Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1911-03-09

Friendly Letter Written to ]. r.
Ragan's FamiIyby e Niece who
Has Gone to India as a Mis-
Si0narv
si0nary.

si0nary.
S. S. City of Calcutta, in Red Sea
October Z, 1910.
Dear Relations
It's hot! Everywhere you. go and
you can't go very far, it's the same
cry-'It's hot!" And so it is. This
is the Red Sea and l am getting but
introduced to the Oriental climate.
But before I so on I am going to
tell you about the experience 1 have
had so far in travelling. The voyage
on the Atlantic was grand. Oh. those
mighty waves, so large and powerful
and just think of the days and days
that go by and you see nothing but
sea and sky, and sky and sea. 1t is
so wonderful and mighty and lying in
your steamer chair you just watch
and rest, and rest. Delightful. The
service was splendid and the meals
''swen'.
| We went ashore at the Azores and
saw bit of Portuguese territory and
| it was most interesting. Then the
Rock Of Gibralter,-the Ad for The
Prudential Life Insurance Co. That
| Rock is massive We disembarked
there too, for a couple of hours and
saw lots of interesting sights. Great
Britain has a garrison of about 5000
soldiers stationed here. The great
rock is wonderfully fortified with
cannon and we saw a number of En-
glish battleships. Then the old cas-
ties and Moorish markets and all
sorts Of foreigners.
We arrived at Naples, Italy, the
26th of September. Spent four days
there, visited the Aquarium where
we saw fish of every description Of
the sea. And then the National Art
or Museum, with hundreds of sculp-
tor and statuary Of ancient mythology
and Roman Emperors, and orators and
paintings, frescoes, and statues, tax
en- from Pompei. The next day we
went to Pompei, those wonderful ruins
of the city one time destroyed by
eruption from Mt Vesuvius. This
city lies right at the foot Of this noun
tain, and such an interesting sight
as We went through the streets of
this eXcavated city. There were the
stone streets with even the grooves
made by the chariot wheels and the
wonderful old gates and walls There
were temples Of Isis, Apollo, Mercury
and the statues of the gods and altar
etc. We saw the immense Amphithea-
ters, built as we have seen in history
where they held their gladiatorial com
bats. We saw houses of the aristoc-
racy with the Mosaic floors and fres-
coed walls and paintings public bath
houses, prison, forum and a museum
full of relics, such as chariot wheels,
pottery, cooking and kitchen utensils,
bread and hard-boiled eggs and fruit
and cloth, everything petrified, eV-
en- dogs and skeletons Of dogs, horses
birds and petrified human bodies. You
could almost recognize the features
and the agony portrayed on them. 1t
certainly was a wonderful opportunity
to see Pompei. Naples itself, is
beautiful city, with the Royal Palace,
the public gardens and the beautiful
homes. On the other hand in the
more poor quarters of the city, the
poor are poor, and live Wretchedly
Beggars besiege you on every corner
in their filth and rags. The city is
guarded very closely by Italian sol
diers. Me for America where you
aren't under suspicion. Cabs are
very cheap. You can ride to your des-
tination for cents, and on the street
car-if you sit on a seat without a
cushion it is only 3 cents and 1 cent
more if you happen to hit a cushion
Then We saw large macaroni factor
les and miles and miles Of vineyards.
We left Italy, September Both and
are now on the boat which is to car
ry US on to Bombay. 1t is very
rowded-service isn't one-third so
good as on the other booat and eating
is sort Of a repetition of day before
yesterday At Z a. m. the stewards t|
brings the ladies tea, toast and fru
to your berths while the men come .o|
the dinning saloon in their pajam S
and then they trot around the deck n
their 1nighties' At 9 o'clock eI
have breakfast. At Il soup. At /
luncheon, 4, tea, and cakes, and 7 p.
N. dinner. By that time you begin
to feel Like a balloon looks.
But most Of the first class passen-
gers are English going to Military
stations in India
Ought to see the dress suits the
gentlemen come to dinner in and the
creations Of dress the women wear.
You feel almost like asking, where
is the dress. ShockingIy scandaIous
and they all, men and women have
their wine and liquors at the table
and have seen two women smoking
cigarettes, If that's the Upper
crust Of society, please excuse me.
Everybody attends service on the
boat Sunday a. m. It is the Church
of England Service" Very ritualistic
and ceremonial.
Our cabins are small Ia little
We have to take turns to get up in
the morning. Everyday we had
show, that is, 1 performed acrobatic
stunts making hand spring for the
upper berth. It was beastly hot (that
word is strictly Engish) in the cab
in last night. We had the electric
fan going all night-but tonight we're
going to go up on deck to roost.
Every morning We sing Eight more
nights hanging on the WALL