape of discarded clothes for the use of his boys provided that they are offered as from an equal to an equal tor be is very sensitive but in a short time one of the boys will probably bring a basket of eggs to thank mon bleur and madame the writer was once asked to photograph some girls and a few days later a message came from the children a mother might she do some of the household washing free of charge in return that Is not such a bad kind of independence at least it compares favorably with a variety that is to be met with which thinks to enow its independence in tough man ners but Is not above taking everything it can get without making any adequate return take him all round the swiss peasant is an interesting and a good man to deal with suspicious at first and sensitive always he responds warmly when he is treated with tact and sympathy one of the very first questions that occur to a possible chalet dweller Is will there be plenty of congenial society or shall we be dull to which the reply must be made that the amount of depends largely on the place selected and ita nature on ones self it is always possible to ascertain beforehand the number and size of the hotels in the village and these may be looked upon as a fairly reliable index of the visiting pop moreover it has been the writers ex peri ence that hotel keepers far from looking askance at chalet dwellers welcome them and willingly allow them the use of their skating rinks and toboggan runs on very moderate terms many chafets chalets are now built with an open fireplace in the drawing room where cheerful wood fires may bo lighted and let it be remembered that in most places wood Is so plentiful that within a few minutes walk of the chalet sack of fir cones and armfuls of sticks and logs may be collected nor la it possible to exhaust the supply yet in the daytime artificial heating can often be dispensed with day after day tho sun shines in cloudless beauty and it is possible to sit out on the balcony reading hour after hour so dry is the air that snow evaporates with the heat more rapidly than it melts BO that unless the thaw be bwy pronounced there is a total absence of slush last winter a week of snow at the beginning of december was followed by six weeks of fi frozen in thy chajem grounded alps appear as it sprinkled with snow but ua a closer approach they are seen to be covered with narcissi so profuse are they that the hosts of visitors who carry away armfuls every day make no noticeable impression most people have at least beard of the fields of wild narcissi that extend from les alanta all the way into the Gru yeres country and many have seen them but not so many are aware that they may be seen in numerous other districts of the alps in every valley golden globe flowers grow in masses that catch and reflect the sunlight while orchids and lilies of many kinds and colors vie with each other in brilliancy A little higher up at the melting of the snows may be found the dell cate most modest of flowers but A typical chalet perhaps more gorgeous gorge oua than any other at least daily sunshine this period Is when seen in masses aavo way in turn to a time the gent lana v e r n a when snow and frost transformed whose intense azure the whole countryside blue spread on the vivid into a perfect fairyland green of the young the snow is crisp but not grass shoots forms a wet the air keen yet not natural carpet of ansur raw and everyone comes in passable loveliness with the glow of health on paradise amid such a his countenance it though of flowers the idea of an Is possible to feel pleasantly artificial garden Is un tired in such air after a ions thinkable tramp or a big ski ing expedition there Is never a sen it will sometimes happen of weariness here that a late snowfall in ike aile and there in a sheltered cor will occur even in april ner the sun will chase away or may the calet the snow and almost instantly a few stray prim roses and gentians the forerunners of spring will burst into flower even in december if the season be a mild one they may be found A lit tie later fields of delicate snowflakes are common locally alth the lengthening days of february and march when the SUM rising higher in the heavens disperses the snow every meadow and pasture teems with the loveliest of flowers there seems to be no end to natures acres and acres of cowslips of a size and richness not known to england bloom uninterruptedly tor more than six weeks anemones An emones white and yel low large and small thrive in the wildest profusion while in the woods fragrant daphne Is followed by the wild illy of the valley in many places the pheasant eye narcissus grows as thick as grass and scents the while neighborhood in deed from a distance of ten miles the mountain dweller may come down to breakfast a couple ot feet of snow outside bla windows while he Is breakfasting the sun rushes out from behind a neighboring ridge and in an hour or two there Is no more snow that same atte ropon roads and meadows will be dry and flowers once more firm and upright soon it becomes too hot to sit in the sun that Is the end of the winter season for those who have become weary of the noise and hurry and dirt of town life what greater change could be Imagined 9 it may be that there will come a moment to the chalet dweller when he will feel mingled with reluctance at leaving the calm life of the mountains a certain antica batory joy at the thought of returning once more to the crowded days of city life but what of thata it only means that the apell has worked that the cure Is complete every mother knows that her BOD ought to marry a princess the world must be in a pretty bad way when even the promoter isn t faithful to his trust |