The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1893-11-10
LETTERS FROM DR.. NEAL.
CANADIAN PACIFIC X. K. Co.
"EMPREss OF JAPAN"
uopNINc SEPT n 40,

c,TJRDAY MOKNlNOj ohri' y, ioV5'
~ NTbourh the ship is pitching and
,ossinr at great rate this morning
..J ,be motion seems to be getting
s,e,dily worse, | want il possible to
noe vou connected account Of our
t.rrnev across the Pacific. We are
Jps,rint the end Of our long voyage
and very happy we shall all be when
rs @ cast anchor in the harbor of Yoko-
h,ma and feel we can have respite
Fat least one day from the constant
s,o,;on of sea and screw, which for
Ton days past has racked Our bodies
snd a, times made us feel that life
rrder such circumstances was scarcely
worth living. We have had very
dsagreeable passage, the sea being
,oucb almost all the time, smooth
enough for perfect comfort only two
or three days out of the whole time,
while the weather has been cold and
togpy with lit te sunshine almost con-
,nuously. No one who has not tried
i can know the awful monotony and
nositive suffering endured in the long
massage across the Pacific in rough
weather. so many days out of sight of
land. plunging and toiling day after
day through the apparently limitless
expanse of waters and getting up each
morning seemingly no nearer our goal
than the day before.
The great event of each day is the
reckoning at noon of the progress we
have made since noon of the day be-
fore. the determination of the position
Of the ship at sea and marking that
position on a chart which is kept in
the library for each one to study at
his leisure. We have not made fast
time, the highest run being 37S miles
and the lowest 34I, which is slow as
compared with the Atlantic grey
hounds but very good for the Pacific
where steamers do not try to beat
each others record.
We left Vancouver about five o'clock
Tuesday morning Of last week and af
ter short stop at Victoria, the capi-
tai Of British Columbia, about noon Of
that day left the land, not to touch it
again until we enter the harbor OF Yo-
kohama, over 5000 miles away across
aweary waste of waters with not a
glimpse of land to cheer the eye.
From Victoria the ship steered slight
ly north until it reached, after two
days, fifty and a half degrees north
latitude after which it came straight
west on that parallel for four days,
passing within perhaps fifty or sixty
miles OF the Aleutian Islands which
we did not see, and then turning
slightly south has continued ever since
running in a southwesterly direction
for Yokohama which we hope to reach
early Monday morning, two weeks
within one day from the time we left
Vancouver. Strictly of course we
shall have been only twelve days
making the trip as we dropped last
Tuesday when we crossed the ISoth
degree of longitude. You know a
day is always dropped on crossing
that line in coming west SO that you
have week of only six days, and on
going east day is added SO that you
have week of eght days.
So far as our ship itself is concern
ed we are very comfortable. Our
state room is large and convenient,
the library comfortable and the dining
saloon cheerful, while the deck Is most
roomy and well protected from the
weather. If only the weather and sea
were what might be desired We should
have had very comfortable trip, es-
pecially as the company on board IS
very agreeable. / think on the whole
II is the most sociable ship load OF
people we have ever travelled with
There are a lot of missionaries on
board beside our own party OF five, a
very nice English family consisting OF
father, mother, two daughters and a
son, party of four Yale students, one
Of whom we have found very pleasant,
some Harvard boys and number of
Germans and others, eighty'seven IN
all in the first cabin, beside a number
OF Chinese in the steerage. Every
body seems inclined to be friendly, at
least the majority do, so when the
weather is good we have some very
nice times together. We had very
pleasant services on Sunday morning
with singing in the afternoon and
evening.
Thursday evening of this week we
had grand concert in the dining sa'
loon and yesterday afternoon a very
entertaining lot of athletic games on
deck, one of the events of which was
''rug of War;" British Empire
against the World, in which we man
aged to get the better Of the British
and haul them over the line. There
were nine men on each side. On ours