and the sun struggled out. By 11 A. M. all the emigrants were on deck,
chattering as usual.... The chief steward gave us declaration
blanks at breakfast; which means we are nearing New York.... We
are in communication today with five other steamships, and Cape Race.
The cost of a wireless message of ten words to the United States is
marked on the bulletin board as $3.80.... Every day of the voyage
we have had a different fish for dinner; apparently as fresh as when
caught. I shall long remember the King fish as the best of the lot.
The butter is also surprisingly fresh, considering the fact that no
farmers can come in with a fresh supply. I shall always remember my
voyage on the “Canada” as the most endurable I have ever made; and
in my time I have been a passenger on two dozen different ships. The
passengers are quiet and polite, and there has been no talk of Sports;
no games of any kind are played, and it has been an ideal voyage in
all respects, except two days of bad weather.... The barber, a
German, intends to quit. He says he likes the French crew; that he
gets along better with them than he got along with his own countrymen
on some boats, but he is not earning as much as he thinks he should.
A small passenger list is pleasant for the passengers, but disastrous
to the ship’s employees.... We had artichokes for dinner today. I
wonder where the idea originated that they are good to eat? They seem
to be very popular in Italy; I saw great stacks of them in Naples
and Palermo.... One of the women passengers appeared at dinner
tonight wearing an automobile bonnet and gauntlet gloves. I do not
bother myself much about taste in women’s dress, but that shocked me.
Another woman passenger is too ill to appear in the dining-room for
her meals, but is able to sit in the smoking-room every evening, and
puff cigarettes. I’ll never become accustomed to women smoking....
The young man who paints pictures in oil, and who has a shock of hair
which he never combs, is extremely good-natured. Which means that he
can’t paint much. A genius is always cross and impolite.... The
emigrants are not allowed to buy beer, so those in the second-cabin buy
it, and hand it over to the emigrants. I cannot see much difference
between the passengers in the second-cabin and the emigrants. Many of
the second-cabin passengers have friends among the emigrants, and visit
them a good deal. Two of the second-cabin passengers are young French
girls, accompanied by their mother. We hear they are going to the
United States to get rich husbands. The opinion prevails abroad that
America is full of rich men who will take nearly anything in the way
of a wife. It is a mistake. America has more attractive girls than any
other country, and half of them are compelled to get jobs.... The
Americans in the first-cabin live mainly in New York and Boston; we are
the only Westerners.... One of the passengers in the first-cabin is
a woman with two children. She has perfect manners, and is no doubt a
good woman, but I have somehow got the notion that her husband doesn’t
appreciate her at her true value. The other women say she is All Soul,
but probably her husband thinks that is the trouble with her; I never
knew a spiritual woman to please any man except her pastor. I am
satisfied that within a few hours after her arrival home, she will say
to her husband: “I would like to have a private talk with you.”
WEDNESDAY, MAY 14.—The man who intends to quit traveling because he
meets so many disagreeable Englishmen, said to me today: “An Englishman
is as crazy to know everything that is going on as a young Jew
traveling-man. And what annoys me is that the Americans submit tamely
to criticism from the English. Every day you see English criticism of
Americans in books and newspapers, but the Americans never strike back.
It isn’t true that Americans attract attention abroad because of their
rudeness; nine-tenths of the charges made against American travelers
are invented by the English. Ask any American who has traveled, and you
will find he dislikes the English. The English do not like Americans,
and Americans might as well throw off their reserve, and admit that
they do not like the English.”... The captain said this afternoon
that the “Princess Irene,” the favorite, is only twelve miles ahead
of us, and that we shall probably pass it tomorrow night.... About
sunset, there was great cheering on the steerage deck. Some one had
reported land in sight, but the report proved untrue.... There is
a very fat Italian woman in the first-cabin, and she has a very fat
daughter. Her husband is a passenger in the second-cabin.
THURSDAY, MAY 15.—At the Captain’s Dinner this evening, free champagne
was served, in addition to the two kinds of wine we have had free
twice a day since leaving Naples. The captain, whose name is Bouleuc,
made a speech in broken English. Sometime tonight we shall reach
New York, and cast anchor until daylight, when the doctor, customs
officers and immigration officers will come on board to see if they
can find anything suspicious.... People are as proud of ability
to speak French as they are proud of art or musical culture. I know
an American woman on board who has been reading French books all the
way from Naples; yet she confessed to me that she knows very little
French. She simply wanted the reputation (which she did not deserve) of
being a French scholar. An American man whom I know very well, sharply
criticises the French of a woman who sits at the captain’s table, and
who talks constantly and volubly in French with the captain. Yet the
man confessed to me that he knows only enough French to “get along.”...
We thought of remaining up until we could see the lights of New
York, but abandoned the idea at 9:30, and went to bed.
FRIDAY, MAY 16.—When I awoke this morning, the “Canada” was lying off
Sandy Hook, in company with eight other ships that had arrived during
the night, and were waiting for the port officers. Among the ships was
the “Princess Irene,” the Favorite. It had a start of twenty-four
hours, as it did not stop at Palermo, but we arrived as soon as it
did.... We landed at 10 A. M., and greatly admired every man, woman,
child and building we saw. The first thing we did was to make a dash
for the Pennsylvania Station, where we arranged to leave for Home at
5 P. M.... What a wonderful building the Pennsylvania Station is!
Nothing else like it in the world; except a few blocks away, where may
be found the New York Central Station, which is still finer....
I showed Adelaide as much of New York as I could from 10 A. M. to 5
P. M. In Johannesburg, we paid fifteen cents street-car fare each
to the zoölogical gardens. In New York, we went three or four times
the distance for five cents, on the way passing under a great river.
This is some of the Robbery to which we Americans are compelled to
submit.... When we wanted a lunch, we went into a beautiful place,
and paid sixty-five cents for all two healthy Americans cared to eat.
This in wicked, extravagant New York.... Some of the buildings we
saw were thirty-eight stories high, and the streets through which
we passed cannot be duplicated anywhere.... We wanted a guide to
show us about quickly. We secured a bright young man from the Postal
Telegraph Co. He was polite, intelligent and capable. What do you
suppose this Robber Corporation charged us for his services? Thirty
cents an hour.... Soon after we left the Pennsylvania Station, our
train passed under the Hudson river, and emerged in New Jersey. This
state is not a fair sample of the country in which we live, but how we
enjoyed seeing it! The green at Home is a healthier and better-looking
green than the green in the tropics.
SATURDAY, MAY 17.—We have spent this day passing through Ohio and
Indiana. They are better states than New Jersey, and our enthusiasm is
increasing. We are passengers on an all-steel train, and in no other
country in the world are equally good railroad accommodations to be
had.... Early in the afternoon, nearly a thousand miles from the
sea, we came to the fourth or fifth city of the world: Chicago. An
American we saw last in New Zealand, Dr. Beeson, met us at this place.
Our social relations are rapidly improving.
SUNDAY, MAY 18.—This morning, when the conductor came in to take my
tickets, he said:
“Why, hello!”
I knew him: we were getting almost in sight of Home. When we went into
the dining-car, the negro waiter spoke to us by name.... Shortly
afterwards, the conductor sat down beside us, and, looking out of the
south window, said:
“I never knew before you could see Potato Hill so plainly from this
side of the river.”
Then the Pullman conductor came in, and said:
“The next station is Atchison.”
Transcriber’s Notes.
1. Silently corrected simple spelling, grammar, and typographical
errors.
2. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.