Wilmington daily commercial., 1873-07-23
FIRST EDITION.
FROM REV. D. C. RIDGWAY.
Loorssp 1ndence Of tho COnmercIa,.l

| lCoirssp 1ndence Of the Conmercia'.l
Rev. d. O. Ridgway, OF Milford. this State
sailed for Liverpool, in the steamship Nerada
on June 25h, to attend the International Tenn
perance Conference at London. We have re-.
ceived from him the first OF promised series Of
letters. this being mainly written while at sea.
As we have just been printing so full descrip-
ton OF an Atlantic steamship voyage. Eastward
experienced at almost exactly the sams period
\ Of time, we venture to condeAse Mr.. Rdgways
letter.
On July 1, when he commenced to write the
| steamer had accomplished 1884 miles OF the voy.
age. or exactly one half the estim tted distance
between New 'rk aud Q leenstown With the
exception OF one very line day. (Frday, the
9th the weather had been cloudy though an
observation had bean obtained, eacn day. The
passengers had suffered from no serious cases
| Of sea-sickness. Describing the interest taken
In meeting, in the wide seas, another ship, he
| says;-
'SInce we left New York. until yesterday.
there had not been an hour of daylight in which
we could not see sail First the North Ger
man steamship outward bound. which passed
US while We were waiting for higher tide to
cross the bar in the Lower Bay. was overtaken
and passed at the close OF the first day of our
voyage. Then we met Westward bound Gu
harder. a steamship OF the National Line. fleet
Of fishing vessels of the Banks OF Newfound-
sdnu. u lull TlB5oQ snip or Two. ana last OF all,
on the evening OF the 29th, the fl Ishiug rockets
Of an East stward-bound North German steamer,
20 which We responded by burning blue lights,
gave us the pleasant knowledge that we were
not alone upon the ocean"
A. to manners oil the ship
Everything on board this English ship is IN
tensey Euglirh and we have beard the letter
III sadly abused and our pooe "a badly flatten-
cd out. The meals are at L 'glish hours-break-
fast 8; lunch. IL; dinner, A; tea. SO And su,h
aatiup--aVa and drnkizU foFk hat at
ner is the event Of the day. occupying from one
and a half to two hours. full OF c0nviviality set
on with plenty OF wines and beer. and garnished
With plentiful jokes, in which execrable puns
largely figure. s4aEa sy
SUNDAY, (the 29.h) was duly observed In
the saloon all the passengers aud crew gathered
and the Purser read the beautiful service of the
Church OF England. Following this, Rev. 4. l.
PoulBOn, OF Baltimore, preached brief and ap-
propriate sermon, and the services closed with
prayer by Rev. Mr.. Hopkins, from Western
Massachusetts
Having had fair weather to that time, fierce
North-Wester came on upon the morning Of the
3rd, and remaining in ones berth became an in
teresting problem Toward evening, the wind
hauled to North East, and fresh rolls for
breakfast gave place to cold Chops for supper.
Your humble servant wished for a quiet spot
where he might rest-if only for brief season.
"Ihe Fourth Of July came, and with it, once
more. sunshine. In the carly morning, steam
or OF the 'btate Line hove in sight, with the
stars and stripes at the main-a strange vision,
for except by the suiferanoe OF foreign craft not
an American flag has been displayed during our
voyage. We have sighted steamers IL ships
barques, schoohers, (besides the fishing
craft on the Banks yet none have belonged to
the United States"
Saturday. jay oh We are nearing land.
The chart with Rbetract from the ships log, hung
up in the cabin at noon each day, recorded yes
terday, 1855 miles from the Skelhgs.' Everybo.
dy went on deck and looked Eastward The
water has assumed lighter hue the petres are
once more about us lowering in our wake and
We more than imagine that this assurance OF
the proximity Of land added ssest to the celahrA-
tion of Independence Day which was observed
OH board At noon salute was fired from the
ships gun, and at the dinner were speecnes
from Rev. Mr.. Poulson, and others. followed by
toasts IN honor OF tho day to Her Majesty, Pres
dent Grant, our Captain, the ladles.&o. In the
evening the Nevada glee club gave one OF their
pleasant entertainments. consisting OF scnBR,
speeches, readings, &c. tt
" This morning, Saturday, we are having
what the oihGors call regular Channel weather,
a. e. fine rdin with chilling S. Z. winds, ana are
hopeless OF seeing the land beaulihed by dis
lance. As the voyage draws to a close the assO-
Citations formed during It draw the passeDgers
closer together, and the impression ID general
that were our voyage to continue some days lou
ger, we have just attained a suh jient degree OF
acquaintance hip to ari 1y ourselves thoroughly.
We sight laud at 4 40 Ocean timp) Saturday
July 9th, after rather tedious and uneventful
voyage Of little over 10 days The rain has
passed the clouds are breaking, and there Is light
preserved, and tns thought in more than one
breast ID Of gratitude to God
:" l shall write you, again, from London .,
D. @. II.