Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1914-07-15
A, C. BAKER WRITES
ABOUT LONDON TRIP
Gives Graphic Description of the
Worlds Largest City, With its
6,5OO,OOO People.
VISIT TOWER OF LONDON
SCENE OF MANY EXECUTIONS
After Seeing the Sights of London
MIR. Baker and Son Harry Sailed
for America and Home on
the Ship Rotterdam.

1t is about 125 miles by Nord
Railway to Boulogne. 1t is March
3 and the farmers are sowing their
spring crops; their teams, mostly
horses (very good ones) with occa-
sionally yoke of oxen, their tools
crude compared with ours. Their
plow only comparing and to me
seeming superior to ours. This plow,
| a reversible one, makes no dead
burrows or corners. You commence
cn one side of the field and plow
forward and reverse until finished;
this looks like a desirable tool for
our rolling land We are now al
most on the fftieth parallel, nearly
as far north as Winnipeg, and the
temperature is about as it would
be the last of April, the ocean cur
rent making this difference in tenn
perature As we near Boulogne the
country grows sandy and poor.
Boulogne is city of about 1000.
Its people much like the Hollander.
In going thru their market place we
ing through their market place we
noticed the styles of Paris have not
impressed their cut on the dress Of
these huckster women. With padding
at the hips, so child could rest
] = ch
in the hair we view them in their
common attire. Their love for
/ flowers is as great as that of the
Jap. A large portion of the market
! is given up for the display Of fow-
ers.
1t is thirty miles from Boulogne to
Folkestone across the English cham
nel We did not find it rough as it
is said to be generally. A train in
waiting in two hours lands us in
London. This train, like all others
we saw, or rode on, while abroad,
was in no respect to compare with
our palatial trains; these cars while
the apartments were comfortable,
they lacked even a lavatory; the
roadbed was fine. The green pas
lures stocked with fine sheep and fat
cows reminded us Of our own civili-
zation
\ }Londcn spreads out over a great
surface. To house these $500, 900
+ people in buildings, few above two
story requires more space than the
American will appropriate for such
Use, but here where they have little
area they fail to economise in using
1 the upper regions Our track is ele-
ilyated above the buildings and soon
!, we cross the Thames ard are at the
Charing Cross station. This is one
of their best depots and such a COM
pany as the Pennsylvania or the New
York would consider it too poor for
e freight house though here it passes
as fine. No such fine trains and de-
pots as are seen i'll America can be
y
lstation is our hotel, the Cecil, one
CT its best places but entirely second
class TO those better places in New
York. We are shown to our room;
liz is comfortable, no running water.
there are few hotels in those old
countries that have other than the
old wash bowl and pitcher. A tele-
phone is at our service. it really
stems TO speak cur language, but in
q mongrel tongue. Perhaps we should
not criticise, it is eight generations
since pur forefathers left this land
and there has been all that time de-
voted to improvement, while they
retained their dowry and remained
stationery We understand them and
take off our hat TO them as the ma
tion that has never planted colony
that did not carry with it civiliza-
tion, and they have planted more.
and civilized more of the world,
than all other nations combined.
viii you follow with us this April
morning over this, the largest city
in the world, a city that the ancient
Romans found when they .subdued
this island, a city that in that early
day walled in 500 acres to protect
themselves, all of which has long
since been leveled.
we will first visit the law courts,
the Lord Mayors quarters, the BAN
quet hall, all pleasing and of more
than passing interest. We now drive
Continued on page six.)