The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1898-02-03
iakima'S Mark Twain Writes Interest
insly Of Foreign Scenes.
NO PRE.EMPTIONS ON ISLE OF JERSEY
mr.. BOsdet Reviews the scenes Of
noyhood Days In Merry England
and visits Many Historic spots.
Enjoying Himself Generally.
BEAUMONT, JERSEY, ENGLAND,)
January 3, 1898,


January b, 1898.
EDITOR HERALD: According to prom
Use drop you few lines concerning my
self and wanderings for tie past few
weeks. arrived here on the 2Sth ult.,
after journey of seventeen days, having
encountered less bad weather than had
expected. saw very little snow except
in the Cascades, Cuur d'Alenes and
Rockies, and none at all east of Chicago.
My first stop was at St. Paul, where |
stayed few hours only. 1t was dark
and | saw but little of the place, but it
seemed to me to be up to date, and it's
union depot is the first saw on my trip.
What l saw of Chicago seemed gloomy
and dirty, as usual. stayed there half
day and started for New York via
Cleveland, Buffalo and Syracuse, arriv
ing at midnight on the 10th, five days
from North Yakima. which, think, was
doing fairly well.
think New York must be the busiest
place on earth, although have not yet
seen London. The people seem to put in
their time lodging street cars and fight
ing for standing room on the same elusive
means of transit. l went to places that
! was familiar with twenty-three years
ago, but failed to recognize anything but
the postotfice and few other buildings.
Speaking Of buildings, | went to the
twenty first story of a sky-scraper, tn at
had for near neighbor another one OF
twenty five stories. The view was mag
| nlficent. and the streets below looked like
a we'll populated ontpath. went to see
several other 81 h buildings in course
of construction. Tie framework of steel
looks like huge net, in the meshes of
which are fitted the large blocks of gran.
lite already dressed and prepared for the
places designed for them. went to see
the huge hotel built by d. o. Mills, near
the Bowery. | was informed that the
object of the builder was to furnish bet
ter accommodations than those Offer ed
by the Bowery lodging houses and at
popular rates, and he seems to have sue
ceeded in so lar as the limits of his hotel
will allow. 1t is of white stone, some
eleven stories high, surrounding a court.
The rooms number 1862, are five feet by
seven feet in size, and reminded me OF
cells in cloister. The furniture consists
OF an iron bedstead and chair. An
aperture one foot by three feet, guarded
by an open lattice work, admits light and
air to the rooms looking on the court.
The place is as fireproof as can be and is
kept scrupuously clean. The charge for
a nights lodging is twenty cents, and |
was assured that there are seldom any
rooms to be had after midnight Well,
l saw the bridge and other places and
buildings of interest which, while IN
structive or amusing to me, have been so
often described, that mere mention of
them will suffice. The statue of Liberty
looms up grandly through the fog and is
certainly noble work of art. | did not
20 on Bedloe's Island, 30 did not make
the acquaintance Of the Goddess, whose
right arm Il am told has grown weary
OF its task, rendering dangerous the feat
OF ascending to the torch.
On the 18th embarked on the Gascony
for LIE Havre, France, amid waving of
flags and handkerchiefs and showers of
floral offerings mixed with blessings of
various kinds. OF course all of these
manifestations OF goodwill and Joy at
seeing us depart were not intended for
me personally, but made mental ap-
preparation OF goodly part thereof, as
did my travelling companion for the trip,
an lrishman OF the most aggressive as
pect, and scion OF the kingly house of
OBrlen, who had been attracted to me
by his appreciation of the fact that |
must be the sole medium OF communica-
ton between him and his fellow creatures
for the next eight days. We were as
signed to the same stateroom. and he |
proved to be a good fellow. Our room.
mate was Swiss, who laid claim TO a
lower berth which | myself had pre-
empted. We found him in possession,
and it took good deal OF talk and more
politeness to convince him of the justice
Of my claim. The O'Brien's face was
study during our negotiations, and he
was restrained with difficulty from active
interference. At last the matter was
arranged to my satisfaction, for | was as
polite as the Swiss and little more vol
uble. O'Brien remarked that he could
have settled the matter with less talk,