The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1878-05-04
Our Letter from Europe.
BY BROADBR RIM

"Carriage at the door, sir !! roared
Betty from the foot of the stairs, as
the hack rolled up to my house on the
Both day of March, which was to con-
vey me to the steamship City of Ber-
liu, on which l had taken passage fol
Liverpool. At the last moment, of
course, everything was in confusion.
"Don't lose your Shirts" cried my
wife, from the second-story window,
as she disconsolately wiped her eyes.
"Your handkerchiefs are in the bot
tom of your trunk, )" said Susan, stand
ing in the. kitchen door while big
tear rolled off the end of her nose.
Don't forget my sealskin sack, y
said one: Lavender kids, five and
three-quarters," said another; A
camel's-hair shawl for mother" :"
shrieked my youngest daughter,
" and two silk dresses for me-" Old
shoes, as harbingers of luck, were
showered after me by friendly aud
weeping neighbors. A crack of the
whip, the horses leaped forward, and
in minute 1 had left my happy
home behind, with ali its loves, its
hopes, and its tender memories,
whose portals I should cross no more
for eight long months, or, perhaps,
forever.
Reaching the steamship, L found an
army of friends awaiting me, all of
them bearing gifts of love, the grate-
full memory of which will be mine as
long as life remains. While | write,
before me hang two baskets of beau
tiful flowers, which / have brought
three thousand miles over the sea,
the faded rose-leaves of which have
still sweet fragrance which reminds
me of my distant home aud ever
present loves and absent friends.
God speeds, blessings, kind wishes,
hand -slIakiugs, kilograms, and letters
poured in upon me, till at last heard
the shrill cry of =" All ashore u There
was q sudden rush, the gaugway was
hauled in, the hawseTs were cast off,
and the noble steamship, Getty of
Berlin,n swung slowly off into the
stream. For il moment it seemed as
if the ties that had. bound me to
home, country, friends, and all that
makes life worth having, had sudden
ly snapped asunder, feeling of utter
loneliness and desplation erept over
me. | felt choking sensation in
the throat aud a sudden mistiness
clouded my eyes, while cheer after
cheer Mt.rt np from those we had left
behind, and whose faces faded from
my view as We rapidly steamed out of
sight.
Whatever misgivings | had about
my ocean trip were disPelled as soon
as had collected myself sufficiently
to take look at the noble vessel on
which had embarked, aud at the
officers who had her in charge. The
F" City of Berlin is one of the largest
and finest steamships in the world,
being 525 feet long, nearly 5000 tons
burthen, aud having within her
mighty hull ample accommodation
for 1000 passengers. Even those who
travel frequently by sea have but a
limited idea of what a wonderful
thing an ocean steamship is; walking
her deck, looking up at ber towering
masts, or examining her hull, | never
realized it. 1t was not until under
the guidance of her chief engineer,
Mr.. Campbell,-I / had visited the en-
gine room, and, twenty-five feet be-
low the level of the sea, had walked
along the whole length of the mighty
shaft which drives the Giant pro-
peller, that ! began to estimate this
grandest modern triumph of human
genius. As size rolled securely on the
dashed ocean, breastiug the
bowling tempest, she seemed to real
ize the ancient fable of Ajax defying
the lightnings of the Gods
Step this way" said Mr.. Camp
bell, the engineer. "Look ont, sir !;
iere take this bit of cotton in your
hands. Now, mind where you put
lown your FOOT Down, down, down
We went till at last we stood near the
Keel. The huge shaft, 200 feet long,