St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-01-03
A Nation of Travellers

Americans have acquired sublime
disregard of distance that is certainly
nnequaled by any other people. The
Frenchman is dismayed by 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 number
of miles equal to 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 thousand
miles and back to spend tWenty-four
hours with his family or his friends, and
the crossing Of the continent is so COM
mon an experience in the life of old
and young as to be thought scare e
worthy of mention. 1t is true that
this indifference to the supposed ia
tigueS of travel is a thing of recent
years. 1t has grown out Of the spread
OF commerce aud the settling of differ
ent members of common family
throughout the vast extent of our ia
vored land, and has been encouraged by
the facility, comfort and constantly
leSSenlng cost of modern transportation.
The railway and the steamship diminish
i'll the mind the idea of distance. be-
cause they are continually discounting
tllC ltCI. W. place Oll Ulllo Cdl III GlldI Is
reached directly by the aid Of the steam
engine can any longer be considered
remote. "When | was in Europe last
month is nearly as common phrase
as hen | was at breakfast this
morning." The occasional bold tray
eler 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 nation OF travellers, of
which CabeZa de Vaca was but proph-
ecy, and Ponce de Leon mere symbol.
The clerk in fortnight's outing, the
school mistress i'll the intervals OF her
Occup alton, undertakes for pleasure 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,
an heroic page in the history of civiiZa-
ton. And the frail in health, fleeing
from the harsh winds and storms of the
North and East. the jaded business man
haraSSed by a thousand cares, the
wealthy idler, seeking only change of
pleasure, dreams of Fountain of Per
petual Youth and wakes within the pool,
translated by the modern genie. Thus
it has TRANSFERRED that within the last
few years visitors TO the shores of the
racine nave steadily increased in num-
Der. A correspondent, writing from the
Coronado Beach hotel in Southern Cali
fornia, states that the number of guests
at that place during this fall and the
coming winter promises to be unprece-
denied. and that the same is true at
Pasadena and Redondo. People are ar
irving in large numbers every day, and
hundreds of letters are received from
prospective guests asking for reserva-
ton of accommodations. Many of these
formerly spent their winters in the
South, but are now enthusiastic over
what they claim to be the superior
beauty and salubrity of the Pacific
coast. 1t is probable that the hos tel
rles 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 nation of travel
erS. Our country is 5000 miles in
breadth, yet for recreation and bealth
we flock from the Atlantic to the Pa
cific shore, and think no more of the
feat 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 tue spout OF his
immortal kettle?