Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-09-05
FIFTH LETTER.
halIoweIl Teacher Writes from
Europe to Journal.
Tells Of Visiting Rouen, London and
Liverpool.
A Maine Boy Tells Of Places Well
Worth Seeing.
Liverpool, Aug. 49,, 1908.

Liverpool, Aug. 25., 1903.
Al Rouen we were obliged to make
a brief stay. First We walked to the
summit of a high hill commanding a
fine view Of the city. The cathedrals
and churches stood out conspicuously
with their lofty graceful spires. The
city lies in a valley surrounded with
hills, their bare sides having the white
appearance of the Dover chalk cliffs,
and glittering in the bright sunlight,
forming a marked contrast with their
green margin and submits. With the
broad Seine running through the midst
1t forms lovely view.
Descending into the city and passing
the men ready to tell us something or
wanting to sell something we made
brief stops at the cathedrals so extern
sively described in the guide books.
All possess much similarity to those
we have seen elsewhere, lofty arches,
gilded borders, carved oak, and rose
windows. The tower in which Jeanne
d. Arc was imprisoned is huge
gloomy looking old structure with
walls of solid stonework twelve feet in
thickness. A narrow winding stairway
led to the second floor where we. found
a narrow cell in which she is supposed
to have been confined. In another part
of the city a marble slab laid in the
sidewalk marks the place where she
was burned.
A most novel thing to us was a
bridge across the Seine. 1t is hardly
&c ptY,fxy mr.
works something like a hay carrier.
Two tall towers at either side support
track on which a carriage moves free
ly. Suspended from this is a square
platform, held by long wire ropes, level
with the bank on either side. A cable
moves the carriage along the track
carrying the platform below. We step
ped on the platform with the others
and were carried along a few feet
above the water. The height Of the
track is such that any vessel may pass
beneath just like a suspension bridge.
This completed our tour of the city
and right here 1 will speak of the ex-
pense of travel in Europe. One who
has not been abroad has little idea of
the cost For instance; supposing
am passing through France with a
trunk and grip and wish to stop at
some place. At the station are several
men whose business it is to handle
baggage for travellers and get what
, they can for doing it. l must have one
of these put my trunk and grip on a
cab, for this he expects tip; then
must pay the cabman his price for TAX
ing me to a hotel and give him a tiI
besides! At the hotel the porter takes
the trunk and grip to my room for
which l must tip him; 1t costs from
one to two dollars per night at hotel
and If 1 go to a restaurant for dinner
I must tip the waiter for his services
When / leave / must tip the porter
again for bringing my trunk and grip
from my room, then the cabman for
his services in addition to the regular
price for carrying passengers in the
city; At the station 1 must tip a man
for taking my trunk into the station,
II the trunk weighs over sixty pounds
] must pay heavy charge for extra
weight and then I must tip the man
who puts it aboard the train. 1t is al
most impossible to run by any of these
and at each station the same thing is
repeated. If 1 ask anybody a question
he expects a tip for the answer. If
the hackman has to wait three minutes
he expects another tip. 1t seems as
though everybody everywhere was eX-
pecting a tip.
Finally we started for the largest city
in the world. 1t takes about three
hours to cross the channel but from
the difference in customs one might
think he had crossed an ocean. We
Travelled third class on this trip. In
France the third class cars are rough
old affairs with no cushions to the
seats, something like some 1 remem-
Der to have seen somewhere up in the
northern part of Maine, on the Cana
dian Pacific, 1 think. The third class
cars in England are very nearly like
the second class in France. They
have seats about as comfortable as the
ordinary M. c. Il. r. or B. and A. cars
The class OF people travelling third
class in England is much better than
that travelling third class in France. l
hardly see why they need the three
classes but probably because it is in
vogue everywhere on the continent.
L he CARS throughout Europe are
marked very plainly with large white
enameled figures 1, 2 and 3, and the
traveller always specifies which way he
wishes to go and gets a ticket giving
the class. In England one must be on
his guard for the stations as they are
not announced on many trains.
London streets looks very much like
the Boston streets, only more crowded.
The street car service is much like
that of Paris; they have only a few
electric lines. Omnibuses carrying
passengers inside and on top run on all
the streets. They are covered with adj
Vertisements and present peculiar ap-
pearance when the streets are filled
with them.
In the vicinity of the Kings palace
are several parks. extensive and shady
but not adorned with fountains and
statues like those of Paris. The pal
ace is a very ordinary looking building
of dark granite. not at all elaborate in
its architecture. On Sunday the people
gather at about two o'clock in the park
to see the array Of neonle returning