Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1885-11-08
ANTWERP.
The Great Seaport Of Belgium and En-
trepot for Germany-Its People
and Their Surroundings.
The Difference Between John Bull and
Uncle Sam Emphasized at HO-
tel Breakfast Table.
The Cathedral and the Statue of Rubens-
The Musee Plantin-MOretus, Shrine
for Painters and Printers.
ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE OF THE APPEA1.I

ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE OF THE APPEAL.l
ANTWERP, October 24.-Our good
| ship arrived in port after an exceedingly
| quiet passage of nine days and something
under twenty hours sailing. As usual
with people forced upon each other so
suddenly for social intercourse, the
saloon atmosphere was rather stiff for
the first two or three days. One or two
| looked down upon the others with a
don t-touch-me air aud for while kept
aloof, secluding themselves in state rooms
suffocatingly hot. Others feeling fearful
| OF mat de naer were very nervous and dis
agreeable, and there were some who had
| not quite gotten over the leave taking of
friends and home, and they moped, mel
ancholy objects indeed; but under the In
tuence Of genial skies and pleasant
waters, and also by strenuous efforts of
one or two Mark Tapleys, this atmos-
| pheric immobility lifted and we passed
the remainder of our days pleasantly
enough. 1t takes so little to amuse one
on shipboard, the slightest thing serves
| to hold youA interested. A sail the
merest speck dpon the horizon, will cre-
ate the most intense excitement, every
body rushing, that can, to the quarter
| from whence she may best be seen. and
| speculations arise as to who the stranger
Is, the distance away, where she's bound
and what kind OF cargo she car--,
| These conjectures run into wagers. prin-
| cipally OF wine, and are nearly always
decided by the officer of the watch.
There was a question among several,
habitually the losers, as to whether their
own judgment wasn't just as sound as
I hat Of ha a
were willing to have his neighbor sit on
| the case, their decision was taken as
fiual. On the fifth night we had
most charming moonlight which
! brought even the sickest from their
berths. 1t had been drizzling rain
off and on for three days previous, and
this gentle night seemed smile from
nature after so much moodiness. 1t was
trul ly night to dream and sigh one
soul away. L can readily believe that a
man might commit himself to one of the
furies on such night. Old oce; 10 was
quiet, save for slight ripple, which
| shimmered and danced backwa. and
forward in the cold stream Of light. AS
the moon came up out of the water drip
| ping, one could imagine whole hosts of
| sprItes, troOplng up and down the silver
road, some staid and sober, now far be-
yond their youthful days, with impish,
stately tread; others, full of young blood,
| playing games and pranks, hopping,
jumping, singing aud dancing and chas-
ing one after another away aud away, un-
til entirely lost to sight. After the fifth
day, when conversation begun to pail
upon one, and our musical repertoire had
been repeated until it was sure death to
any one who uttered a note, shuttle
1 faCe fol
and tame tilrtations, running into more
serious things, were resorted to to tighten
the monOtonous day. Now and then we
struck into school of porpoises, which
was exceedingly interesting. For hours
they would sport before the bows, rush
ing through the water, leaping from it
into the air and back again, always keep
ing little in advance of the ship. They
seemed to relish it hugely, and we GER
talnly did. With Just such things we
managed to pass our days pleasantly; but
the nights, for some of us, were
HIDEOUs DREAMS.
| There is an ash-shute, or scuttle, on
| either side Of the vessel. The coal
stokers change watch every four hours,
and the watch coming on have to dunn
the ashes made by the preceding watch,
and they seem to take q fend-
| Iisb pIee :" making as MUCH din
as possible in doing II. "sAes are
lifted from the hold by donkey engine
IN large iron scoops and is then dumped
| into the scuttle, always to the leeward.
| Now 1t was the miserable luck of some
OF US to have rooms Immediately under
this horrible clatter, and, as the scuttles
run down the sides of the ship and empty
their contents directly into the water, we
not only had the benefit of the noise
above, but also that on the sides, and
any likelihood Of the wind changing to
another quarter was question of great
moment. Upon one of these nights,
when the gods seemed to have forsaken
u.s. my comrade and l went on deck to
wear away the hours. The sky was
overcast, but the night was still. At
| regular intervals, as the hours were
tolled off, the silence was weirdly broken
by the cry, "All's we'll" drawn out in a
cadence long and fine and intensely un-
canny, and, to make the ghostliness more
complete, the water was all aglow with
phosphorus. 1t slipped along the sides
and was tumbled up in the wake of the
vessel in myriads of tiny lights. Each
glow seemed the far-off glimmer of a
lighted candle in the deep, and, allowing
your fancy to weave some elfn scene. one
could see tiny folk, angered at being dis
turbed over a spritish reveI, come swift
| ly to the surface to revenge themselves
upon the invaders, ride for a space upon
the crest of petty wave, then dive into
the depths again. All such nights are
never to be forgotten, and it is with a
sigh of regret even now that | pass on
to things matterof- fact. As we ran
into the Channel, all were on the alert
for as much of old England as could be
seen, and it was with mingled feelings OF
pride and sadness, as looking upon her
shores, many. realizad the distance be-
tween US and our loved land. But it
was inevitable that we must land before
we could turn back. So passing on
up through the historical waters of the
Channel, on past singular looking craft
quite lubberly, with their colored sails
on and on up into the North Sea we
went. As we neared Flushing all were
anxious to know whether the ship would
be allowed to pass up the river, arriving
at Antwerp that night We had been
told that unless we made Flushing before
dark, we should have to remain there
until morning. Some desired to stoI
over and others did not. At all events
we were allowed to pass quarantine with
out an examination, and the ship, aftel
taking on the river pilot, steamed away
up the Schelde merrily enough. To the
strangers eye, used to roam over thickl ly
wooded hills and valleys, the low country
on either side presented quite an ode
picture, set out in the drollest- -looking
row of trees. 1t was exceedingly inter
esting, reminding me very much of /;
child's Noah's ark, the trees having the
appearance of being made from the same
pattern and the trunk of each glued ontC
disk of wood to keep it upright; anc
the little cottages sprinkled among then
served to carry out this impression, with
their gaudily painted sides, roof, window
and door facings and chimneys, all com
pleting picture at once unique. Just
before landiDg. a very sad incident hap
pened. An old German lady dropped
dead in her room. Itwas most pitiablt
sight to see her husband, feeble ole
man, give expression to his grief He
threw himself upon the body and sobbeC
until we thought his heart would break
They had been twenty years in the States
and were for the first time on a visit tt
Germauy-througho the voyage they
had seemed so engrossed in each other, S,
attentive to the wants of one another. L
threw a gloom over the finish of al
otherwise happy voyage. We were landed
in port between s and 9 o'clock in tn,
evening, which was anything but agree
able, what with the hotel cries, the ca
, cries and others, all in a mixture of
FOUR LANGUAGES,
Dutch (very low, Flemish, German an,
French a patois }, the crowding on an,
off the steamer of people, the hurry an,
scurry of getting luggage passed by tn
Custom House officers. and utter dark