The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1886-08-27

certain that our vessel will sail prompt
ly al o'clock. Having several hours to
wait, we examine ourselves, and it is our
sad misfortune to realize that there is
not drop of French blood in our veins,
and not French word in our minds.
We had expected my brother, who
speaks the language, to accompany us
through France, and disappointedly
we were left without an interpreter,
and all we have in this world that is a
least bit Frenchy is a little green COW
cred book containing a few English
and French sentences. Well, we all
sat down, put our heads together, and
took our first French lesson. On the
thirty fourth page we find . Apportez-
moi I'm biscuit and the book says it
means, " Bring me a biscuit j. M.
intimates that it would be a good plan
for him to learn 10 say, but prefers to
have the last word biscuit changed to
a large loaf of bread, and thinks it a.
good idea to put a pan of milk in some
where. We all are anxious to learn
French, so we peruse the book. On
the forty-eighth page we find that " Du
pan" is bread. We are unable to find
anything that means large loaf, so
we supply "Cent liYres,' Ca hundred
weight We find nothing that means
pan, SO we supply Un petit baril," Ga
small barrel.) and "Du lait" meaning
milk, we have /" Apportez-moi un cent
livres du pan, ct I'm petit baril de du
lait" (bring me hundred weight of
bread and a small barrel of milky We
inform him that this is what he must
say when he desires large bowl of
bread and milk. He makes a stagger
at the pronunciation, but we find it
incorrect, so we pronounce it for him.
He then retires some distance away to
say his piece. Each one tries to become
familiar with that part of the French
language that he thinks he will most
need. We soon discover that our
wants are prodigious, and it is quite
evident that we have a big job on our
hands. We have no time to lose, so
some one suggests that we resort, in
case of necessity, in some natural
method, or in other words, that we
gesture it out. In view of the fact
that we, collectively and individually,
have limited idea of what the French
language is, and believing it expedient
to resort to any OF all reasonable
means through which it may be.possi-
BILE to make a multitude of wants
known, we believe the last~suggestion
a good one, and adopt the plan. The
whistle blows and we forget our
troubles for short time to make ready
for the voyage.
At two o'clock precisely our little
side-wheel steamer glides out of the
harbor at the rate Of sixteen miles per
hour. and as she steams along the
great white cliffs she seems but a
speck, but she moves so beautifully that
we are more delighted with her than
with the great Getty of Rome" But
as we push further out into the chan
mel the sda grows heavier and soon tile
waves toss her about like bobbin to a
fish line, and our opinions go down as
-FOUR dinners go up. We lose all relish
for the French language and the desire
to see France. In fact, we lose pretty
much everything but our boots. Well,
we don't want to talk about it, and to
cut long story short. we concluded
that it might be possible to make
Frenchmen out of us, but sailors impos-
sible. eve are not built that way"
Thanks to kind Providence, at Z 80 we
arrive in Dieppe and all there is left Of
u.s. goes upon shore. We have hardly
reached the end of the gang plank
when a squad of blue jacket fellows
swarm around us and commence firing
their French at US. We are taken
rather unaWares, and before we could
get time to converse with them in their
own language or otherwise our coats
were unbuttoned, and our persons and
baggage examined. Well, to tell the
truth, we didn't try to talk much, and l
don't have any remembrance of any of
us trying to gesture, for there was a lot
of men with red pants and long swords
that kept their eyes on us and we
didn't care to make any false motions,
so we stood there like clothier's dun.
mics and let them have it all their
own way. The ceremony was short
and right to the point and we soon
learned that they were custom house
officers and that they meant no harm.
An English hotel had been recommend
ed to us which we soon found, and it
was our. pleasure to converse in our
own language. We are kindly invited
to make ourselves at home. We are
yet weak, and our landlady recon-
mends some soup for our st6mach's
sake, SO we indulge moderately and re-
tire.
We remain Friday, July 2. in Dieppe.
and are very much interested in the
quaint old city, for such it is in the
truest sense of the term. The streets
are narrow and the buildings are
crumbling with age. The customs and
habits of the people are much the same
as hundreds of years ago. That part
Of the city lying along the coast has
been built up during the last century,
and is now quite fashionable summer
resort. But we must not tarry too
long at Dieppe, so on Saturday morn
ing we wheel toward Paris ola Rouen
and Nantes. The weather is quite
warm, but the scenery is so attractive
and the roads so fine that we forget
the heat. We have not the space to
give details of the journey; it was very
pleasant throughout, and the many
funny experiences we had in trying to
make ourselves understood along the
road only made it the more romantic.
We found the peasants kind and oblig-
ing, however, and did what they could
70 helm uS on DIR WaV to RO1en NV
machine attracts a good deal of atten-
ton, which was worth more to us than
a letter of introduction, for we formed
the acquaintance of several Wheelmen,
one the President of bicycle club,
who showed us the way to an English
hotel, and did all in his power to make
it pleasant for us. Rouen is one of
Id OF ,:aatixr .alaaas Of LE,:c,aca