New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-02
A PURITANlCAL JOURNEY.
MADE BY JOHN PAUL. FROM NETWORK TO
NANTUCKET

roue 10 find the legs Of the vessels walking-beam
covered and the decks and decorations toned
down TO q becoming sobrety Of tint-quite
different drab from that which was noticeable In
the gilt-button days Of the late
NOT lamented Commodore Fisk Inc
housing of the paddle-boXes, too, seemed an enore
mt forth in the direction of humility as well as
Of economy of space. A magnificent promenade
IL thus secured-at the sacrifice Of some beauty
nossibly, but that we miss and mourn the re-
dundant curves of other days merely proves tha'
custom makes law in aesthetics as well rs In
politics and similar rights of way. To me
steamboat without visible paddleboXes iorcloiy
suggests the hammerless gun: And hammerieS'
guns, now the rage, wien first they came
were generally considered unsightly and some
what improper.
But Puritan though this boat be, there are
nevertheless many storiesnbout her. Counting
the lower-cabin as one. there are then the main
deck, the saloon-deck, the upper saloon-decK anu
the promenade -deck-ths latter rather correspond
ing to the roof However, four high II not wen
seasoned stories can be mustered, and from their
serene height one looks down upon lesser craft
with contempt. The size Of these monsters Is
as difficult to remember as are the vows Of lovers
So | will 90 into no details. On the whole
il is well not always to remember
1t is mainly the things one iorsets
that one respects Ny FuTitan's height ana ichgth
and breadth will the more interest the reauel -
they remain to him as unknown quantities. L anii-
iarity with Puritan's dimensions might breed com,
tempt rather than belief if happy il did not reveai
some limitations But Puritan" Pilgrim
Plymouth" whence sprung this new Dlrth Oh
names ?-to say nothing of the new berths ana
staterooms Before, and when FISK was on uec'N
we had Provdences and Bristos towns, as IL were'
| not principles Are we now putting on the prill-
tiveness that prevailed before the taii-Deiofe Tue
Fall River Line fell one might say? Quite In line
is it that these great bathers assume propety even
if they have it not, when Asbury Park comes 10
the front with the declaration that nuns Nelilhg
does not drapery make nor mosquito bars cage
l. G. for the Jersey shore-and that postage stamps,
even of the highest denomination, do not sufiicc
for the sea-going male. is it not written thaC 10
the pure all things are indecent?
There is convenience as well as elegance ABOUT
| the fittings of the perfected steamboat OF INC
| period The fiat luXury-I mean the nat luxor
| the apparatus that enables one TO turn Hood OF
| radiance on with the fingers, or summon darRey
if not darkness by pressing a button; the racks
under the chairs for hats: the rails around
the decks for feet the peepholes which no Key
can obscure arranged in stateroom door locKs,-lt
were difficult to enumerate all the conVenlences
that modern invention has bestowed upon travel
ling public. So III simply say that the woods are
full of them But I'll also say for steadygong,
straight-out-and-out comfort, give me a catDoat' !
The one 1 can run, the other l could not. No
Puritan in mine, if you please. In event of sud
| den sauall on or about the catboat, you have but
IN drop the peak-haliards and half the sail is on
on one Of these big steamboats, don't know what
you,d do. unless kick down one Of the smoke
stacks Under short flue you'd scarcely fly so
| fast through the water.
!, You will notice, too, that even the soundest
catboat has no steam fog-horn to poster you the
night through. Never did l SAIL mean steam
on Sound steamer that the fOg.horn was not
started Immediately that / turned in and kept
industriously blowing till l turned out in the
morning. Why all these blows-and TO an Ameri
can citizen? You may say, Because there was
fog But this is jumping at facts-you start out
with o fog-horn conclusion. On no occasion do
remember to have seen fog when | turned on
nv electric search-light poked my head out Of
the window This may have been because my
window generally gave buffers pantry or q
coalbunl1er, but it would need Congregational
Council in full convocation assembled to con-
vince me of that fog.
Arriving in Fall River on a catboat, at an I'M
holy hour of the morning, you'd he bothered by
| the departure OF fewer trains and fewer demon
STATIONS on your stateroom door. And IN te
catboat, information as "a when your tram dld
start would be posted up on all sides OF You, as
we'll as on the mast--that is, if l had anything
| TO do with the catboat. On the Puritan you
have to ring the bell for somebody and ask
anybody who comes And it is an even chance
that somebody doesn't come, and II ANYBODY
does. that he doesn't know. Generally they
bring icewater instead of information. To the
Puritan all liquors arc authorizations.
From Fall River to New Bedford the cars went
loaded with sunny sons of Italy, their sons, and
sons sons their daughters aud their wives. tEye-
Italians, the brakemcp called themJ quite
local flavor was noticeable, to say nothing OF a
general fragrance; one might well think himself
near to Naples. The women and little girls wore
handkerchiefs tied over their headS-which per-
hapS accounted for the scarcity OF sandy halr
among them. None of the women were pretty
and few passablc which, In view OF the
fact of their speaking no English, unfortunate
for them. pretty woman can easier make her
self understood to the conductor-is more paSsabe,
so to speak-than the ugly one. Even !, who
am but non-conductor. listen with more ease
to the beauty-give information with less effort
than TO her palmer sister however old and re-
spectacle this latter may be-
In the case of this car full of foreigners my
knowledge of modern languages stood me and
them in good stead
d" Keep your heads in If you don't want to get
them knocked off, shouted the conductor to some
of the young immigrants who were craning their
neclys out of the window. They looked at him
inquiringly.
"Mucho malo7 said. pointing to a rock that
threatened the side of the car.
A black-eyed urchin at once popped his head
cut-and the next moment drew half of it back
The other half remained on tic rock-and probably
became feature of the landscape thercabout
Hard on the boy perhaps but he learned something
Ill