Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1873-05-01
in the room, at places along the railway

mon people. Ihere Is the same shuttle
and hurry at the station. the same eager.
ness for custom among the cab-drivers
the same temporary tumult and grad
ual disappearance of the crowd, as al
any other large station. We look al
the long line of doors in the train and
the uniformed officers, glance at the
arches of the large depot, breathe of a
different air, hail a cab-man that will
cheat us if he can, and away we 60
through miles of streets, and rain, to an
hotel that oyerlOoks the river Thames.
Our stay in London is prolonged until
the 9th of January, in the New Year.
1 cannot here speak of the. English
Metropolis. The time, to US, sped swift
ly; the objects of interest led US into
many reflections upon the past and pres
ent; we were filled with wonder, ad-
miration, pleasure, awe, pity, terror,
surprise, indignation, hope and devo-
ton as We climbed St. Paul's, gazed on
the Parliament Houses, walked in Re
gents Park, stood in Westminster Alb
bey, strolled through the wretched,
squalid Brewers street, saw the old
prison-the Tower, rode over and under
the city, encountered rogues, met with
christian people in services and saw. in
part, the work Of Spurgeen, Hall, and
other faithful ministers of note. Twen-
ty days after our arrival we left the
crowded city. 1t was with faces set to-
wards India, and with disappointments
as to the time of starting. We had been
delayed. Now that we were to start,
We were glad. 1t rains as We leave. 1t
is evening; the lamps shine cheerily
through our coach windows from the
streets; everything reflects q smooth
surface from the rain; and the show
windows of the stores are brilliant and
gay. As stop at a Post Office, and re-
enter our coach, lad closes the door
and asks favor for his services. This
is a sample of the kind. We drive four,
five, six miles, and the driver stops at a
dock-yard gate. 1t is closed. Then,
too, our steamer is at the other end
Three or more men offer to conduct the
driver to the place, while, Is we drive
of, one, more cheap and persistent than
his friends, runs along calling In at my
window: 'sShall i get on, sir?" This
is a sample of the kind. We enter the
dock-gate, find our new steamer, and,
in the morning Of January 10th, slowly
leave the docks as the tide is at its,
height. In the new scenes we cannot
forget the old! For an anticipated
length OF years we shall be under the
British flag, and now begins that time.
We sail under the English ensign, but
its very sight suggests the 3stars and
stripes" and tide of feelings for the
s'Union." Then, there are strange fa-
ces, that make US wish for familiar ones.
Our friends Mr.. and Mrs. Grifiths have
gone TO Paris, and, like the last sever
ing from our native land and its people,
was our farewell with these firmly made
friends. Now We go, one half our
journey not yet completed. A pilot is
on board for Gravesend. London re-
eedes; the dome of Greenwich Obser-
vatory glitters in the sunlight's play,
recalling the Herchells, and other royal
at several yards, huge
ships are being built, looking like greati
long baskets propped up above the wa
ter; two steam tugs draw us down the
river, and the "Orchis," bears US over
the beautifully winding Thames. We
are on the alert for all that can be seen,
and the valley Of the Thames seems a
wide plain with hills skirting the dis
tant south, and forests covering the hills. !
This is England's busy river that, float
ing down from inland hills and by that
college of age and of renown-Oxford,
the foundations of Windsor
Castle, does the bidding of London, of
her many boats, her multitude of wheels,
her three and one half millions of peo-
pie, and then pours silently into the
sea. The arsenal at Weolwich suggests
of war, and wonder when those guns +
shall next be used in battle! Shall it
be with Russia for East Indian. terri
.Ory? May the wars of the "Crimea"
suffice England and Russia. We stop
1t Gravesend and spend the night amid
;he fore-lights of many ships and under
'he glitter of many stars, This is a
passenger loading place, and here many
have taken their farewelis of England.
The morning starts us, we feel the wide
waters are near and overus the Thames
widens till the banks are dark edges only
md we feel the wide waters are near
md over us steal emotions of coming
weeks at sea. "Look yonder," says
voice, "see the Great Eastern!" We |
ook up above them, are six masts. The
great steamer is at anchor in Sheerness.
My feelings quicken as see that colos-
'us of steamers, and remember the
work she has done at the Atlantic tele- |
graph cable, the Australian and others.
Presently We pass by the intervening
and and wood and the snip stand out
IN her fnll size, upon the distant waters
Of Sheerness harbor. We are three or
more miles away, and above the ships |
between, the tall, long ship seems an
Island with the masts and rigging for
trees, while the city in the rear is small
and the houses but little more than no.
ticeable from one another. The Great |
Eastern fades away behind us, the wa
ters widen, there are less ships in sight,
there is more swell of the water and it |
Is no longer a level, but broken sur
face. The steamer moves little from
side to side, our heads are dull and pill
lows are made friends of. 1t is Dover |
straits, and at noon, and the land Is q |
dim, blUe edge, westward and south
ward. We are expecting some tossing |
in these straits and the English chan
mel. The water is yet BLUSH, but dark
ems with depth. We go slower. The
steam is let off and we stand, notion
less, with propeller and engine stopped.
Is something broken: Our suspicious
are many. l have seen trains of cars
stop near field but this is more oddly
out near nothing, that can see.
We are told that little mending is re-
quired where it cannot be done with
steam, on and, ere long, the smoke siz-
zles from the funnel, the propeller dash