Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-06-12
THE FAMILY HAVE REACHED PARIS
Many Points visited, the Fame of
which Are Preserved In History
Visited Hawarden Castle, the
Home of Gladstone.

Iowan would see them. Following is
the letter, written in Paris under date
of May "a:
"In my last letter, think left you
at Liverpool. After a pleasant day in
the city famous for its docks and ship
ping business, leaving on the London
& Northwestern railway, we learned
we could purchase tickets for London
good for ten days, and we could stop
at certain points of interest along the
line. The station in Liverpool, like all
large stations in England, is very
commodious one. Hotel front several
stories high, with frst-class accommo-
dations and service, and any number
of porters at hand that, for tip of
'tup-pence,' will assist you to your
railroad carriage. In short distances
we found third class very agreeable,
and with party of six, which was our
number, tip would give us com
partment to ourselves.
"The tracks are very heavy steel
rails, settled on solid bed, with heavy
shoes to hold the rails in place. The
engines remind one of toy engines, es-
/ pecially when one hears the whistle,
II W1iiNh SSAJ onu4 Ill d II MY
The cars are on high wheels; the
freight cars are about ten to twelve
feet long and resemble our dump gray-
lel train cars. The passenger carriages
seat five on seat, two seats in a
compartment, and about five compart-
ments to a carriage. / should judge
three-fourths of the travel in England
is third-class. The only difference is
the finish and style of the compart-
ment, it being the same carriage with
first, second and third class divisions.
i "a short ride of fifteen miles brought
us to Chester, town of several thous-
and, in country seldom surpassed for
beauty. I shall not, soon forget that
beautiful May evening and my first
impression Of rural life in England.
The country seemed to me to be like a
painting of a finished land. The fields
fenced with splendid stone walls, even
lily laid, or divided with the hedge
which was evenly trimmed; the houses
are all of brick or stone, with ivy on
the walls, and are rooted with slate or
thing. Each dooryard is fenced with
"a brick wall, beautiful, with vines for
trimming, and flowers in all the yards.
To me the roads were continuous de-
| light-hard, smooth and white. To see
the clean, white roads, winding among
the green fields, was picture, and for a
l time could not realize that it was real.
looked afterwards and soon Undiscovered
the soil was not black and deep and
rich like the prairie lands of Iowa.
saw how carefully and intelligently
the English farmer titled his farm,
/ nf 1oft
tivated. then could see in my minds
the land was visiting, will be in fifty
years. can see with much certainty
that the farm lands of the Hawkeye
state are rich beyond calculation. The
plowed furrow in England, even in the
richest portion, will not compare with
Iowa. If you have driven in the fresh
plowed fields of Iowa in the early
spring you have noticed what SPLEEN
did perfume comes from the rich soil,
and in that soil, farmed with the econ
omy and intelligence that we are capa-
BILE of giving it, we can and will pro-
duce the best food for not only our
selves, but the nations of the earth.
:'We spent two days in Chester, and
walked around the city on the wall
built hundreds of years ago. We
stood in the towers where Cromwell
and many warriors had defended the
best they could. The cathedrals are
ancient and full of historical remem-
brances; portions are standing, built as
| far back as 1915. The traveller could
spend weeks in the delight of research
and study in this ancient and beauti-
full place.
''We drove by coach to Eaton Hall,
the famous country seat of the Duke
of Westminster, the beauty of which
is not surpassed in England. The es-
tate, was informed, comprised about
one hundred thousand acres, not all
adjacent, and the young duke, heir to
| this, is a young man about 21 years
of age and is now serving his country
with Lord Roberts at the front, which
1 is certainly commendable in him. The
castle is ancient, but very beautiful
and is filled with treasures of sculp-
ture, paintings, tapestry, books and je-
wells that have been gathered in the
past centuries and handed down from
father to son. Much of the estate is
left as nature made it; and there the
contract of a high state of cultivation
is seen on every hand. The hedge in
front of the castle protecting the beau
tiful gardens, the guide told me, had
been fifty years in coming to its pres
| ent state. I should say the hedge is
fifteen feet in heighth. One would
think it had been made by some skill
full workman for the. place. / think
the approach to the castle with the
trees on either side and the monument
in the center, is fully one-half to
4 three-quarters of a mile in length, and
with the white driveway and the cas-
tlesin the distance, was to me, the fina
est specimen OF suburban cultivation /
had ever seen.
"We then drove on to Hawarden
Castle. The house, as you well know,
of England's Grand Old Man. The
associations of this place have more
charms for me, than all the earls and
dukes of all the countries, for in Glad
stone was the highest type Of the man.