St. Paul daily globe., 1891-12-14
ANation of Travellers.

Americans have acquired sublime
disregard OF distance that is certainly
unequaIed by any other people. The
Frenchman is dismayed by a Journey of
two or three hundred miles, and under
takes it only under -cOmpulsiOn. The
British son whose occupation chances
to separate him from his parents a num-
Der OF miles equal 10 the breadth of the
state of Illinois. visits home once year
and is a hero in his native village, by
reason of that prodigiOus Journey. The
American frequently travels a thousand
miles and back to spend twenty-fOur
hours with his family or his fTiends.and
the crossing of the continent is so COM
mon an experience in the life of old and
young as to be thought scarce
worthy of mention. 1t is true that
this Indifference to the supposed fa-
tlgueS of travel is a thing of recent
years. 1t has grown out of the spread of
commerce and the settling of different
members Of common family through
Out the vast extent of our favored land,
and has been encouraged by the facility,
comfort and constantly lessening cost
OF modern transportation. The rail-
way and tho steamship diminish in the
mind the idea of distance, because they
are continually discOunting the fact.
No place on this earth that is reached di-
rectly by the aid of the steam engine
can any longer be considered remote.
when L was in Europe last month";" is
nearly as common phrase as when I
was at breakfast this morning."
The occasional bold traveller of
former times has given place
to that modern host called tourists.
Even invalids, seeking the restoration
of vanished health, journey thousands
of miles without injury or fatigue. We
have become a nation of travellers,
of which CabeZa de Vaca was but a
prophecy and Ponce de Leon mere
symbol. The clerk in fOrtnight's out
ing, the schOolmiStress in the intervals
of her occupation undertakes for pleas
ure a journey that not so long ago was
made at the cost of toll and suffering.
even of life itself. whose narrative was
an epic, all heroic page in the history of
civilization. And the frail in health.
fleeing from the harsh winds and storms
of the North and East. the iaded busi-
ness man haraSsed by thousand cares,
the wealthy idler, seeking only change
of pleasure, dreams of a Fountain of
Perpetual Youth and wakes within the
pool, translated by the modern genie.
Thus it has transpiTed that within
the last few years visitors to
NliC VI lUC nave
steadily increased in number. A. cor
respOndence. writing from the Coronado
Beach hotel in Southern California,
states that the number Of guests at that
place during this fall and the coming
winter promises to be unprecedented,
and that the same is true at Pasadena
and Redondo. People are arriving in
large numbers every day. and hundreds
of letters are received from prospective
guests asking fog reservation of accom-
modatiOns. Many of these formerly
spent their winters in the South, but are
now enthusiastic over what they claim
TO be the superior beauty and Saluority of
the Pacific coast. 1t is probable that the
hOstelries of Southern California will
be totally unequal to the demands that
will be made upon them this winter by
tourists and others. There is scarce
any better illustration of the extraOrdi-
nary energy of our time than the fact
that we have become a nation of travel
erS. Our country is 5000 miles in
breadth. yet for recreation and health
we flock from the Atlantic to the Pacific
shore, and think no more of the fact
than if we had stepped across the road
TO call upon our neighbOr. Did Watts
dream Of any such miracle as this when
he eyed the innocent puff OF vapOr that
issued from the spout of his immortal
kettle?