The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-03-24
LETTER FROM A COUNTRY GIRL IN
PARIS.
PARIS. FRANCE, March


EDITORS INTELLIGENCER: Whom left
Anderson on the 9th of September, 1 little
thought of the adventures I was to have,
the splendid scenery that was to delight
me and the strange customs and people
was to wonder at before letter of mine
could reach you!
I had hardly left home before my ad-
ventures began. The train was delayed
BY wreck on the road and we could not
make connection at Portsmouth, Va. So
I had the great pleasure Of going by wa
ter, and had my first glimpse ofOld Point
Comfort; by the light of the moon, tits
true, but that made the spot all the more
! charming.
After spending night in Now York, 1
went on board the old "Anchoria," and
before I left her deck for good, was
heartily sick of her. But I was not sea-
sick at all; we had delightful voyage.
1t is amusing to see how easily people get
bored on a sea-voyage, and how the
slightest thing outside the ship draws
crowd at once. AS, for instance, when
we passed another ship Of the Anchor
Line we all gathered in the after part of the
| boat to see the Cdmpdn1a as long as there
| was anything to see. And we really al
most went wild oyer three or four whales
| spouting up spray to the height OF ten or
| twelve feet in the air.
That was when we were Just off New
foundland. And one day was sitting
comfortably in my steamer chair, near
the deck-railirg, when a sailor came up
to me and said "Better look out, Miss,
we're havin' pretty heavy sea-" I
laughed ats him and went on reading,
when, witkGut any warning, an immense
wave Of tho coolest water I ever felt,
dashed over me and almost rolled me on
the deck. T was wet to the skin, and
simply had to 60 to bed. The steward
| ess made mo a hot toddy, with Scotch
! whiskey, and went to sleep and slept
like top all night. One night we saw
the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Light,
which we never see at home. 1t was not
exactly like the picture in our old Cor
nelps Geography, though called that to
mind. It was more like an exaggerated
rainbow melting down to centre, in all
the gorgeous colors you can imagine.
Never can forget my first sight of land
after twelve days of sky and water! The
sun was Just rising when I went on deck
and found that we had reached Scotland!
We were steamIng slowly up the Firth of
CLYDE; on each side as far as the eye
could reach were the purple hills of Scot
land; they were really 2 brilliant purple
where the sunlight struck through the
| morning mist on the heather Of that hue
which covers the Highlands. In the fore
ground were the banks Of the Clyde,
81 ft,a ,,y,1t trnr tot
ted with farms; their quaint, low farm
houses built of Stone, and perhaps CEN
turies old; each house surrounded with
it's fat body-guard of goodly bayricks.
This is great sheep-raislng country, and
| they have the finest pastures in the
| world. On the country lanes an occa-
sional early shepherd, staff in hand, and
cape thrown over his shoulder, guided
| his flock to pasture in true picture fash
| ion, while the busy shepherds dog as
serted himself by running after the sheep
and barking frantically. But we looked
with most interest at the old feudal cas-
| ties, sometimes quite in ruins, and for
that reason all the more novel and
| delightful to our American eyes. The
people over here seem to build even their
fences with the one idea Of making every
inch of country picturesque and charm
| luS W Lu0 OySs AaO pooG0sCo al 2 aAA OA-
| closed with stone fences, overgrown with
vines and moss, or else hedges Of haw-
| thorne, kept perfectly in order, and when
saw them they were covered with red
| berries.
We landed at Greenock and had our
| first ex perience with Custom House Off
GERS. They were very nice, however, and
| did not look into our trunks after we had
taken the tronble to open them. I tell
you, we are far ahead of the old country
| in the matter of railway accommodations,
trains, porters, etc. We had to hire a
special porter to take our baggage to the
| train; we couldn't leave the baggage at
all, had to stay right with itand see it put
on the train. They have no system OF
| checks as we have, so when we reached
| Glasgow they threw cur trunks out with
q lot of others, and we dragged them up
the platform and sat down on them while
waiting our turn to engage the porter.
| Then the engines are the most ridiculous
| little things you ever saw, and the cars
stuffy little boxes with only two seats,
one facing the engine, and the other op-
| posite, each accommodating four or five
persons. You get in the car, the guard
BONES along, slams the door and locks 1T.
You hear little squeak from the engine,
| and you're off! And wonder how on
earth the conductor is going to see your
ticket; and whether, if the man opposite
were burglar and wanted to kill you
and steal your money, would there be
anything to prevent him. You finally
doze off in your corner next to the win
dow, and are are aroused by somebody
shaking your arm violently. 1t is the
| conductor outside the window. The train
has stopped at the first station, and he
goes around and verybody pokes out
| long, yellow ticket, Gf they came by the
steamer we did, and he tears off a little
| piece and gives you back the rest. After
that I can remember each time conduc-
tor on boat or railway took off bit of
my ticket. I used to watch it gradually
grow smaller with considerable anxiety,
till finally I fell to wondering If there
would be enough left to get me to Paris !!
A friend met us in Glasgow and took
US to her house and treated US elegantly.
I should say here that by Gus" mean
an old classmate and friend of mine, who
was travelling with me. To her and her
friend there I owe my delightful insight
into real Scotch homes. At breakfast l
made my first acquaintance with "Fim-
ian haddy," a real Scotch fish, and it was
delightful. We have all heard of scones,
and buns, md oaten cake, and porridge
and Dundee Marmalsde, but assure you
the reality far surpasses the "hearsay" in
regard to those Scotch dainties.
The old city Of Glasgow was full ofin-
terest for US on account Of things both new
and old. There we first saw the two
story street cars, with their narrow wind
ing stairs. When I reached the top of
that stair felt as much elation as ifit had
been the ladder of fame. In one respect,
though, they differed very materially
there was not "plenty Of room at the
top" as the weather was fair and every
body was out taking the air.
have another memory of Scotland
which can never foaget, and that is my
visit to the old Glasgow Cathedral. 1t was
my first Cathedral, and no other, no mat
ter how much grander, can impress me
with the solemn awe felt when entered
there. It is an immense, massive, empty
building; its age shows in every stone, as
in the old tombs of Lords and Knights
and Danes Of high degree. 1t is the old
est Cathedral in Scotland. The original
chapel was built by st. Mungo, the pat
ron Saint OF Glasgow. In one of the
crypts was we'll which he had blessed,
and the sick drank of it's waters and were
healed. ST. Mungo's tomb is in this
crypt. In the body of the Church the
dome is supported by immense pillars,
and the largest Of these was of peculiar
interest to US as being the one behind
which Rob Roy concealed himself when
he was pursued by the officers of the law.
Some of the architecture in that Cathe
6ra1 ia said to ba the finest in FurODe