Sharp County record., 1880-01-22
AN AMERICAN ABROAD.
From London TO Niepna-rhe Trip Through
HOuand-Life in the Austrian Capital.

I-,,,, Iondop TO Yienna-The Trip Through
Holland-Life in the Austrian Capital
Correspondence san Francisco Chronicle.I
--50e..,,s-ferried over from the English
eoast At Harwich TO the Dutch coast AT
Rotterdam in 10 hours, and every thing
was changed. English was no longer
spoEen, the streets were all canals, car
riages seemed abolished, the women
wore spiral twists Of wire, projecting
from their ears and great gold or silver
plaSs on the side Of their heads, every
| thing seemed aioat, and they had four
kinds of cheese for breakfast. This was
nv first visit to any foreign land. My
tongue was no longer Of any use in con-
verSction. A hOrrid alarm seized me
that l might get into the wrong train
andbe carried off to Russia instead of
Vienna. whittier | wanted to 90. l
found an interpreter at the railway STA
ton who said he spoke English. He
never fairly proved it to me, but | stuck
to him as does the straw to the drown
inc man. l lost my wits in part, and ap-
/ piled to him once in every five minutes
/ for new set Of directions as to the
RIGHT time for starting and the right
| train to start in. Let no one condemn
me until they have landed in Holland
and tried the Dutch language. At each
/ interview the interpreter made me
/ loud speech, which could be heard over
/ the entire station, which concentrated
| all ewes upon me, and ended invariably
with the remark, - gives you CUTE dl-
reckshuns. | calls you albright" Then
l would sink off into a corner, feeling
very apprehensive Of being carried off
to Russia, and continually emerging to
harass the interpreter who said he spoke
English. At last l was placed in a car.
Every body was smoking. Some
smoked pipes, some cigars. By the
wiz lows were little boxes to knock the
! I'D tIllth. AoDe people gotinIwith
7 pip9s, canes and umbrellas. | saw one
H6IIander with three canes and two
umbrellas, all packed in one bundle.
Another had three umbrellas and two
canes. At last We rolled off. l looked
out and saw long reaches Of coast, sand
hills, and sand-plains. Then We shot
through
VAST MEADOW,
intersected at regular intervals with
wide bitches. I saw low, red-roofed
houses; men cutting hay in water up to
their knees: little boats tied near by to
carry them home, and long roads, or
rather dikes, lined on either side by
trees. This was all Of Holland. The
train stopped. We were hustled out,
bag and baggage, into a custom-house.
The uniforms had changed; the money
had changed the language had changed,
and the customs had changed. They
looked into our sachels, chalked them;
into our trunks and chaIked them;
talked language full Of "oons and
FOODS " and " OOfs, =" and having rather
a soft, melodiOus accent. Then we were
bundled-canes, umbrellas, pipes cigars,
trunks, and sachels-once more into
the train. Officials poked their heads
through the side windows. They de-
manded our tickets. They took them
They were gone with them sometimes
for hours. They punched and punched
them, and tore off coupon after coupon.
Another stop. Another custOm-hOuse.
Another Nation. Another language
Another set Of soldiers and
customs officers. Another uniform.
Another change in the currency, and
this about every six hours. This is
travelling through Europe. In twenty
feuL~hOurs / had the wrecks Of four dif-
ferent curTencies in my pockets. There
were ha'pennies, kreutzers, pfennigs,
little cOppers, big cOppers, whitewashed
cOppers, Of which it took handful to
buy a glass Of beer, or else they cheated
me abominably. Every thing about
was military, stiff, ramrOdish, epaulet-
ed, bavonetcd, bcltcd and sabered.
Every mile Of the road was watched by
q sentry in box, who came out as the
train passed, and presented his signal
flag as soldier presents arms, and
sometimes the sentry was woman in
short, rotund petticoats and q round
glazed hat. And still we sped through
Europe, through Saxony, through Prus-
sia, through Duchies, and pOcket-King-
doms and old Electorates, and all the
absurd little divisions in which they par
eel out, or used to parcel out, their land.
And still they smoked and smoked and
got in with long pipes, canes and UNI
brellas, and numbered out with long
pipes and umbrellas until the Dutch
"cOn'' and "Oof' commenced, giving
place to the German "ich" and "Ocht. "
TT WAS NIGHT!
1t came morning, | looked out. This
was the second day of travel. / saw
that we were getting further east. The
square church-towers of Lutheran Hol-