St. Paul daily globe., 1884-08-02
ST. PAUL TO BOSTON
A Trip which Included One Day out of
the Country,
And What was Seen Both in This and Other
Lands.
Correspondence St. Paul Globe

1t was my fortune to journey from St.
raul to Boston last week, and more for the
purpose of ''freeing my mind' OF thoughts
and scenes connected with the trip, than
with any view of especial edifcaton, / am
about to invite the reader of these lines to
take the trip (on paper) with me. Another
reason for this display of generosity is that
The reader can take 1t in this manner for a
nickel, while the actual trip might prove
more expensive both in time and money.
| SO with an san aboard'' to the reader, here
we go.
Taking the 9 p. m. train at the st.
Paul Union depot last week
Wednesday night l was comfortably
matter of course-because was on board the
famous Omaha and Northwestern route,
which, with its elegant sleepers, its clean,
day coaches and superb dining cars makes
travel luxury instead of discomfort and fa-
| tigue. On time to the minute, safe and
sound,2 p M, Thursday, found our train at
the Northwestern depot at Chicago, and an
hour and a half later was leaving the con-
vention city behind me via the Chicago,
Montreal & Boston Air line. This
route is composed of the Grand Trunk
from Chicago to Montreal, and the
South Eastern, Passumpsic and Boston, Con-
cord and Montreal lines, from Montreal to
Boston. This route, upon the hours jour
neyed, gives the traveller full daylight day
IN Canada. You retire for the night in
America and awake in foreign land At
| Port Huro, "a, Il.
Dative land for brief season. and the train
is transported bodily by mammoth ferry boats
to Sarnia, on the Canadian side. This took
place in my case in the middle of the night
and hence the transition was not harsh.
awoke at Port Huron at l a. m.,
and swung the curtains aside just in
time to take farewell view of the American
shore, but dropped asleep in transit so that 1
cannot speak of the shock or other sensation
which my arrival in a foreign land may have
produced My recollection of Port Huron is
somewhat two-fold-first, as the jumping off
place, and second, as the home of Michigan's S
statesman, Senator Conger. When 1 again
aWoke L had been in foreign country,
| though in somnolent condition,
long enough to be acclimated and
the morning sun looked just about the same
as though it was an American citizen. 1t is
very evident that the sun is no respecter of
persons, and sends its Illumination such a
distance that it shines alike upon the Just
and unjust, and that is the way / account for
the bright appearance of the heavens as I
drew into Toronto last week, and Friday
m orning
When you cross the river at Detroit and
take the Great Western road at Windsor, you
feel that you have struck foreign country
sure enough, though you have not changed
cars. The conductors and trainmen are
English to the manor born. The station
agents, the depot police, the boys,
and all concerned, make you feel as
though you had struck "John Bnll and his
Island" amidships. l was in frame of
mind to encounter a similar experience
when / arose from the slumber of the Just,
the Friday morning in question, but 1 was
agreeably surprised to find q general air of
American civilization surrounding me and 1
concluded that the intern ational work of the
salvation army, or some other cause, was
Americanizing Canada. This idea was
made more impressive by reading
in the Toronto paper of that
date, on account of chunk of the Salvation
Army being sent to goal at Hamilton, On
tario. the previous day, and another chunk
of the same army being sent to Jail the same
day at Cleveland, Ohio. So honors were
easy on the salvation question both sides of
the line, and drew long breath Of con-
tentment.
IN AND AROUND TORONTO.
The first thing that attracted my especial
attention on approaching Toronto was a
mammoth brick building five stories high
and perhaps 300 feet long, pleasantly loca-
ted in spacious grounds.
"What building is that?" asked the por-
ter of the car.
''The Mercy Reformatory for Women, -
was the reply.
was medtating upon the wickedness of
a country which required such mammoth
building to reform its women, and at the
same time rejecting upon the munifcence
OF the public, which, doubtless in view of the
requirements of society, provided such a
comfortable abode for those needing refor-
nation, when, mercy on us, another large
building came in view. This
building was surrounded by high stone
wall, upon the top of which guards were pac-
| ing with muskets at shoulder arms, This
proved to be a ''reformatory for men, -
called in vulgar parlance a penitentiary.
Then k,aew was in foreign land. 1 tried
to drop tear in memory of my own be-
loved country, and at the same time breathe
a sigh of commiseration for the wckedness
of the country in which l had landed,
requiring such mammoth institutions to re-
form both sexes Itwas a sort of double act
and the attempt at its execution made me
feel like applying to Barnum for a position
as double trapeze performer.
1t is several years since Toronto has had
the pleasure of my presence, and | was
struck by the marked signs of improvement
and progress. Located on Lake Ontario, the
city has the advantage of water as
well as rail commerce, and the
numerous vessels at the docks
testified to the extent and importance of the
lake traffic. 1t is ninety years since Toronto
was founded, but it required thirty-eight of
those years to reach population of $500.
This seems rather slow progress in these
modern times, but that was before the era of
railroads and telegraphs, and people who
lived in those days must wish to be born
again, for few days at least. just to see how
much better off their grandchildren are
than they used to be. Besides,
Toronto received black eye during the
war of 1912 when it was twice captured by
the Americans and its public buildings all
burned. 1t is fifty years since it was first
Incorporated as city and during that time