The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-24 00:00:00

"fie must not piss over the animated description of

♦ DINNER ♦T NIAGARA.

But when you go to Niagara, dine once, if never more,
at the International Hotel. It is on a scale to match
Niagara. The drawing room is a gorgeous immensity of
plate-glass, gilding, and upholstery. You walk over a
prairie of carpeting. But the dining room gives the best
idea of infinite space, infinite eating, infinite clatter. A
vast regiment of negro waiters parade, march, counter-
march, and go through a series of distracting evolutions,
to the music of a full band playing in an alcove. There
is a march for them to enter; a three-four movement for
soup ; 9p/se/eat° passage for fish ; the covers come off to a
crash of trombones, cymbals, and gongs ; and so the whole
dinner goes off to appropriate music, with an accompani-
ment of champagne corks like the firing of skirmishers.
Altogether, it is a tremendous affair, even to an Ameri-
can, used to taking his dinner with a few hundred
people about him, I can imagine what it must be to an
Englishman. The expense of such a dinner, with a bill
of fare that would fill four of my pages, is three, or
perhaps four, shillings—but the wines are extra. An
American, who means to do the thing handsomely, takes
champagne. No other wine is worth his drinking. An
English lady, wishing to give an idea of an American she
met in Mantreal, described as " the sort of man who would
take champagne with his soup I"
The author's indignant remarks upon the reckless
pursuit of riches would perhaps be applicable in
other places besides America. In the main these
remarks are eminently truthful and wise, but
we think such a remark as the following
must be taken cum grano. " Everything,"
says Dr. Nichols, "has a money value
f believe the American husband unceasingly
values his wife in the Federal currency; and a fine
child is associated with some such idea as a thou-
sand dollars I'' Our last extract shall give a pic-
ture of an American railway that in this country
we should do well to emulate :
Let us return, however, to our imaginary trip up the
Hudson and across the Empire State. At Albany, we take
the Now York Central Railroad for Niagara. It is some
300 miles, and the fare 203 or 255. In some of the States

the highest fare is three halfpence a mile, The carriages
are much lighter, and to my taste handsomer in appear-
ance than the English. There is no lack of paint, gilding,
upholstery, and ornament. The seats are cushioned and

backed with plush. There are stoves in winter, and ice-
water in summer. In these cars, as these long carriages—
seating fifty or sixty persons—are called, are small retiring
rooms for both sexes. The doors open upon platforms at
the ends of the cars, and you can walk from one end of a
train to another while it is in motion. The conductor walks
horn end to end inspecting tickets. There is no danger of
robbery, murder, or other outrage, as in the small, locked,
I and inaccessible compartment.' of European roads. Not
only does the conductor walk through to examine the
tickets, see that all is right, and answer inquiries, but the
newsboy comes along loaded with daily and weekly papers
—then he comes with books—all the newest publications,
and then with oranges and confectionary. Overhead
through every car runs a cord in reach of every passenger,
a pull at which will signal the engineer or driver to stop,
iircase of accident or other necessity. This cord also