The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1922-06-15

May u, l9ZZ.
Dear Mr.. butcher:
| left Brookings on September 25,
after a brief visit there and went to
Montreal. On September 80 the
"MinnedOsa" started down the pic
turesqu4 St. Lawrence and the next
day we passed between desolate la
brador and Newfoundland, and were
on the ocean. | regretted seeing Belle
Isle, the last outpost of North Ameri-
ca, fade into the distance, but it is
exciting TO look forward to seeing
Europe appear at the other end Of
ones first journey across the sea. For
five days the horizon was bounded
only by the Atlantic, which obligingly
remained calm during the whole 10Y
age. Then Ireland came into view,
and oon we had passed the Isle of
Man and were in Liverpool. Then
by train across beautiful England to
London.
During the months | have been in
London, | have come to know the city
uiu hC LhSllSl pCOIlC Ncls Veil. L lie
English are conservative and often
slow in making friendships, but one
soon feels that he has friends here
and keeps liking the people better.
There is a wonderful steadiness and
dependability about England, in spite
of some 100000 unemployed, of
heavy taxation and OF many after
effects of the war. The English
calmly tackle their problems and
carry on; indeed after travelling over
the continent, | look upon Great Brit
ain as the one solid support for "a
webbing Europe. The English are
most friendly toward Americans;
they laugh at our ~peculiarities, just
as we laugh at theirs, and no one
should believe that the English
haven't a sense of humor. | feel that
any American who dislikes the Eng
lish is either misinfOrmed or unfair
and | feel this way in spite OF the
fact that | have Irish blood in my
arteries.
London is a great city; a New York
without skyscrapers. OF curse it
has a very distinct individuality, as
any large city has. Leicester square,
Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar
square could be duplicated nowhere
else, and are always interesting. An
American often sees things which re
mind him Of home, for instance,
FOrd's and signs reading american
Bar but which | am told means the
bygone type of American bar, not the
18th Amendment near-beer type. |
have been fortunate CD in seeng, this
past winter, some old fashioned Lon
don fogs, where the fog was the only
thing one could see. eve the side
walk at ones feet being INVISIBLE, and
| am not tall either. Yes, several
people walked into the Thames, be-
cause they couldn't see where they
were going! Last October beat all
weather records for London in the
amount Of sunshine, and during May
we have had heat to exceed all pre-
vious May records-not SO bad, but
very sticky. The mildness Of the
winter rather surprised me, for Lon
don is in a latitude considerably north
of Winnipeg: the Gulf Stream is the
explanation. The thermometer sell
dom reached the freezing point. Ger
tain public buildings, such as West
minister Abbey, The Houses OF Par
lament, st. Paul's Cathedral, etc,
are very imposing outside and inside,
and there are great museums, art gal
leries, theaters and other attractions.
A person from the west is impressed
by the antiquity Of s. many objects
and places made familiar by history,
literature and song. Kew Gardens,
where | work are superb.
l have just returned from six weeks
over 1.-The continent" Paris is very
beautiful, gay and splendid: it fully
lives up to its reputation. did the
sights" including a trip to Versailles,
which is the most magnificent spot
! ever saw Met lots of Americans
in Paris and for that matter, every