New-York tribune., 1867-05-30
RANDOM LETTERS. No. V.
TRAVEL. AND TRAVELLERS IN EUROPE a , 1851

NJ
provi6e themselves, there still remains great deai
which ihov can only learn 10y oxpeIenc' We IN
h,,o,ica arc too much accustomed to c0nsderEuIoPo
osa stationary continent in material ana pi'O'i0''
matters; whereas, this is far from beng ho o''Io
that would advise no one TO depend on guu'- W
five wears old except for medieval history "i" '"-
tiquities. ot ,onr
There is probably five times as muoh uaVoi '' "O"'
for the purpose of pleasure OF lnStr 90 g.
oosod IN eouaI measure and prices threaten 10 Keep
-. ;tb tha change You can buy through
tiol-ots from London to st. Petersburg CONSTANT
ro,Io or Naples, and travel night ana oay IL you
choose without delay account OF passports OF GUS
tom-houses The overland route to India now goes
Inv rail down the Italian Peninsula to the ancient
Rrundusum within ~ hours (by steamer OF Alexah-
d,io Algiers has become the Winter kitchen garden
Of France and Germany. In the hotels on the Rhine
in February and March, your lettuces and cauliow-
ers were grown at the foot of Atlas olstein oysters
may be eaten in Sicily and the steret of the Nolga
in Lisbon One may witness the tEaster festivities IN
Rome and Moscow the same year, and without
fatiguc-thanks to the twelve days difference be-
tween the Old and New Calendars lheDes' IeVra'
and Jerusalem recently belonging to the Far East
and beheld of few favored eyes, are now easily ac
essbe stations on the roundabout route from Naples
to COnstantmople.
in three months, with the concentration i'll ex-
pcnse as in time When am asked, therefore, the
probable cost of travel in Europe, per diem, cannot
possibly answer without knowing the habits ana
tastes of the traveller. Railroads have diminished
the cost of proceeding from capital or country 10
another but have greatly increased the cost OF resi-
dence. The hotels have everywhere extended the
scale of their comforts and cOnvenences, IN orderto
meet the taste of different natOnaities and there
fore consider themselves justified in adding to the
price of lodging food and service. The former in
eouaIitics between different parts of Europe Ill this
respect have disappeared and exist only IN hooks
living outside of the travelled thoroughfaTcs Even
the second and third-Tatc hotels the main routes
have now their linguistic servants. and the conduct
ors on the railways accustomed to the signs
habits and usual difficulties of foreigners, that the
latter find themselves passed on from one country 10
another before they fairly know how the thing is
done.
The establishment of a single swift method OF com
n,unicoton has eduazed the character of travel III
all European countries. The former picturesque dii
ferences have disappeared; instead of the mule ana
the diTicrO in Spain the Vctturn0 Ill lthy' the
ponderous diligence in France the launting-car III
Ireland, the caniole in Norway the kibtba IN Rus
sia and the camel in the East. we have now every
where the three classes of railway trains the STA
tions. with their stereotyped regulations the con-
halfbottles of wine, and outside procession OF
climates landscapes. and architectural forms, spin
ming past at the uniform rate of twenty to thirty
nsles per hour 1t is general benefit to the world
that the various lands so easily accessible
but the romance of travel is passing away 1t fingers
in out-of-the-way hooks and corners of Europe: 1t
clngs TO those associations the force of which no
external change weaken, but 1t is no longer put
on as q garment as part of ones daily life.
l. I'll. ~ Arlor nnhC en-
iy in coming back after years of absence, and find
ing the railroads just you left them-the same
trains leaving at the same hours, making the same
time halting at the points for refreshments
and differing only in the connections which have
been established in the time The average speed
of the express trains varies from . to 80 miles per
hour, including stOppages-of ordinary trains, 20
miles The fares by the former 20 per cent higher
than by the latter yet taking the secondclass) are
still considerably lower than in the United States
The rst-cass is dearer than our rates. but Is only
taken by rich and ignorant Americans. The third
class is exceedingly cheap and is even considered re-
spectacle on roads where there four classes Inc
freight for baggage however constitutes an addition
nj item of expense, since road are more than
so pounds allowed to each person. and on many roads
nothing at ALL Nevertheless person travelling sec
ond-class with the ordinary amount of baggage, will
find his expenses not more probably little less than
with us.
The English railways have not yet reached the
point of giving checks for baggage. Each passenger
must GO personally and pick out his effects from the
general pile On the continent each lot of articles
has the same enumber-which is more convenient than
our plan-and give up his check to the agent
of q hotel at the station, and go in peace.
The cars, divided into compartments opening at
the sidcs cannot be warmed by stoves in Winter In
the first and second-cass therefore flat metal boxes
filed with hot water and covered with carpeting,
placed in each compartment. These keep the feet
comfortable, and rugs and wrappings do the rest.
The boxes are taken out and replaced by fresh ones
every two or three hours. / dOabt whether they
would give sufficient warmth in intensely cold
weather. yet is certainly better for the traveller to
suffer little from the cold, with warm feet, than TO
have his head baked dry and his feet ia current OF
ice as on some of our American roads. Tie people
here wear very thick long overcoats and huge over
shoes lined with wool and reaching halfway to the
knee when they travel.
In hotels, the cost Of living varies from a dollar
and q half to three dollars day. In Germany, the
latter will generally include the necessary wine,
a private parlOr, and meals served therein-which
Injuries in NewYork could not be enjoyed for less
than twenty dollars a day! In Southern Germany,
you pay about thirty cents bOttlefoP the same qual
ity of wine which our landlords furnish for three
dollars! But then, on the other side, the profits Of
German landlord are not 100000 per year. Neverthe
less in spite of this difference, the cost OF living in
European hotels is at least 20 per cent at present
than il four years ago. and it has been made so
principally by American travellers.
An English correspondent, the other day, said very
shrewdly that the Americans now playing the
role in Europe as the English after 1891 and the