, 1881-11-04
Sii Samuel Bakers TraVelS-EXperi-
ences In the Far Vest

plOrer, arrived i'll the city yesterday. He
is accompanied by his wife, Lady Baker,
who has been his constant companion.
A reporter for the Herald had an inter
view with Sir Samuel and lady Mt their
rooms in the Gilsey House in the after
noon.
1--WE heard much of your country ;
much that was false and little that was
true, the gentleman said in the desul-
tory conversation following the intro
duction, land l must say that after hav-
ing traversed it, L am both gratitied and
astonished to find such wonderful insti-
tutiOns, such marvellous industries, and
sneh truly masonic state of good sOci-
ETY. and clever breeding"
''Yes, snd it Is indeed surprising to an
English woman, who is acquainted
with the manners of the English masses
in the colonies, to find men in the Or
binary walks of life so deferential, re-
served and courteor to ladies as they
are here" Lady Baker interposed,
with evident sincerity and enthusiasm.
''As an instance of this fact" Sir Sam
uel continued, take our experience
while hunting in the Yellowstone
country this summer. Now, in the
African colonies, and elsewhere, Lady
Baker has been forced at times to hear
remarks from mechanics and others that
were not very choice. In all our Rocky
Mountain experience, during the many
weeks we hunted, ate and mingled with
the COW boys, ranchmen, freighters, and
the various types of your frontiersmeD, :,
not one single discourteous word did we
hear. Iu truth, the behavior of all
these men was painfully good So now
nothing in your great country can much
surprise me" ~
What was the occasion of your
jolrney?" the reporter inquired.
''Well. We went to Cyprus originally
to establish truth. Lord Beaconstield
deemed the country self-sustaining and
worthy of acquisition, but Mr.. Glad
stone contended that itswas worthless.
and would prove heavy burden. As a
large taxpayer with an anxious constitu-
ency, 1 determined to satisfy myself as
to which of these views came nearest the
mark. We were in Cyprus ten months,
and, our Investigations concluded, / was
convinced that Lord Beaconsfield had
taken the right stand. We found the
country very healthy, never suffering q
days 1lnesss. Because ten thousand of
our troops had been disabled there, If
was presumed to be the contrary; but 1
soon learned that the disorders and
general disability prevailing among the
soldiery were due to an exceptionally
hot season and the unlimited sale of
strong wine at penny a bottle. The
wonderful agricultural resources are un-
disputed, and the cereal and wine
products of Cyprus will ever be great
and make her self-supporting. Then,
again, in my opinion it is destined to
dominate as a strategical military point
of the Eastern Mediterranean.
''How did You find its finanees?"
Excellent. We are paying 500, 900
rental out of its surplus revenues"
''FrOm Cyprus you went"
$50 Jerusalem. taking in the Balbac
ruins and other points of interest"
''What were your impressions of Jeru-
salem?"
Anything but favorable. The place
is very well preserved, but withal con-
tains very little that interests or pleases
the ordinary traveller. On the contrary,
the experiences with the inhabitants tend
to disgust one. 1t is nothing but This
is the spot where Christ died This is
where Mohammed prayed hole through
a rock, and all such nonsense"
''By the way" Sir Samuel continued,
thoughtfully, twas it not in this coun-
try that the movement having in view
the restoration of the Jews to Jerusalem
was incepted?" Having been answered
in the affirmative he went on: "Well,
now, Just see what extremely absurd
things people will do while being ignor-
ant and enthusiastic. Jerusalem is the
most desolate and uninviting place i'm
aginable. Agriculture is almost un-
known and impracticable, and the ele-
ments of sustenanee are so bad there that
the inhabitants have to catch rain water
for domestic purposes. The arabic
lands that are at all near are in posses
sion of the Bedouin Arabs, and / assure
you they are not the people for settlers
to interfere with. Under the auspices of
the movement . number of Jews have
gone there and are nov subsistlng on
the charity of the natives miserable
paupers."
IBID you remain in Jerusalem long?''
''No, indeed; but two days. From
there We went direct to India, arriving
at the commencement of the remarkable
hot season of 1880, in January. In India
We were royalty entertained; had several
mountain and jungle hunts with the GUS
tomary elephant trains; our success be-
ing three tigers. OF all the places we
saw Canton, China, was, perhaps, the
most wonderful and inspiring sight.
Here hundreds of thousands of people
are seen in river life, in boats and along
the banks-people who are born, live
and die on the river. After passing
through the terrific typhoon of August
We reached Japan, where We renamed
until May Goth of the present year, when
We came to San Francisco"
''Were you favorably impressed with
the Chinese and Japanese, their indus
tries. habits and regard for foreign rela-
tions?"
''Very much. Nothing in my study
of nations ever struck me so forcibly as
their high commercial integrity with for,
eign relations. They endeavor to pre-
serve their reputation for honesty most
stringertly and go so far in this connec-
tion that brother merchants will pay the
debts of one insolvent. Bankers there
seldom lose money through their
patrons. Another thing that strnck me
was the general cleanliness and munich
pal arrangements Of those villages and
sities where European interference was