I Read "General" Booth's "Darkest England," And Wrote
A Review Of It, Which Duly Appeared In The "Land Roll."
The "Etruria" is a fine ship.
She has a commodious saloon, music and
reading room, plenty of deck space for exercise, comfortable cabins,
bath rooms, etc.
On the 29th we made Sandy Hook Lighthouse, which is about 20 miles from
New York Dock, but we got in too late for the Custom-house officers to
look at our baggage, so we lay all night in the harbour, and next
morning commenced the tedious process of creeping up, yard by yard, into
our berth at the dock. The run from Liverpool was thus: - Liverpool to
Queenstown, on the 22nd and 23rd, 240 miles; 24th, at noon, 330 miles;
25th, 454; 26th, 462; 27th, 475; 28th, 480; 29th, 471; distance to
Sandy Hook Lighthouse, 130 miles; so that the run totals up to 3,042,
and with the 20 miles added, 3,062 miles.
I had been recommended by a passenger to go to the Hotel St. Stephen, 46
to 52, East Eleventh Street, New York, whence I drove in a cab perhaps a
mile and a half, for which the cabman wanted 2 dollars (equal to 8s.
4d.); he got 1-1/2, which was half-a-dollar too much. Passengers should
drive to their hotel, and then ask the proper fare before paying. New
York has many large hotels - this is comparatively a small one. All the
waiters are coloured men, and this seems pretty general throughout
America.
I stayed over the 30th (Sunday) in New York, by which I secured a quiet
day and an opportunity to attend Divine service. In my bedroom was a
coil of stout Manilla rope screwed into the floor, near a window, so
that an escape might be secured in the event of fire. The towels
provided are a kind of compromise between a duster and a pocket
handkerchief - rather disappointing to one accustomed to his "tub." New
York is great in tram-cars, worked by horses, mules, and electricity,
also elevated railways - that is, railways running down the streets on
huge tressels or scaffolding - so that the vehicles go underneath them,
and the passengers in the train look straight into the first-floor
windows of the houses on the other side. There is an immense development
of electricity all over America, and in tram-cars, railway-cars, hotels,
houses, everything and everywhere, is the electric light prominent. Many
of the streets are unevenly paved. Blacking boots is a profession in
America - in many hotels a special charge is made for it, or else the
visitors are left to their own devices thereon - and boot-blacks have
shops and nooks fitted with high, huge easy chairs, elevated like
thrones, where their clients can comfortably repose during the operation
of polish.
The next morning, December 1st, I was up early, and made enquiries at
the various offices representing the railway lines to Chicago, with the
result that I took a ticket by the Pennsylvania route, and left New York
at 10 o'clock a.m. The train service between New York and Chicago is one
of the best, if not the best, in America. The cars are elegantly
fitted; they are about the length of the Pullman cars we have in
England. The best cars are those fitted with sleeping accommodation, and
travellers having tickets for a "sleeper" have the privilege of using
the sleeping car during the day. The sleeping cars are divided into
squares capable of seating four persons, but the space is accorded to
two only, as only two beds or berths can be made up in the space; the
lower berth (which is always the favourite) is formed of the two double
seats (the space for four seats), filled up in the centre by special
fittings and mattresses, hidden during the day inside the seats; the
upper berth is pulled down from the sloping roof of the car, and in the
receptacle between the slope and the square are contained the bedding
and the fittings. A curtain falls down over both the upper and lower
berths, and, so far as one can, the dressing has to be done with the
curtain hanging round one as one stands within it; and if on both sides
of the car passengers happen to stand behind their respective curtains
at the same time, they would touch one another and so block the
passage-way. The dressing accommodation is so inconvenient that only
partial undressing is adopted. The outside of the slope is polished
mahogany, and in the daytime bears no indication whatever of what it
really is, but looks like a handsome sloping polished mahogany roof.
These cars are luxuriously fitted. Another car on the train is a
handsome dining saloon, with kitchen attached, where you can order as
good a dinner as you could obtain at an hotel. The cars are also fitted
liberally with lavatories and water-closets, separate ones for ladies
and for gentlemen. On this train is also a bath-room and a barber's
shop. There are also one or two small private rooms, which can be hired
separately. This train has also a recent addition, being what is called
a drawing-room or observation car; this is the last on the train, and
the end is fitted with glass, so that in riding along passengers in this
car enjoy an uninterrupted view of the country they are leaving behind.
On this special train a ladies' maid is provided for the convenience of
ladies, and a stenographer, with his type-writing machine, occupies a
seat in the vestibule of the drawing-room car to take down any urgent
letters which business men may desire to post en route. The
observation car is supplied with a library for the use of passengers,
and is fitted with plate-glass windows and easy chairs. It has a
platform where one can breathe the fresh air outside if desired.
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