The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1914-10-08
THROUGH ITALY
AND SWITZERLAND
MISS LYDIAN BUSH CONTRIB
UTEs SECOND ARTICLE ON
EUROPEAN TRIP
A PEACEFUL INVASION BY AMERICANS
Description of Some Of the Interest.
Ing Sights of the Old World as
Seen Before Break of War

a couple of weeks ago the Register
published an interesting communica-
ton from Miss Lydian Bush OF the
high school faculty, detailing her ex.
%periences in Europe after the out
break of war. This week Miss Bush
contributes the following article, de-
scriptive of the first part of her Eu-
ropean visit:
At New York OF June IL our party
of nine, three of whom were particular
friends of mine boarded the Cunarder
Saxonia, bound for Naples, Italy, and
| confess to rather a queer feeling
when | realized the boat was moving
away from my native land. Perhaps 1t
would have been more than a queer
feeling had l known what events would
occur before l again reached home,
and little did think as we watched
the steerage passengers, mostly Ital-
ians, from our first class deck, that |
would be one of them on my return
voyage.
The journey across was ideal. ex-
cept that the boat was somewhat
crowded. Most of my time was spent
In my steamer chair on deck, sleeping.
reading, talking or simply watching
the beautiful blue of the ocean. Every
one was most solicitous for our well
fare, especially along the r%efreshment
line. Besides our three bountiful
meals a day, where the steward thank.
ed you whenever you gave him an
order, in the forenoon you were served
on deck with chicken broth and again
in the afternoon with tea and waters.
For exercise we did the mile walk
daily-nine times around the deck.
There were also interesting deck
sports, such as Switchboard and ring.
toss. One night we were all excite.
ment at the prospect of having a NOV
ing picture show, but for some reason
the thing refused to work and after
sitting an hour or two we gave it up.
Our first sight Of land came after
eight days, as we neared the Madeira
Isles, and it was quite a novelty. At
first it looked like a mere cloud, and
as we drew nearer, like a huge noun
tain looming up out of the sea. There
we could detect houses and a village
or two. 1t was quite fascinating.
Here we went ashore for the after
noon. 1t is a beautiful place, with
tropical vegetation of all kinds and
%colors, and the mountain side covered
with vineyards and fruit trees of all
sorts. We went up the mountain in n
steam car away above the clouds and
mists, the little native urchins trot-
ting along beside us begging. South
ern Europe is a great place for beg.
gars. The children seem to be train
ed to it. Here at Madeira the children
and even young men came out along
side our ship and showed how xpert
they were in diving for pennies thrown
into the water by the tourists. They
never failed to get them, much to my
amazement. My descent from the top
of the mountain was one of the unique
experiences of my trip. We seated
ourselves in a small basket like affair
on steel runners, and while a man on
each side held a rope attached to our
basket to keep us from exceeding the
speed limit, we t~obogganed down a
winding ~stonepaved causeway back to
the town.
When we awoke on the morning Of
June %, we found ourselves in the
Straits of Gibraltar. Hasty dressing
was the order of the day and by $50
l was on deck viewing the land OF
Africa on one side and the grand old
Rock of Gibraltar on the other. Grand
is the only adjective I can apply to 1t,
for it rises almost perpendicularly out
of the sea to a height of 1875 feet, AL
most the first thing that met my
sight when we landed here was an
English advertisement Of Wrigley's
Spearmint Gum. My readers may
know that l thought instantly of a GER
tain corner store in Brookings. At
the post office, where we posted our
numerous letters written on ship
board, l forgot and left m kodak, but
Dame Fortune must have had me in
mind, for 1t was waiting for me on
my return a couple Of hours later.