Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1921-02-09
Very Interesting Letters From
Mrs. Grace T. Emmett to
Her Mother.
Strand Palace Hotel,
London, England,
January 2, 1921.
NV dear Mother:

NV dear M OCQST.
Alas for that daily record of my
trip across on the Imperator which
/ promised to send you! This, like all
the rest of my plans got nipped in the
bud by the worst case of sea-sickness
you could imagine. 1 feel sure that
ever after this, the sound of those
deep, minor ocean fog-horns will af-
feet me, as the hens cackle did for
the dog which had been dosed with an
egg containing nux vomica: I'll run
at the sound of one. There will have
to be some very pleasant events on
this side, to compensate for the SUI
ferings of getting across.
Now / shall try to give you an ac-
count of the trip under such disad-
vantages. First of all, there were two
things uppermost in my mind that l
learned many years ago, though did
not take them in till now: that three
fourths of the earth's surface is wa
ter, and that Christopher Columbus
was some "nervy chap" when he ven
tured to cross it in his little Nina,
Pinta and Santa Maria. Why, to cross
it as we did-and the Imperator a
floating palace-seemed awful!
There were something like three
thousand people altogether, aboard;
the most cosmopolitan mixture Of ma
tionalities l ever hope to see again.
Among them were several celebrities,
but I believe the two which eclipsed
all others in interest were Bainsfath-
er and Livinsky. The first is noted
writer and world-famous cartoonist
Though / assure you never heard
of him before in my life), and Lii
whisky is a champion lightweight
boxer. Of the two assure you Livin-
sky created far the greater stir in
that crowd, so I leave it to you to
draw your own conclusions as to the
taste of my fellow passengers.
One thing was particularly struck
with was the wonderful size of the
men on board. / can not recall sin
gle person at home large enough in
statue to compare them with. / have
been wondering if it was an accident,
or if the men grew this way natural
ly, when they had nothing to do but
>skim the cream of life.
I will not try to describe the IN
perator (there are many books
papers which doeitsmuch better),
/ sSnstead VIII tell you about. the -,
aboard this queen Of aHsships
cross the Atlantic.
At eight every morning, the 49,
ard or stewardess comes in with hot
coffee and fruit, after which your
morning bath is arranged for you.
BY ten you are supposed to be dress
ed and breakfast is ready to be serv-
ed, but if you are very stylish, no
breakfast is eaten at all. The morn
ing is spent in walking the deck or
sitting in steamer chairs wrapped in
steamer rugs provided by deck-stew-
ards who attend your every move. At
one the bugle blows for lunch, and all
go to the dining saloon where every
thing good to eat in the world is serv-
ed "table d'note." Men and women
drink and smoke alike throughout
the meal. During the afternoon there
is much playing of bridge and any
other game you may like, but you
seldom see anything played without
the money feature to make it inter-
esting. This goes on till four, when
tea is served in the Lounge and on
deck. This function appealed to me
more than anything on board. The
tea itself is delicious, and taken along
with thin slices of buttered bread,
sweet cakes and pastries, this social
hour is the most enjoyable of the
whole day. After tea, every body goes
to his cabin to dress for dinner and
now comes the full-dress parade, the
men in tuxedoes and dress suits, and
the women in as near nothing as the
law allows.
At seven the bugle blows for din
ner and a royal meal it is, with plen-
ty to drink and smoke with every
course. All retire to the Lounge for
coffee and the dancing begins and
continues till midnight, while smok-
ing, drinking and gambling inter-
sperses the whole.