The daily citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1889-1890, 1889-08-18
EUROPEAN LETTERS.
THE SCIENCE OF FI-EECING
TRAVELLERS A FINE ART.
The DiscOnfOrts of Travel Across
the POnd-The Galleries of Ant
werp, and the Beautiful City of
RrusseIs-On the Continent.

Editor Citizen On last evening your
correspondent left tircsomc London,
where week of continual sightseeing
had quite exhausted his powers, mental
and physical, and taking train for Har-
wich, there boarded a small steamer
which landed us at Antwcrpat 90 clock
this morning.
There are doubtless many things in
Europe which are better done than in
America, notably the science of hCcciug
travellers bv means of fees and extra
charges, wfrch is certainly worked up to
Il degree of perfection that entities it to
be classed among the fine arts. 1t is
rather annoying when YOU sit down to a
table d'hOtc dinner which processes to be
served for five shilings, to find yourself
charged Il sixpcncc extra for attendance,
nincpcnce for a cup o., coffee and three
pence for ice, which two last items you
may have unwittingly asked for.
While we feel obliged to acknowledge
the superior skill of our hosts i'll the de
partmcnt referred to above we must say
that in everything that composes true
comfort i'll travelling, America can teach
them more than they have learned i'll all
the centuries of their national existence
They really do not know the meaning of
the word comfort" Their railroad car
riagcS one soon gets accustomed to, and
they are not SO really Objectionable,
when occupied by Il party of friends, but
when crowded with people unacquaintcd
with each other and all inclined to con-
slider anyone who ventures to begin Il
conversation as a burglar or Earrotcr i'll
disguise, it is by no means agreeable.
Then, too, the want of ice water is ter
riblv felt by those who have always been
accustomed to having it i'll the greatest
abundance In the railroad carriages
there is no provision whatever for sup
plving water, iced or otherwise, and we
can conceive of nothing more distressing
than to be obliged to travel all night i'll
.onc of them.
Nor arc the discomlorts by any means
confined to the railroads, but the steam
boat accommodations are quite as unsat-
isfactory. We have given you some idea
of the discomforts attending trans
Atlantic voyage by a steamer of the
State line, and last evening when we
found the boat-whiCh was to carry Il
tremendous crowd across the North Sea
both small and lily provided with what
we arc accustomed to consider the ncCcS
sites of travellers life, (fOr instance, not
a single chair nor sofa provided on deck
we could not resist the comparison with
our American Fall River line, or ChcSa-
peake Bay boats or many Others where
every convenience and delight isprovided
III abundance.
Before leaving mention of London we
must not fail to chronicle that which
4. 4
by Canon Farrar. st. Margaret S church
was packed full to ovcrtlowing last Sun
day. but it was our good luck to secure
place where every word was audible, and
the expressive face and gesture of the
earnest speaker visible. 1t was strange
to hear the comments of all OF our party
as the service ended. With universal
consent the sermon was declared excel
lent, and exactly like that we heard last
Sunday at st. Giles, i'll Edinburgh
Yes, we never remember on two success
i've Sundays, in different places and by
ministers of different Crccds, to have
heard di8cOurScS so remarkably similar
in tone, idea and in manner of delivery.
All that we had heard and read of Canon
Farrar was fully realized, and without
attempting an cpitome of his sermon, we
will only say the saWc spirit of universal
love and urging to good works i'll the
most practical and common sense man
ner pervaded it, as does all of his writings
that we have read.
Now for the Continent. Arriving in
Antwerp we spend Il few hours i'll visiting
several places of interest. The home and
the tomb of the great painter Rubens,
and several of his most noted pictures.
His "CruCiiXiOn" we thought most pain
fully realistic and yet the fascination
was such as kept our eyes fixed upon it.
The difference in expression of the two
thieves was especially strong, but we
must confess none of his paintings leave
with us any sense of enjoyment. All are
renditions of such terrible ideas, and in
manner to bring them to your very face.
Then to-day we saw one of the martyr
dom of saint whose tongue had been
cut out and was being fed to a dog,
while the poor victim writhed in an
guish, inexprcssiblc by anyone save Ru-
bens. Indeed it was enough to keep one
awake for week with the memory.
The specimens of wood carving i'll all of
the churches i'll beauty unsurpassed any
thing we ever dreamed possible, and
again and again we longcd for you to
see it, for i'll no other way can you enjoy
it as we did. 1t was not only Il surprise
to us that this art could he brought to
such perfection, but all the subjects were
selected SO as to give pleasure and rest to
the eye and brain.
In one of the galleries we saw numer-
Gus amateur artists copying the paint
ingS, and among them one man who had
no arms, having been born SO manned,
and vet with his toes he was making a
very crcditable copy of one. of the best
pictures. 1t was very curious to see with
what ease Inc could handle, or rather toe,
his brushes, and with what dclicacy he
could apply his colors.
Leaving Antwerp at 8 p. M, an hours
ride over a beautiful agricultural Coun-
try brought us to Brussels. What most
pleased us was to see the wind mills i'll
all directions performing their part, by
pumping the water for irrigating the
lands. This was a picture we noticed as
soon as we could see the land this morn
ing, and struck us very oddly, as also the
fact that we could look across the ham,
let's and see the sails of vessels going in
all directions, looking very much as
though sailing on dry land.
Brussels, we pronounce after a days
ins Jcction, one of the most beautiful cities
we have ever seen, and in its cleanliness a
wonderful reliefafter London. The hotel
and restaurants are good, and would not
be at all expensive were it not for the
abominable extras, one of which is
lights; and as they chargeus two francs
forty cents-each for candles, we only use
one, and this accounts for the inCoherent
manner in which this is written, because
the room is so dark as to render us un-
certain whether we are talking in Eng
lsh or still jabbering away at our new
idiomed French. as we have been doing
ali dav very much to thr amusement Of