The Saint Paul globe., 1897-10-31
THEY ARE FAST DfsPLAoING THE
MORE CLUMSY GERMAN
MACHINES.
THE RHINE Al DISAPPOINTMENT
Railways DiIapidated and Worn
out-Ma gnfificent Ocean
Liners.
corresnondence of the Globe.

| seldom been reached in the past. It's
possible now, however, or very nearly
so. Many lines have sought to attain
as nearly to the ideal as possible, by
making the trip in the shortest attain
able time and thus decrease the period
of suffering. Two of the German lines
| have taken another tack and their eff
forts seem really to be crowned with
success, judging from the experience
of the writer and many friends. They
have built several ships which are
enormous and which are intended to
carry a great deal Of freight as we'll
as many passengers. These ships are
furnished with what one might call
triple keel, that is along the sides of
the vessels there is a projection which
grips the water when the ship begins
to roll and holds it steady. Then, too,
the great amount of freight prevents
the cork-like bobbing about so unpleas-
antly noticeable on the fast liners In
addition two more days are devoted to
the voyage from New York to South
! ampton, Bremen or Haburg and in
consequence Of the slower rate of speed
there is no pitching. The result of all
this is that even in the toughest wealth
er, when -one would be obliged to hold
on for dear life on a greyhound liner
and play at catch-as-catch-c can with
ones food at the table, on these ships
the motion is hardly perceptible and
one can eat the very excellent dinner
provided in peace and contentment. In
fact, all the arrangements looking to
the comfort Of passengers, service, size
of cabins, quality of food furnished
and all the little things that make for
comfort or discomfort on board ship
are superior to those on the fast ships,
the companies making an especial eff
fort in this direction to overcome the
prejudice against the two days long
er voyage. These chips are the largest
in the world, and I fear the statement.
absolutely true though it is, will hard
ly be believed that the largest of them,
the Pennsylvania, can carry more than
seven hundred freight car1eds of
freight and thousand passengers, two
hundred of them in the first cabin
Once on this side of the water, it is
always a question with the tourist.
especially if his stay is limited, how
he shall put invhis time to the best
advantage In these days of cheap
transportation rates one can spend two
months In Europe ct an expense From
New York and return, with everything
Included of not to exceed $500 and
live very well at that. If it's Your
first trip, then, perhaps, it's as Well
to remain In the beaten track of travel.
which included a brief stay in London.
a run over to Paris for a few DAYS,
the train from to Cologne, the CITY
you'll remember Mark Twain said was
so named because it had 1000 differ
ent smells, but which is more Justly
noted for its magnificent railway sta
tlon and it's grand cathedral standing
IN close 1uXta-position and presenting
a forcible contrast between the artis-
tic and the practical, thence UP the
Rhine to Frankfort; and from there
by way of Dresden and Berlin to the
ship again at Bremen. The Rhine is
apt to be little disappointing to
Americans accustomed to the grand
home rivers. In comparison with the
Hople 1uuSon, WI '!reS1ue
upper Mississippi, with the Ohio, which
the early French explorers called the
beaut1ful river" or with a half dozen
others that could be named, it seems
rather tame in scenic features. It is a,
beautiful river however, for all that,
and its historical associations render
1T Just as interesting today as they
outing, of which Thackery and the la
mented Du Maurier have written so
chaTm1ngly. The skyline over the
rocky banks is broken at satisfactorily
frequent intervals with castle ruins of
sufficiently romantic appearance, and
the Rhine wine served on board the
excursion steamers is delightful cur
prise IN quality and cost. But the most
desirable way to see the Rhine coun-
try, If one has the time, is to mount
ones bicycle at Cologne and ride along
the magnificent roads which run along
either side of the river as far as Frank.
fort Every few miles a picturesque
village crops up, and in every one Of
them the wheeling tourist will find
peo ana board good, clean and cheap
should he wish to tarry by the way
All Germany, by the way, is, so far as
the roads are concerned, a bicycler's
paradise: A bad piece of road is an
astonishing exception, and a century
run IS SO easy as to be commonplace
Apropos of bicycling it is intepesting
to note the favor American wheels en-
JOY on Germany despite the natural
eHort OF the German dealers to per-
suade the public that the German
wheels are better and the American
ones worthless. That sort of talk sue
~
leans and few enterprising American
bicycle makers introduced a few
WheelS into the Fatherland. Then
actual comparison speedily did the
rest, and American machines, super
1or IN running qualities, in beauty,
ana despite their greater lightness,
more substantial can be bought in
every German city. Were syste-
matte campaign made in Germany by
American makers, such as the fierce
competition forces at Nome, the Amer
lean wheel woulds ovefwhelm the Ger
man market. AS it is, the German
dealers and makers are complaining
bitterly of the American competition,
and not long since petitioned the gov
eminent to place duty Of at least
ten dollars on each American wheel
imported. The petition was refused
| however, fact that may surprise those
who have been in the habit of looking
upon the German government as tax
Loving and highly protective in it's
polcy, and the newspapers applauded
the refusal with the remark that the
interests of the people should be first
considered, that the wheel makers
were already charging high and ar
tfictal profit and that the government
had no business to aid them, in oppo-
sition to the consumers interest, IN
retaining the field to themselves by ar
bitrarily shutting out foreign compe-
tition through a prohibitive duty.
Wouldn't our protectionist friend at
home shudder! And yet, though they
make wheels which need fear no COM
petition under the sun, though they
profit directly by this liberal and
economically correct policy of Ger
many, still many of these same Ameri-
can wheel makers insist upon a pro-
tectfve. and practically prohibitive.