Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1883-03-20
For the Democrat.
For the Democrat.
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI

FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI
The morning OF the 18th OF May lSs2,
dawncd damp and forbidiing; the rain Of
the previous night was debating the queS-
ton of longer stay; while we, with our
face set westward, determined TO leave
the clouds 10 their own devices so we but
escaped their depressing influence. By
afternoon we were snugly settled in the
drawing-room OF 4 Pullman" and look
ing out upon the varied scenery along the
line of the Grand Trunk Railway. The
clouds were gathering up their skirts and
and gliding silently away through the de-
dies of the mountains, leaving the beautl-
FOL rainbow visions, but quite coucealing
the SUBMITS OF Washington and other no.
ted heights: here and there upon whose
sides the winters snow yet fingered,
though wild cherries were in blossom by
the roadside. Before night-fall we had
made the acquaintance of other New Eng
landers westward-bound, and felt less
alone in the world.
Up at daybreak the next morning, aud
on the alert for sightseeing, we need no
guile-book to tell US We have left the
States the dreary little Canadian villages,
with their French signs, and their stone
churches, each surmouuted by cross,
and surrounded by veritable churchyard,
in which many mounds are marked simply
by a cross of wood painted white or black,
are evidence enough of the change from
Protestant New England, did not the alb
seuce OF our little district school-houses,
and the strong contrast between the houses
of the working classes and the aristocra-
cy, emphasize the same fact.
We enter Motreal in the early morning,
by way OF the Victoria Bridge, which here
spans the St. Lawrence. This largest Of
all popular bridges is indeed a stipend
Gus structure; over one mile and three
quarters in lensth, it has twenty-four
spans, the largest, three hundred and thirty
feet long. The tubes are said to contain
nine thousand tons of iron, having total
surface of thirty-two acres. We catch
such measre glimpses of the river that it
scarce seems like seeing it at all, and we
prefer to take our chances upon lattice
workbridges with their unobstructed views
II is so tantalizing TO know that just out.
side the tube which encloses US, the beau
| tiful water is dancing in the morning sun,
| or rejecting the budding trees and grassy
banks of the new spring-time.
If you were ever in Montresl you will
| appreciate the shudder with which we re-
call the G.. T. railway station in that city
| The waiting rooms are small aud dingy,
and so crowded with emigrants that the
atmosphere is unfit for human lungs
sharp as is the outside air, we have mo-
the courage to spend hours, nor minutes
even, indoors. Such lack of proper &C
commodation on the line of a great rail
road in one of the first commercial cite:
of the continent, is an outrage upon the
travelling public.
To one fresh from the States, there Is
much of interest in this chief city of thu
British Provinces. We find it hard Il
realize its right to call itself either Eng
lish or American; French names ant
sigus, and Catholic churches and converts
are so numerous; and more than once In O
two hours drive we pass shop windows in
which gaily decked images of the Savior
and Virgin are exposed for sale. Drop
ping in at the celebrated cathedral o
Notre Dame, said to be the finest church
in America. we find ourselves at morning
mass with some hundreds Of devout Cath
olics. The mlgnihcence of the interior
the profusion of images and lighted tipers
the gaily dressed priests and attendants