St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1897-05-21
The Pleasures of Travel.
(Editoral Correspondence

conduct themselves in foreign lands.
SO many Ct these somewhat senseless
postscripts have been written that
shall not burden the readers with advice
about wearing celluloid collars and cuffs,
or how much of fee they should give
the porter or head waiter. Sufficient unto
the day is the evil thereof, and when it
comes to distributing fees the chances are
more than even that you will give twice
as much as the attendant expected and
then congratulate yourself that you have
gotten off so cheaply. After we had been
paying 20 cents ride for cab in Rome
we found out that the natives always
got cab for half as much and then we
tried to do as the Romans did.
One can learn great many things in
travelling and of course comes home full
of advice for future travellers. shall
give very little but l do feel like suggest
ing that it does not pay to worry. If
you are inclined to worry then much of
the anticipated rest and enjoyment of
your trip is lost. had heard so much
about custom house examinations that |
began to be nervous before | had lost
sight of the American shore. My first
experience was at Genoa aud the Italian
officer examined carefully my bag and
two trunks and said nothing. He was
searching for tobacco and when his eye
fell on some "Flashskins" which l lad
bought of Col. Richie as present to
some friends abroad, he opened each one
and without my knowledge kept one for
his own use. AS the articles were done up
in paper in imitation of tinfoil the smart
officer thought he had found some
tobacco and so had perfect right to
open the packages. His right to keep
one is quite characteristic of every official
in Italy What they cannot get legiti-
mately they steal, and this habit is so
notorious that one hardly dares leave a
trunk at a station lest its contents be
removed, and never buys ticket at
station lest the ticket agent cheat him in
the change. After my experience in Genoa
l had my baggage examined seven times
and at only two places did / have to open
my bags. The gold-laced officers at the
other places asked few questions and
then sent me away rejoicing. And coming
home worried about the examination
at New York which had been frequently
told was simply awful. There the exam
ination lasted about five minutes and
not single thing in any olmy trunks or
bags was touched. So it does not pay
to worry about the customs either here
or in Europe.
Several friends told me that l should
find no difficulty in using the English
language wherever went and one need
not worry at all about travelling in
country where he cannot speak the Ian
guage. The English language is spoken
enough at the hotels and stations so
that you can get what you want or 60
where you wish, and in many OF the
larger stations of Italy, Germany and
France the railroads employ a uniformed
interpreter to assist those who get lost
i'll the big stations or who want any in
formation. 1t is the same way at the
CT The cIAnc tbnt hoya tha ,nn
MAN speak English" are the ones that
are patronized by the English and Ameri-
can tourists, and so the time is not far
distant when the English language will
be spoken in every hotel and in every
respectable store in Europe. 1t does not
pay to worry over the language. If you
get into trouble you can do as one of
our travellers did in Italy and tell them
you 40 not understand, or you can try
English as last resort and in most every
case they will understand you or mmedi.
ately find one who can.
You are so well taken care of while
travelling that il you could not speak
any language at all you would reach
your destination alright. Two London
tourist firms have agencies in every city
of Europe and their uniformed men are
at the trains and ready to give inlorma-
ton for the asking. 1t is a real pleasure
to testify to the numerous attentions |
received from the various agencies OF
: Thomas Cook & Son, and all they re-
ceived in return was the payment for
railroad tickets through Europe. They
cash your American Express orders or
give you gold on your letter ofcredit,
keep your mail for you or send your let.
tiers to your next address, answer all
sorts OF questions, and do a thousand
and one things that take their time, and
tor this time they never make any charge.
After you buy your tickets Of them you
go to the station and an official shows
you your train, porter takes your bag.
gage into the car and before the train
starts another official looks at your
ticket again to see that you are rightly
located. All this takes time, but you are
sure to be on the right train and going
: to the right place. In all my travels ii
: six countries never missed train, never
~ ,,,t, bn 81 4,