Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1873-08-05

with immense brooms and they and the large
dogs share thestoil of dragging carts around
the streets like horses. Dogs seem to be
useful animals in Antwerp, for we saw num-
bers of them harnessed to carts with loads
which we think American cannes would
howl at; but we heard no bowling or barking
at night, the poor dogs no doubt being glad
enough to sleep quietly. The men and wom-
en- of the lowest class wear wooden shoes.
Yesterday morning before we left Antwerp
we visited the market and saw the Dntch
| fish women bidding off the queer looking
| fish as they were sold 10y an auctioneer
very odd sight indeed. The auctonepr's
! stand il in a small building at one end of the
| market. On either side OF him are two men
who appeared to keep Al account Oft the sales.
In front of him is a large wooden stand or
table on which basket of fish is emptled for
the inspection of the women and men fish
mongers who stand in rows around the table
on semicircular platforms, fronting the
auctioneer. 4 basket holding about bushel is
brough. to the table and cmptied of its con
tents. The auctioneer jabbers away min
! ute and when he arrives AZ certain point the
bidders shout out altogether, and the bar
gain is made. How the auctioneer can tell
who made the first bid was a puzzle which
we won't attempt to solve. We saw one
live cells of all sizes which squirmed around
in and out over and under each other i'll
/ lively manner as she stirred them up with her
| hands. In large square near the I'm" old
! cathedral Of Noter Dame Is a bronze statuc OF
tie great Dutch Painter, Peter Paul
| Rubcn's who was born in Antwerp AMI " hose
tomb i. in the church of st. jacques with
picture over ii (by himself OF the Virgin and
infant Jesus, in which he has introduced I0r-
traits OF his father himself, his two Hiv's IS
saints, and one oi his sons as an angel. This
custom appears to have tctn rather a weak
ness among the old masters. In the cathedral
are several Of Ruhens master pieces. tie
descent from and the elevation to he cross,
and the assumption of the virgin.
The railroads Of Belgium appear 10 5e the
finest On the continent, and the express trains
trvel with much greater speed than in Italy.
Switzerland or Germany. We have seen no
sleeping ears, and the nearest approach (which
was not a very near one though t. American
cars is in Switzerland None OF The railroad
ears which W . have seen brgin 10 compare IN
elegance and comfort II ours. \ sleeping
ear company has however jus: been organ
ized an the american plan by Col. Mann,
who has taken out patents in the various
European countries, and the slccpcrs have
already been introducci between ltti- and
Vienna.
Speaking Of Ni>nap, y, p,.rhal. ought 70
otte: some good excuse t,r leaving Elrore
without going 10 see the great international
exhibition. The fact is that we have be,n
persuaded not to 90 by uniayorable reports.
OF all the people we have met who have been
there not one has given Us favorable ac-
count. The exhibition seems to be considered
first class failure, particularly the American
part of it, and as We have no particular desire
to witness our country's disgrace we have con-
cluded to postpone our visit to Vienna and
substitute Philadelphia in 1876.
From Antwerp to Rotterdam we went by
rail until We got opposite the latter place,
when we took a small steamboat across the
river or canal. We immediately went on
board the Iiarwick steamer "a fine powerful
boat Of about 1000 tons, run by the Great
Eastern Ry Co, of England and at 2.3o
steamed down the great canal to the sea,
which we reached in about hours. The
scene along the shores was very novel one
to US, for it was our first view of Holland and
| the great windmills whose immense revolving
arms are seen in every direction. The ca
| nails around Rotterdam were alive with every
| kind ofcraft, from the great steamer and ships
| down to the canal boats and fishing smacks.
| AT 3 o'clock we had plain dinner of soup,
roast meat, crackers and cheese, and ale.
We were surprised somewhat to find the
| steamer well loaded down forward with
sheep, calves, and swine, for at least so far
as the sheep were concerned we had innocent
ly supposed that all the mutton we ate in
England was British raised. We got into
| ilarwick about 2 this morning, where we took
the cars and arrived in London at 6 A. NJ.
| The rain is pouring down in torrents, the first
real storm we have had since we left here
| nearly 5 weeks ago. This will probably be
our last letter from the old world as we ex-
pect to sail from Liverpool in two or three
days; and shall not have time to write again
before our departure for America.
CU\SSIN1