The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-08-16


 to the London train to look at it's bag
 gage, but fit was of no avail. Up. down, everywhere till l was ready to believe must leave 1t if I went with the party At the last moment l found it all out of place.
 We felt that the trip had really begun for here Professor Powers parties di-
 vided one part going to Scotland, one to London for Paris. and we with him to the old town of Chester. We crossed the Mersey in ferry and then took train, an English train, for Chester You should see an English train. small engine with no fender, little coaches with seats
 facing like carriage seats and two seats to a compartment. There is a door on
 each side and five or six compartments
 to coach. It seemed so odd to be locked up and to have the guard come at
 the end of the trip crying: 'Ticketsl Ticketsi"
 The legend on the wall was to the ef-
 feet that a cord on the left communicat- ed with the guard and in case of urgent
 necessity 1t might be pulled. but for one
 unnecessarily using the cord a fine of 9 shillings would be rigidly enforced. This. with half a dozen photographs of places round completed the compartment furni- ture Some of the notices were worded
 in quaint English. Instead of Change I cars for -" it would be "Alight here
 for -" Then the freight trains! l Such queer, little. four wheeled box cars. Such a train passed and the little cars had their freight covered with cloth
 that looked like old canvas or oilcloth,
 one could not tell which.
 The flowers bloom all along the rail road track; one sees little beds. very
 much we edge walks. full of pam sies. daisies, and many flowers that we do not grow. There are more pansies
 than I have seen in my whole life. and more grass than I hope to see In all the rest of life unless it be in England again. Everybody seems to love flowers and
 they not only fill their little yards with
 them. but the windows have boxes of pansiee petunias and geranums. Then there Is the ivy. Great walls with strong doors that give entrance are covered
 with masses of ivy. It grows luxuriantly and now it is a light green, being cov- cred with new leaves.
 | I am trying to tell you of Chester that
 city In which the Romans lived when en- camped in England. but there are so many new and wonderful things that I run away to talk of each. This city is famous now for the Medieval walls that the Romans built Then there Is Gods Providence House." At Chester we had our first experience with English hotels
 We were carried to the Westminster
 We had been accustomed to the Ameri- can hotel with its noisy lobby and hurry ing clerks and bellboys. Here we found a house with great mirrors, rare china, dainty curtains and furniture that was rich and massively carved. It had the air of a private house. We felt like an army of invasion. The maids with
 broidered aprons and little lace caps gave even a greater appearance of home We were Americans though. We could not but look, and, being Americans, we must needs tell how we felt, so the tF,.IY rors!" Such quaint windowsw and Isn't that table beautiful?" Just look at that china!" were echoes from the feminine side.
 The men-as men always do-looked for a place to put their hats and ended
 by laying them very, very carefully In corner. l am sure 1 saw a hat in a cor ner. The dinner bell was such a shock. I sat by one of those big windows look 1 ing into the street when l was startled l by something that I felt sure was the
 whistle of a public works. It was the
 announcement of lunch, but have never
 been able to decide what made the noise. | Of course there was roast beef. I
 should not remember had not an Eng
 lishman said to his wife as he left the dining room:
 Like your lunch?''
 1 "Yes. And your"
 | Did you ever eat such beef? It l touched the right spot, was his answer. | We were so charmed that we ate what
 was given us and tried to take all the
 mirrors, the harmonious paper the leath- l CT wainscoting, and all the character ! istics away in our memories, so food was of secondary importance.
 | Immediately after lunch the sights be-
 gan, and we had to see in three hours
 what we had intended seeing in a day. | The steamer was so delayed that much
 of the time was lost. We began with the 1 old wall. Till I came to Chester I did
 not know more than that England had 1 old walls, but in so little time one be-
 comes fascinated till one feels that 1t has l been a desire since childhood. This wall | hundreds of years ago was used in de- | fense of the town 1t then enclosed, but
 modern Chester has spread far beyond | the original limits and changed in many, many ways After going short way one
 comes to a queer round tower, bearing a | coat of arms; the stone steps are worn | hollow by the numbers of footsteps. for | here in the seventeenth century King l Charles stood and saw his troops defeat- | ed. Knowing that his cause was lost he | fled from this tower, where he had seen | Cromwelrs victory on Marston Moor, in- | to Scotland to be betrayed and beheaded | by his own people. l looked with wonder | and regret.
 On again there is a little watch tower
 where a soldier might see the country
 while he did his sentry duties and fafth- | CT on down the wall is a grotto- like building over which Is an inscription, Tn