MEN OF THE ALPS

in the south of central europe stand the alps in this fantastic barren country a nation was formed switzerland over six centuries ago certain communities which had broken away from the great nations began to unite ever since that time the Swiss have kept secure their ideals of independence and democracy today the country is little more than four million people people like these humble hard-working and only half aware of their share in international events in the turmoil of European politics the Swiss had cherished their reputation for marksmanship every religion Switzerland has its rifle range and its shooting club each Sunday every man who can lift a rifle turns out for the practice this wrist present takes his shooting seriously it's just as deep an instinct with him as church-going is with his wife his national hero was a marksman William Tell the Swiss people struggle for existence is not political only it's also economic nearly a quarter of their land is unproductive lakes and mountains on which nothing grows three-fifths of what remains is middle and they harvest hay with strong light sides from mountain side so steep that elsewhere there would be neglected if this man was told he was working to the independence of his country he might smile but he is in the valleys to and perhaps three crops are taken in a year but he are only watch the grasses of shorter growth but finer quality on the meadowland are fed and bread cattle by dispensation of Providence the cattle also feed the meadowland by this intensive system Switzerland in spite of its small size is one of the three greatest cattle producing countries of Europe ranking the Denmark and Great Britain in 1931 were a million and a half cattle in the country more than one for every three of the population yet Switzerland imports much of her meat the cows are mainly used for their milk more than one-third of it is made into cheese this amounts to about eighty-five thousand tons in which nearly one-third is exported here is cheese being made in an agricultural college much as it's made in farmhouses and factories all over the country with so much of their country Balan the Swiss could not hope to live entirely by agriculture the extravagant beauty of their scenery attractive Globetrotters their grim I see rock faces attracted climbers shears came for their snow slopes tired men for their clean strong air Switzerland became a great tourist center eventually the number of hotels had to be kept down by law for the Swiss aren't only hotel people in fact tourism has ended their third industry in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries religious refugees from France and Italy fled here to safety skilled workers came with lace makers silk weavers jewelers watchmakers designers of intricate mechanical model these dolls were made by Jacques a drove in the 18th century and operate on the same system is the modern automatic telephone exchange one right another draws and a third plays the piano the work of the fugitives throve in peace and they taught the switch their skill the long swiss winters kept them to their houses and foster their industry soon they supplied all Europe with fine goals the machine industry which arose to supply these workers itself grew great the swiss peasant proved himself as keen and thought our mechanic as his father was a mountain farm switzerland became an industrial country but the greatest of their natural resources was discovered only 30 years ago in the very glaciers and lakes whose Beauty had seen so idea this was water park the Alps of the watershed of Europe he arrives the rind and the road as the mountain streams came down from their Glacia sources dams were thrown up to turn their force into electric park nearly five thousand million units are produced in Switzerland every year over two thousand million units are used by Swiss industry and the railways a thousand million units are actually sold abroad with the aid of the new source of path the Swiss now compete in European markets for manufactured goods the heavy industries take first place in their struggle for economic survival ah the great powers mobilized their economic strength against them they raise tariff barriers on all sides these customs which seem to travel as a harmless nuisance at a Switzerland economic warfare so the Swiss to have set up economic barriers in defense of their cherished independence you