Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1911-07-13
Confessions
of a Tourist

One of the greatest drawbacks to
the pleasures of travelling is the fool
ish things that people always feel
called upon to buy and carry home
with them.
was talking about this yesterday
to some of the women passengers on
the steamer which is carrying us from
Sydney to Hongkong. and each of
them began to confess to the foolish
things that she was taking home
Mrs. Clark. nice, sensible looking
woman from Wisconsin, had bottle
of water from the River Jordan which
she acquired eight months ago and
all her thoughts and emotions had
been concentrated upon getting that
bottle home without breaking 1t. She
freely admitted that she did not know
why she had it, or what she should
do with it after getting 1t home. but
to achieve that feat had become
sort of endurance contest with her.
pleasant looking music teacher
from Davenport, Ia, who is travelling
with young nephew, was cherishing
as her chief treasure basket full of
slips of ivy cut from the graves of her
favorite musicians. She had carried
1t in her hand half way around the
world, and she expected to carry it
the other half.
After heard about these and few
more of the other women's possess
sions felt quite superior to think Of
all the things | had refrained from
getting until | remembered my cocoa
nut shells and the native hats and
the basket and the alligators. haven't
any alligators now. They were with
US on trip that Charles and made
to Bermuda.
cannot really say that l regret
having bought my carved cocoanut
shells In Tahiti though they have
been somewhat inconvenient to carry.
There are six of them, carved in a set,
and they are rolling around the floor
Of our stateroom now, humping their
heads together like croquet balls, as 1t
seems impossible to anchor them in
any way
Charles was inclined to think mo
rather foolish to get anything so In
convenient to carry until he bought the
carved spears and the breastplate and
the boomerangs and the tomtoms. The
boomerangs can be packed in the
trunks, but the other things have to
be carried by hand, and as the spears
are too long to stand upright or to lie
on the floor of the stateroom they
have to be placed obliquely across It,.
and be stepped over or under every
time one goes through the door.
My basket would not be so hard to
carry If it had handle, but it Is
shaped like a fiat chopping bowl and
1t is about as big in diameter as an
umbrella. It's unusual size Is, in fact,
what attracted me to it. l am sure
have never seen anything SO large at
home.
must say that Charles acted like a
lamb about carrying it, and didn't
seem to mind 1t much until began to
display tendency to buy native
hat, which was almost as big as the
greatly taken with the native hats, so
we each bought one, and then we had
to buy another special trunk to put
them In.
think | have never told anybody
all about the alligators. They were
the loveliest little baby alligators any
body ever saw. They we're not more
than foot long. bought them from
an old fisherman in Bermuda.
thought l could take them home to
Bobby and Sammy to play with. When
they grew up l thought We could give
them to the Lincoln park ZOO or some
thing. had covered travelling box
made for them. 1t looked like a va
lise and 1t had little water tank at
one end The alligators really were
not much trouble, except the time
they got out on the ship and nearly
created a panic among the women
| passengers, who all acted very silly,
| thought.
But l got them to New York and
smuggled them into the hotel where
we were stopping for few days.
| There the poor little things died on
my hands and l didn't know how to
dispose of their corpses. didn't want
| to give them to the chambermaid for
fear she would make fuss, and felt
embarrassed about dropping them into
the waste basket or anywhere about
the hotel. So just opened one of our
windows one day when Charles was
not In and tossed them out.
think probably their sudden ar.
rival on the sidewalk created quite a
| commotion from the sounds that fol.
lowed But l never looked out and
burned up the travelling crate in the
fireplace. When Charles came home
just told him the alligators had died
and he did not ask any questions.
Just now the nephew of the music
| teacher from Davenport a sophisti
Gated young person for his fifteen
| years, came up with a grin and sat
| down beside me.
81 saw you admiring aunties ivy
4 eIt ha