The daily citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1889-1890, 1889-08-01
EUROPEAN LETTERS.
THE FIRST OF THE CITIZENS
SPECIAL. SERIES

Treats OF the HItaerIeB of NAL de
HEer, and the Trials and TrIbuIR.
tIOns of a vOyaxeur ON His First
Trip ACrOss the EeOnd, Etc.
On BOARD STEAMSHIP NEVADA, |
July 8, 1889.
Dditor Citizen ,--A real nice company we
are, as to-day assembled on deck and
looking in all dirrctions for a glimpse oi
terra fir1na. Not sign to be seen in any
direction to dispel the illusion with which
one is apt often to fiatter himself, that We
compose the whole world. Not a sail
dots the horizon. We may fancy that no
other humanity exists outside of this
ship, but that the heart of each v0yagem
is full of the dear ones, young and old, at
home. Notwithstanding our crowded
staterooms and unusual fare, we are all
determined like Mari Taplcy to bc jolly
under all circumstuG>s IS. We will see how
this holds when the wind rises, causing
the ship to roll and that terrible mai de
mcr to appear. Anyone who can sustain
his jOllity under this trial will deserve Il
crown indeed.
Our ship moves very smoothly forward
but is not as comfortable as we were led
to expect. and slow to degree. Already
we regret that we had not advised YOU
not to expect to hear of our landing be-
| fore the Goth. The Staterooms are small
and poorly furnished, and terribly
crowded. We, ourselves, arc i'll one with
seven Jolly companions Eight men in Il
compartment measuring SKIS feet, and
to vc'thcrc for the next ten or twelve
days. The ladies are equally crowded
and very uncomfortable, but they arr
very brave, and do all in their power to
keep up the appearance of enjoyment.
Kind Mrs Brodnax has already estab-
lishcd class OF infants in French, our
selves included i'll the number, so that we
may hope to take care of our sous in
Paris.
Yes, we North Carolinians, enlightened
by few Carolinians, will survive the dis
comforts of this voyage, for mcrcifu
| Providence has blessed us with the prom
sc of Il fine spell of weather The ocean
is as calm as Il lake; scarcely pcrccpti-
bic swell. by huge effort some of the
party have COTTON up an appearance OF
scasickncss, but your is not
equal to such mental cXertiOn, and
therefore continues as well as if on the
delightfully."- smooth streets of Ashcvillc.
We were advised by Il friend never to
say on board ship waiter" or porter" -"
but always Steward" and we have
religiously done so, but sad to say, no re-
sponsive courtesy has followed this tails
man. lfever we catch one OF these long
legged dirty Scotch stewards at our home
we will take our revenge by inviting him
to take walk over our citv's sidewalks
This delightfully."- beautiful ocean, whose
tints of emerald tingcd with golden sun
shine, we have never seen adequately por
trayed on canvass, but most nearly ap-
proximated by those sweet pictures OF
Mr.. Church. How can our unskilled pen
attempt to describe the sensations ofthis,
our first voyage! oh, heavens! Just as
we are beginning to get up poetic Juror
there is tie bell for lunch, and we must
sink our high-flown thoughts to the level
of hard tack and century-old butter and
enter once more the arena in a struggle
for life with our steward.
We will give you a few words more
when we have finished gulping down our
hard tack and our wrath.
BANKS OF NEWFOUNDLAND.
July 11.-How few of us realize the size
of our continent! Here we have been
sailing due east from New York for four
days and nights, and this wretched ship
is slow. We estimate that we have made
successfully one-third of the distance to
| Glasgow, and yet here we are only south
of Newfoundland, you might say still in
American waters, The temperature is
pleasantly mild, owing probably to the
influence of the gulf stream, which is bet
ter than the disagreeable cold of yestcr-
day. Our good party may be on deck
and we trust will be in better health than
Yesterday. A sight of these magnificent
waves and the drinking in of Gods dear
sunshine and pure air will do them good,
and truly they get but little help from
man i'll their agony, for the wOtul NAL de
mcr has appeared, and most woful has
been the tyrant's onslaught. Standing
as we now do, taking a bird'seye view of
the deck, we must wonder us this what
one calls pleasure excursion?" PrOba-
bly, fifty ladies, most of them teachers
who have been working hard and need
all the rest their short vacation can give
them, to enable them to resume their
arduous duties, many of them evidently
in bad health, and at this moment under
going worse suffcrings than the most or
thodox pains OF Gehcnna. Our very
heart blecds for them as with pale, dis
traught visagc, each at intervals stag
gers to the taffrail in the vain cndcavor
to vomit the tacks of their shoes into the
sea. At times we cannot refrain a smile
as the proverbial "Oh, my" comes up
from one after another, but our smiles in
dicates no lack of sympathy, for indeed
we would do all in our power to help
them ii we only knew how to begin. One
sweet young girl family thanks us for
bathing her aching head, and says: ooh,
please Just let me die, and do nothing TO
help me. am so miserable, My poor
mother! Why did | ever leave her for
this horrible voyage1" Yes, indeed,
why we wonder,
The cost on this ship is certainly low.
Thirty-fve dollars from New York to
Glasgow is not much, but the accommo-
dations are in proportion, and both
rooms and table fall far short of our ex-
pectations from descriptions we have
heard of an ocean palace.
Our people seem variously affected, gen.
orally intense nausea and oft repeated
and terrible retchings, but occasionally
the symptoms are altogether different,
being intense headache and icy GOODNESS,
especially of hands and feet. From this
terrible pain one young girl has just be-
come entirely delirious, frightening all
around her terribly. We being almost
the only we'll man, helped her to her berth,
where one brave lady after another came
to her help in the few moments interven.
ing between their attacks of devotion to
Neptune and his denizens.
We're It not for the intrinsic merit oi
our good people, especially the ladies,
this sort OF thing would be totally un.
bearable. But they are so sweet, long
suffering and endure their troubles with
so much fOrtitude and patience-a lesson