today, and, while I liked it better than the Italian way of preparing
it, I did not like it so well as the American way. Italian macaroni
did not please my taste. It was not cooked enough, to begin with, and
had the tomato sauce baked into it. It is a sight to see Italians
eat macaroni. It is cooked in long strings, and the Italians poke it
into their mouths in a fashion that is not at all pleasing.... Six
whales were in sight at one time this afternoon, and probably there
were many more in the school we did not see. An hour later, we ran into
the biggest lot of porpoises I have ever seen. They were quite close
to the ship, on both sides of it, and seemed to be following us. A
porpoise looks like a fish weighing twenty-five to forty pounds, and
leaps entirely out of the water when in a sportive mood. Jumping out of
the water is probably a fish’s method of taking a bath.... We have
our chairs on the upper or hurricane deck, and, when we take a walk,
pass the wireless room, where an operator sits all day and night with
receivers at his ears, to catch any call that may be in the air. When
the operator reads, he has the receivers fastened to his ears, and I
have seen him eating dinner in his room when rigged up in the same
queer way.... A dove has been following the ship several days. It is
very tired, and this morning I saw it attempt to light on the waves;
then it fluttered up into the rigging, and rested there awhile....
Near the entrance to the dining-room there is a notice in French and
English. Among other things, it says the management will appreciate the
courtesy if passengers dress for luncheon and dinner. We are wondering
what a proper dress for luncheon is. The rules also say that dogs are
not allowed on board, but one has the run of the ship; and, since he is
the only nuisance on board, we wonder that the officers stand for it.
I never cared much for those who go crazy about dogs. Senator Vest, of
Missouri, once wrote a false and sentimental tribute to dogs, and the
Dog People were so much encouraged by it that they are very pronounced
nuisances everywhere. No one has a right to keep a dog that is a
nuisance to others; whoever does not know this is unfair and impolite
in other ways.... The big ship “Canada” is doing a very fair job of
pitching this afternoon, but we have been at sea so long that we do not
mind it. There is a noticeable thinning-out on the steerage deck. So
far, we have been at sea fifty-three days since leaving San Francisco,
and have been seasick only four or five days. We were sick three days
on the Pacific, and two between Australia and New Zealand, but during
the last forty-seven days at sea we have experienced no inconvenience.
I sleep at night as I never slept before in my life; there is just
enough motion to rock me to sleep.... In Italy, a traveler from the
United States wonders at the general use of wine. All classes drink it,
and it is very cheap; I bought a bottle of very good wine in Naples
for six cents. The poor people use it instead of gravy or milk; on the
ship, I see emigrants soaking their bread in wine. Every vacant plot
of ground in Naples is devoted to grapes and vegetables. In the heart
of the town, wherever you find a vacant lot, you find a garden. I have
never seen anything growing in Italy except vegetables and fruit; I
wonder where the wheat comes from with which they make macaroni? The
Italians say American flour makes better bread than the Italian flour,
but inferior macaroni. The Italians are poor, as a rule, but nearly
all of them are fat; particularly the women. The poor people of Italy
do not eat meat once a week; the Italian emigrants on the ship get it
twice a day. But they are very wasteful of it, and complain as much as
though they had always been accustomed to the very best. One of the
officers says that on the last trip, the ship was compelled to bring
back twenty-two emigrants who failed to pass the examination in New
York. The charge against one man was that he had been a professional
beggar. This man made a great deal of trouble during the voyage to
New York; he was always finding fault with the food, although it was
abundant. I asked the officer why the ship gave the emigrants so much
food that they threw it overboard; his reply was that the Italian
commissioner on board insisted on a liberal supply, and the captain
was at his mercy. The emigrants are pretty well crowded in their
sleeping quarters; one hundred and fifty men sleep in one room, in a
bed which runs up in broad tiers. If the owners of the English ships
running between Australia and New Zealand ever hear of this, they will
die of mortification because of their moderation in putting only four
in a room.... We had a moving-picture show last night, with the
explanatory lecture in French.... The barber who shaves me every
morning says he has been going to sea a good many years, but never
started on a voyage on Friday; that a ship never leaves its initial
port on Friday. The barber is mistaken. For thirty years or more, the
P. & O. line has sent a ship out of London every Friday. Nine-tenths
of all you hear is untrue. The barber also says that the famous
expression, “See Naples and die,” is founded on a play on words. In
the bay of Naples there is an island called Morreai, which in Italian,
means something connected with death. The original saying was, “See
Naples and Morreai,” but in a spirit of levity the English translated
the saying, “See Naples and die.”
FRIDAY, MAY 9.—This afternoon we passed the “Lusiana,” an Italian
emigrant ship also bound for New York. The “Lusiana” left Naples a
day before we did, but it is slow, and we overhauled it. We passed
it within a hundred yards, and marveled at the manner in which it
pitched and rolled; probably the big “Canada” was cutting up in a
similar manner, viewed from the decks of the “Lusiana,” which were
black with emigrants. The emigrants did a good deal of cheering as we
passed.... The “Canada” is also a faster ship than the “Princess
Irene,” the favorite, and we are hoping that we may overtake it, and
jeer at the passengers. The “Princess Irene” had a start of nearly
twenty-four hours, as it did not stop at Palermo.... By-the-way, as
we left the “Lusiana” behind, I caught the geographies in a ridiculous
error. They all say that at sea, the last sight of a disappearing
vessel is the top of its masts; which proves, the geographies say, that
the world is round. The curvature of the earth is something like an
inch to the mile, so that the funnels of a ship would not disappear
under five hundred miles, if one could see that far. Three hours after
we passed the “Lusiana,” it was a mere speck on the horizon, but we
could plainly see its hull. After it had entirely disappeared from view
by the naked eye, we could see its hull with the aid of glasses. The
ships were probably fifteen miles apart when we finally lost sight of
the “Lusiana,” and the difference between them, in the curvature of the
earth, did not exceed fifteen inches.... The hull of the “Canada” is
white, and it must have presented a very pretty sight to the passengers
on the “Lusiana,” who were all of one class: emigrants. But down below,
the “Canada” is probably a little untidy. Everything below its two
top decks is crowded with emigrants, and they are not very clean. In
the evening, they sing a great deal; a trombone-player, en route to
New York to join an Italian band, leads with his instrument. Among
the first-class passengers is an Italian opera-singer who is about as
good as any of the second-rate tenors at the Metropolitan Opera House,
and he sings every evening.... Nearly all the emigrants seem to
wear home-made socks and shoes. Most of them are young men; I doubt
if there are two hundred women in the entire lot. Many of them have
been over before, and will return home when outdoor work ceases next
winter, as the price of the passage is only $25. The weather is chilly,
and the emigrants sit on deck wrapped in blankets furnished them by
the steamship company. In addition to a blanket, each is given a sack
stuffed with straw, and on these they sleep. Nearly all of them eat
in groups on deck, and this morning I saw them pouring olive oil into
tin cups containing either coffee and bread, or wine and bread, I could
not tell which.... I write this at a table in a little alcove on
deck, and the screaming of the emigrants as they excitedly talk to
each other amounts to a roar. This noise is in my ears continuously,
except when I go to my room, which is amidships, and far removed from
the emigrant decks forward and aft.... The cooking on the ship
continues to astonish us, it is so excellent. So far, we have not had
a dish duplicated at lunch or dinner. You would think anyone could
scramble eggs; it may be difficult to unscramble them, as the late J.
P. Morgan once observed, but there should be little difference in the
process of scrambling them. I am fond of scrambled eggs, and have been
eating them all my life, but the manner in which they are prepared in
the “Canada’s” kitchen is new and delightful. This morning I asked the
chief steward to take Adelaide into the kitchen, to learn the chef’s
secret of scrambling eggs. Adelaide says one secret of his delicious
cooking is that everything is reeking in butter. It is possible that
a German or English crew would suit me better than the French crew
of the “Canada,” when it comes to the general work of the ship, but
the kitchen and dining-room, and sleeping-rooms, are better managed
on this ship than on any other with which I have been familiar on two
voyages around the world, and three shorter trips by sea. I do not want
any better accommodations than I have on the “Canada.”... Much as I
admire the Germans, I cannot help noting that their language does not
_sound_ as well as French or Italian. To a man who does not understand
languages, the German sounds worst of all, unless it is the Russian.
On the “Burgermeister,” where we heard German constantly for more than
three weeks, we used to laugh at its funny sounds. I know of no uglier
sounding word than the German word “yaw,” which means “yes.” If I were
a young man, and should propose to a young and beautiful German girl,
and she should reply with what poets say is the sweetest of all words,
yaw, I should feel disposed to run away to South America, or South
Africa, or some other country where it is too hot.... I have never
known anyone to struggle quite so hard against baldness as the barber
on the “Canada.” When his hair is in order, it looks all right, but
the other morning, while I was being shaved, the window blew open, and
the barber’s hair went to pieces. He is bald, but has cultivated a lot
of long hair on the side of his head which he combs over his baldness.
The wind threw this long hair out of place, and as it flapped around,
the barber was as flustrated as an old maid suddenly discovered in her
night-gown.... Speaking of the barber reminds me that he says all
the officers of the “Canada,” except the captain, wanted more pay,
a few months ago, and walked out just before the ship was to sail
from Marseilles. The ship had a big lot of passengers aboard, but the
general manager was stubborn, and he fooled around for a week before
he could find another set of officers.... We hear on the upper deck
that the six hundred Sicilians among the emigrants are not as good
workers as the fourteen hundred Italians; and that in addition to
being lazy, the Sicilians use a knife with very little provocation. In
Sicily, you hear a great deal of the vendetta, wherein a man will knife
another man who is a second cousin to an enemy.... This morning we
passed the Azore islands, where Columbus stopped on his famous voyage.
Usually the “Canada” passes between the islands, and quite close to
shore, but owing to rain and mist we passed on the longer and safer
course.
SATURDAY, MAY 10.—It turned out just as the barber predicted: Behind
the Azores we encountered rough seas, and the big ship “Canada” has
been jumping today like a greyhound. The wind is blowing heavily,
and there is an occasional shower of rain. After every shower, there
is a rainbow; one of them made a bow over the stern of the ship, and
followed us for fifteen minutes. We were late for breakfast this
morning, but the steward said we were the first ones in, and no others
came while we were there. We have suffered no inconvenience from the
rough weather, except that we became tired of bracing ourselves. The
sailors dislike rough weather; they do not become seasick, but rough
weather at sea is disagreeable, as it is on land, and results in gloomy
thoughts and bad tempers. Rough weather rolls you about in your bed
at night, and the most experienced sailor cannot sleep as well as
he can when the weather is good.... I have frequently mentioned
the barber. On every ship, the barber shop is headquarters for news.
In the days before newspapers, people went to the barber-shops for
the gossip of the day. The “Canada’s” barber is a German, but speaks
French and English. He lived in London four years, and told me today
that he found, after learning English in London, that Americans could
not understand him very well. Which corroborates my statement that
the people of the United States and the English do not speak the same
language.... The man on the “Canada” who has least to do is the
barkeeper. I have not seen a single drink ordered in the dining-room.
On the “Burgermeister,” nearly everyone ordered something from the bar
at luncheon and dinner, and paid extra for it, but on the “Canada,”
two kinds of wine are furnished free. The profit from liquor on the
German ship must have been enormous. Two kinds of keg beer, light and
dark, were sold, and nearly everybody drank one or the other. The
weather was very warm nearly all the time I was on the “Burgermeister,”
and the cold beer was particularly agreeable. But on the “Canada,” I
have not seen the barkeeper fill a half-dozen orders. The weather is
chilly, and we wear our heaviest winter clothing; besides, there is no
German beer on draught.... This is the sixth day out, and we have
had strawberries every day. It is surprising how fresh and palatable
the cook manages to make everything taste. We are paying about seven
dollars a day each for our accommodations on this ship, which include
two rooms on the best deck, a private bath, three of the best meals
I have ever eaten, and bouillon at 11 A. M., and tea at 4 P. M. We
would be charged about the same price in the second-class on the big
Atlantic liners. The “Canada” is a new ship, working for a reputation;
that is the only explanation I know of. Anyone going abroad, by taking
this line, sees Palermo, in Sicily, and Naples, in Italy, on the way,
landing finally at Marseilles, in France. Some of the other ships of
the line stop at Lisbon, in Portugal, and at the Azores, also....
You can pay almost any price for accommodations at sea. It is said
John Jacob Astor paid $5,000 for accommodations on the “Titanic,” and
the management didn’t do a thing but drown him. He had three or four
rooms, two baths, a private dining-room, etc. Speaking of J. J. Astor
reminds me that he made financial mistakes, as well as the rest of us.
In closing up his estate it was found that he had ten million dollars
worth of securities which were practically worthless. But Astor could
drive a hard bargain, on occasion. He once found a man who was hard up,
and who wanted to sell a yacht which cost half a million dollars. The
yacht was new, and the man thought he ought to have $450,000 for it.
But Astor finally got it for $90,000.... There is a man on board
who is the best newspaper scholar I have ever known. He is familiar
with everything that has appeared in the newspapers for the past twenty
or thirty years. I have posted myself on the news of the past five
months by talking to him. He is very entertaining, and quite modest;
he frequently says: “I know nothing about it myself; I only know what
I read in the newspapers.” I have never before known a man quite like
him.... We have dinner at 6:30 on the “Canada,” but the passengers
never come into the dining-room until a quarter of an hour later, when
the _table d’hôte_ dinner begins. At the fine Hotel Vesuve, in Naples,
the dinner hour was 7:30, but the guests were always a quarter of an
hour late.... Our guide in Naples was a rather sullen American,
and we learned today that he was formerly a very rich man. His father
died seven years ago, and left him a fortune, but he ran through with
it, and is now a guide, at $2 a day. He spent most of his money in
Monte Carlo, at the gambling-tables. This information I get from the
newspaper scholar, quoted above, who is an old traveler. He says he
knows the guide well, but refused to give me his name. I have the
guide’s card, but the newspaper scholar says it is not his real name.
SUNDAY, MAY 11.—The bad weather continues, and we cannot take our usual
walks. We sit in a protected place on the upper deck, wrapped in rugs,
and talk about getting home. Adelaide has decided that she does not
care to remain in New York long; that she wants to get home as soon
as possible; so if we reach that city Thursday night, as expected,
Friday afternoon will see us on a railroad train headed westward....
While on the Pacific ocean, I met a life insurance man named Adams,
who told me that he traveled constantly, and that his expenses, afloat
and ashore, averaged $11 a day. He kept no expense account, he said;
at the end of the year he charged the company $11 a day for expenses,
and that was almost exactly what he spent. Today I made a calculation,
and found that the present trip has cost us $11 a day each, almost to a
penny. So if you want to know what traveling costs, here is an estimate
you may depend upon. This means rapid traveling, by railroad and
steamship, and sightseeing in the towns with the assistance of a guide.
The estimate includes the purchases a traveler is compelled to make,
and cannot be reduced much unless you travel second-class, and deny
yourself many things. At Palermo, we hired a guide, and drove about
nearly all day in a new two-horse carriage, with liveried driver. The
expense was considerable, but we saw dozens of things that those who
did not take a guide and carriage, failed to see.... A stewardess
on the “Canada” has enormous feet. She is rather a pretty woman, but
her feet are much too big. Americans have smaller feet than any other
race.... There is a young man on board who has a tremendous lot of
hair, which he never combs. There is something peculiar about him,
and today we found out what it is: he is an artist.... There is a
woman on board who left New York in February, a bride. She said to
me today: “I’m not happy; but I’m as happy as married women usually
are, and am content.” I’ve been thinking about the statement, and have
almost concluded that she is a smart woman. Isn’t she smarter than the
woman who marries, expects to be happy, is disappointed, and becomes
sour over her disappointment?... I see that Edward Bok, editor of the
_Ladies’ Home Journal_, is offering prizes to husbands who will write
the best articles under this title: “Why I Wanted My Wife to Become
My Wife.” The prize articles will be written by sentimentalists who
will write, not the truth, but what the editor wants. The husbands
who know the truth about marriage, rarely tell it.... A man on
board is a great reader, and gets a new book out of the library every
day. He sits near me on deck, and frequently criticises the authors
of the books he reads. Still, it is easier to be a great critic than
it is to be a great author.... This man knows many things I never
heard of. He says he once knew a boy only seven years old who was an
ordained preacher in the Methodist church. I knew better, but I did not
argue with him. I’ve quit arguing; I hear foolish statements every day
without contradicting them. In the smoking-room today I heard a man say
that a cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church need not be a priest, and
that a cardinal might marry if he chose. Another man said Mark Twain
was once a preacher, and had a regular charge.
MONDAY, MAY 12.—This has been the most disagreeable day of the voyage.
The wind blew a hurricane, but shifted so frequently that it kept the
sea down, although it was so bad that most of the passengers were ill.
The captain, when he came down to breakfast, said to the few present:
“I’m sorry.” Meaning the weather; he had promised us a fine voyage.
The captain is a very polite man; when he comes into the dining-room,
in the morning, he speaks to most of the passengers, and goes about to
shake hands with some of them. He is very solicitous of those who are
ill, but Captain Trask, of the American ship “Sonoma,” thought it a
disgrace to be seasick, and would barely speak to any of his passengers
so afflicted. He used to say he was never seasick in his life, and
that seasickness was “just a notion.”... Adelaide, the farmer’s
daughter, does not mind the terrific motion of the ship, but I have a
slight headache, and do not care to eat much.... The barber says
conditions down among the emigrants are bad. Most of them are in bed,
in rooms containing hundreds. All the married couples occupy one large
room, and sleep in their clothes. The unmarried women occupy another
large room, and the unmarried men another. There are tables down below,
where the emigrants may eat their food, but they eat on deck when the
weather will permit. For breakfast they are given a soup thick with
vegetables, and coffee; for dinner and supper they have boiled meat,
potatoes, macaroni, onions, wine, and bread. They are given so much to
eat that we all note the manner in which they waste it.... During
the worst of the storm today, a large woman sitting on deck attempted
to go below. She foolishly attempted to descend an open stairway, and
the wind blew her skirts over her head. This rendered her hysterical,
and she began screaming. Seven stewards were required to carry her to
her room, from which retreat she sends word on deck that she is so
humiliated that we will not see her again.... Owing to the storm,
our run was cut down to 368 miles today. The storm seemed very serious
to us, but on the log, the officers described it simply as: “Rough sea;
north-west gale.”