The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1881-06-17
An English Tourist.

1 80
Mr.. Marshall went from New York t
Chicago, picking up statistics all alonl
| the road with great industry, and repro
ducing them with what some reader
may consider an excess of care. It il
difficult, however, for any man to go tt
Chicago and not quote statistics. Ths
hurry and hustle which characterize the
struck the author, especially at the din
ner tables of hotels, and he quotes 8
newspaper account of man who "met
his death by swallowing huge piece OF
beef, which stuck in his throat and
killed him in less than three minutes. .
To get through everything quickly is no
dou bt the aim of most Americans. and
We recollect an odd instance of it in an
account which dutiful son once gave OF
q pious Office he had fulfilled for his
father. Father died." he wrote, sat IL
o'clock A. M. had his body emballned.
funeral services at the house, and was in
the cars, homeward bound, before 4
o'clock P. M. with the body" It cannot
be denied that this was making very
good time. Another thing which at.
tracted the authors attention was the
way in which jesting is occasionally
mingled even with matters of business.
At Green River-a station about S46
miles from Omaha-he was amused
with placard stuck up in the dining
room at the hotel, in which the proprie-
tor set forth the manifold advantages of
his house. ga discreet waiter" it was
stated, "who was never known even to
tell the time of dey, has been employed
to carry milk punches and hot toddies
to ladies' rooms in the evening"" The
guests were also apprised that they would
find Sewing machine, a grand piano, a
clergyman, and all other modern con-
veniences." The queer words which Mr..
Marshall saw in advertisements and
other public notices seem often to have
surprised him. For better specimens of
these genuine "Americanisms,' as dis
tinguished from the old English local
words, wrongly SO called, the author
should have carefully searched the minor
newspapers of the West. In such q
paper we once read that distinguished
citizen had commissioned a sculptor to
"bust' him; in another that that
an ''arsoner" had been arrested, in
another that certain. house had been
"burgied" nine times in ten years; and
even a New York Journal once stated
that General Grant had "excurted" (gone
off on an excursion.) A reporter who
was sent to attend a religious conference
wrote that the meeting 'ttopped off,
with prayer.
Mr.. Marshall pays almost as much at
tentlon to Norm onism as if he had dis
covered it: but if he has nothing new to
tell us relating to the past history of the
sect, he at any rate brings our informa-
tion down to the present date. He shows
that it is steadily Increasing in numbers,
and that recruits from Great Britain
and other European countries continue
to pour into Utah by hundreds every two
or three months. It is astonishing how
many converts" the Mormon preachers
make in Wales. We have frequently
stood and listened to the sermons" of
these missionaries by the roadside, and
heard little in them that would be OBJ
jected to by the most rigid of Welsh Bap-
lists. It is worthy of notice that the
Mormons, when engaged in making
proselytes, judiciously keep out of sight
their own sacred" book, and preach
with the Bible in their bands.
They are also very careful not to say
word about their customs concerning the
married state, and Welsh girls find out
first on their arrival at Salt Lake City
that they have practically become in
mates of harem. The porter at the
Tabernacle" is one of the few inhabi-
tants of the city who has only one wife,
but this does not appear to be altogether
his own fault. According to Mr.. Mar
shall, he recently wished to increase his
household, but his present wife, a Lam
"gave him such drubbing
F<Y.h hicf ,1rln 1ok LN Ias1 4
after it for six weeks" This is prac-
;ical cure for Mormonism, but it might
be difficult to apply it on large scale.
rhe author thinks that it is the impera-
i've duty of the United States to "wipe
out this plague-spot from the national
It is easier said than done. |
Mr.. Marshall saw the big trees of Cali
'ornia-a tunnel has been made through
,ne of them, along which tage-coaches |
ire driven-and the Yosemite Valley;
md everywhere, as we have said, he en-
3loyed his time to good purpose, and !
brought away with him fair store of en-
for his audience. The facts |
collected as to the progress of States or |
titles are well sifted and arranged, and
T the book had been furnished with a |
rood index it might have served useful |
urn for purposes of reference. In |
vord, Mr.. Marshall has done very well |
indeed. and we hope he will some day
10 even better. For, although he has
,ntitled his book Through America"
here is an enormous region of the |
United States proper which he never |
wen approached. It is almost time that |
hat some intelligent traveller, instead of |
ollowing everybody else on the great |
ace track of tourists to the West, turned
lis face to the South and told us how !
he Southern States are getting on, and |
whether the planters of the anti-Rebel-
ion era ever recovered::even moderate
legree of prosperity. Before the war
)lmstead thoroughly explored the
southern States, but no one has equaled
lis work since ruin and despair fell upon
he proud Confederacy.-fPa Pail Mall Ga
ette.
HAIR DREss1NG.-In spite of all efforts
f hairdressers to burden the head with
alse puffs and heavy coils of hair, Golf
ures remain of q simple and comforta-
lie style. It is becoming evident, how
yer, that such fashion is very trying
0 many faces. Wavy, crispy heads of
air especially cannot endure to be drawn
ight and fattened close to the head and
ace; they rebel, and peep out in inde-
endent frizzes and curls, and as the
vorro xuoothor ar,r,rraohoa fno3-1n0kinpI