Morning journal and courier., 1890-01-21
ACROSS THE CONTINENT.

ACROSS THE CONTINENT.
Notes ofthe Flying Trip OF q New Hav-
ener-Fast Travelling and vicissifudes
OF Temperature - Chicaxo's Fever
Heat-A Hot Spirit OF Rivalry Furah.
er West-Former Well Remembered
Now Haveners glet-D. b. Gerrett,
Frank Bristol, Esc-21 Degrees Below
Zero ssAn Hots Long, Lonely
stretches Of Snow.
81. PAUL, Minn., Jan. Is.
To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
It ia said that the citizens Of the United
States are the best informed on all topics Of
general interest to the world at-large. of any
of the nations of the present day and that it
, is due to tho American press, which gives so
much and varied information.
But he who both reads and travels knows
beet of all. And to realize the extent of
s'Uncles Sans farm" and to know what his
nephews are doing, necessitates travelling
about it in summers heat and winters cold.
A trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific, at
any season of the year, renders It necessary
to provide against great and sudden changes
In temperature. Since leaving New Haven.
three days ago, the thermometer has varied
72 degrees. Yesterday, in Chicago, 1t was
at 90 degrees: this morning on arriving here
| 1t was 2 below zero. What it will be before
we get to San Francisco is matter for con-
| lecture.
Possibly the fact that Chicagoians are at
fever heat to know whether they will get the
| Worlds Fair or not, may account for their
local temperature.
In travelling we find Connecticut people
everywhere. They are in business in many
cities, or we meet them on the trains and in
the hotels.
| As the limited train on the New York Cen
| trail passed through Albany Col. ]. Y. Fairman
of Gov. Bulkeley's staff, boarded the train
and in the Palmer House in Chicago we met
Mr.. Frank Stiles of I. L. Stiles & Son, North
Haven.
Opposite the Palmer House is the Clifton
| House, the clerk of which latter hotel is Mr..
D. B. Garrett, who in former years was an
insurance man in New Haven.
| In the Palmer House is the famous barber
shop which cost $55, 900 to fit up and to
which it is said there is no key. In other
words, it has never been closed night or day
since it was opened. Twenty-Five BARRIERS
are employed therein, part of the force Fe-
naming on all night for the accommodation
of belated travellers.
Leaving Chicago by the fast vestibuled
| train in the Northwest railroad and in q
pouring rain we encounter snow at Madison,
Wisconsin, and soon we find it eight inches
deep and that two engines are needed to haul
us through it. It blows blizzard, but we
reach st. Paul in the morning only an hour
late, Here cabs, buses, hacks and all vehi-
cles are on runners and fur overcoats are
plentiful. Our time here 10 limited and we
| shall leave at four O'Clock this afternoon for
| Oregon via. the Northern Pacific railroad
| and during the next three days steady travel
we may find time to write you longer and
better letter.
| OBSERVER.
BISMARCK, Dakota, Jan. i've leave
via the Northern Pacific railroad from St.
Paul, bidding good bye to its snow and
sleigh bells and fur clad citizens and steam
out through it's miles of suburbs into Mime
apolis though SO nearly is the one city built
out towards the other that it is difficult to
tell where one begins and the other ends,
yet their railway centers are eleven miles
apart. Whether the twin cities will eventu-
ally be one as has been predicted and if &C
which will be one, the tail wae
the dog or vice versa, remains tc
be seen. But one thing is how
ever sure and that is that nothing makes g
stranger ask if ST. Paul, Mimi.
means st. Paul, Minneapolis or st. Paul
Minnesota. The cities may be twins in many
respects but the rivalry and mutual Jealousy
Ia intense.
At Minneapolis we cross the Mississippi
river, run past the grain elevators and grea
Touring mills, which have made the names
get glimpse at its large and elegant public
and Office buildings and then the night fall
and there is no more to be seen from our ca,
window. After dinner among our fellow
travellers we find former Connecticut man
Mr.. Frank Bristol, q nephew of Miles
L. Bristol, Esq., your Chapel street sho.
merchant. Mr.. Bristol IL now 4
wholesale hardware merchant In Fargo
Dakota, which city we pass through during
the night. We wake in the morning to FIND
ourselves in North Dakota, and an unbroker
expanse of snow lies before us in every direc
ton as far as the eye can see. The sleeping
car conductor informs rs that the mercury il
only 81 degrees below zero, aad as We pass
small towns we see on the station platforms
each mans beard is white where his breath
has frozen. Our car is warm, but in thu
and Its occupants have to use our dressing
rooms to make their toilet, and theil
complaints, though just, are o.
the grizzly humorous sort, and
their colored porter's life is made a burden
to him, for though all his passengers are colo
he says they are shot" at him. The Pull
man porter is usually an autocrat. 80 ther,
is quiet but universal feeling of satisfac
ton at his getting sat upon. At noon ",
reach Bismarck. the capital of North Dakota
To the east of the city We pass the State pen
itentiary with the guards pacing its walls
We agree that In such weather the convic
must be more comfortable than the guards
In leaving Bismarck we cross the Missouri
river on the the splendid iron bridge ant
stop at Mandan on its west bank. II
it's outskirts We see solitary In
name to the town, wrapped in his blanke
and urging his pony through the snow
Here We set our watches by "mountail
time" which is two hours slower than il
New Haven. All day We ride across Nortl
Dakota, reaching its Western boundary q
8 O'Clock p. m, but the sun has long since
set, for the days are shorter in this latitud'
than with you. What we can see Of thi!
State shows 1t to be but sparsely settled anC
the Eastern part at least, 10 rolling prairie
mainly of use but for grazing. We see
few herds Of cattle and horses. some out IL
the snow, some corrsled, but. fol
the most part the farms arr
few and scattered, though w
are told there are more over the divide on
of our sight. The snow conceAls the alkal
and sage brush of the "bad lands," as they
are called, of western Dakota, from our sigh
and we ride between stations tor mile at {
ssretch with no sign of human life or habita
ton, nothing to be seen but the snow which
but q few inches deep, yet ia everywhere.
We expect to wake In the morning along
the Yellowstone river and run all day to
morrow among the mountains of Montana
From there we hope to write yen again.
| OBsARvER.
AGOOD RECOHD.
New Haven,s Various Benevolent So.
cietles-The Work They Accum ulassd