THE TRAVELLER.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1151, 23 March 1894, Page 13

THE TRAVELLER.

OUR LITTLE TRIP TO CANADA AND THE STATES.

(BY OBION.)

I had thought to have told the readers of the Mail something of our trip to see the World's Fair at Chicago. How when we had watched the declining glories of autumn as it merged into the phantasmagorial beauties of the Indian summer, we again packed our grip sack and got on board of one of those Chicago flyers to be one amongst the thousands wending their way to the White City. All summer long the streaming tide of humanity, urged on by newspaper articles, enticing railway inducements, and the semi-fabulous tales told by those who lead men there, found themselves like us en route, anxious to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of the landing of Columbus. You cannot travel from place to place in this country by steamer as in New Zealand, and oo the railways have the monopoly. As the time drew near for the closing of the Fair the tens of thousands of people throughout, the country, who at first had thought of the great Exposition with indifference and later on with small interest, were at length seized with a desire to be with the rest and to go and see for themselves. Every person w*ho visited the Fair advertised it on their return. Nothing like it had ever.been seen by mortal man. No words could do it justice ; no imagination picture its glories or its grandeur ; and so like a widening circle of wavelets set in motion by a single stone dropped in the placid bosom of the lake, the great tidal wave of men and women kept swelling and surging more and more all through the month of October. Thirty-five different railroad companies ran their trains into Chicago, and every company had every car that it could command put to service and every car was crowded. Day and night, seven days a week, from Montreal and Boston, from San Francisco, Galveston and Atlanta these trains came pouring into Chicago with their loads of living freight at the rate of 200 trains a day. Happy was the man or woman if they could .get seat, let alone a sleeper, and even standing room was many times denied. Trains due to arrive at a certain hour were frequently six, nine, and twelve hours late. The single trams could not carry the crowds, but as fast as they were filled another would take its place, and still another, and another, until perhaps fifteen or twenty would be required to carry at a given hour what was generally carried by one train. On Chicago day, October 9th, over 750,000 persons went through the gates into the Fair Grounds, bought their tickets, paid their money, jostled each other, slept on floors, or walked the streets all night and stood i up for hours on the train going home, ) and were happy because they had seen this grandest human achievement of the centuries. Outside of the gate the crowd surged up and down till nearly noon before they got through, and it was nearly morning before they got out again. The street cars, and railroads, and elevated trains were all crowded to their utmost, and no car-conductor or enginedriver got a wink of sleep that night. Even now, after it is all over, as 1 think of the beauties of those magnificent buildings, fountains, lagoons, lawns, arches, and statues, which from the tablets of memory will never be effaced, I am tempted to try to tell you something about them. But I will not, partly because it is so far past, and then the chance of you not being interested in it, for we live in the present and future and not in the past ; but rather because I feel that the attempt would be useless, for no human pen can ever do it justice. Such words as grand, superb, magnificent, imposing, are all too feeble when one essays a task like this. Daily, except Sunday, for three weeks, we walked beneath those arches, and mighty domes, and peristyles, and beheld the marvellous beauty and triumphs of skill turned out by the hand and brain of the geniuses of the world. When we came away we realised that we had not seen a fraction of what was there. Though we spent two days under the roof of one building in seeing the sights as vigorously as possible, yet not half in that building ever fell beneath our gaze. Oh, how weary we got! How well we remember those World's Fair tired feet, and how vivid the recollections we now have of the grateful coolness that came from the bosom of Lake Michigan, as, tired of tramping all day, we sat and watched the fireworks paint their brilliancy against the sky. How bright is the picture we now see in imagination cf the ever changing tints of the electric fountains ; the electric jewelbedscked dome of the Administration Building; the long slanting rays of the brilliant search-lights, and the stats over !

all. But I will not attempt to inflict upon j you a description of any of these things, but will ask you to accompany me on a rapid run, touching some of the principal cities of the East. How changed was the Canadian landscape when we returned from the Fair in November to what it was in September. All the leaves had fallen, and the beauteous garb of the autumn forest was no longer. Every blade of grass was gone, not a flower was to be seen. Every tree was bleak, and bare, and sere, and the soft dreamy, hazy atmosphere of the Indian summer had given way to the cold grey skies of the approaching winter. I had planned to take the steamer from Lake Ontario down through the Lake of the 1000 Islands and the St. Lawrence to Montreal; but the steamer took her last trip just a week before I was ready, so I was doomed to fall back upon the railroad train. I i arrived in Montreal in the evening. The | streets were muddy, the lamps shone dimly in the mist, the policemen wore their overcoats and helmets, the cabs were all closed in, the passers-by wore rubber boots and mackintoshes as they splashed by in the dullness. The next morning was not pleasant. The rain had undergone a and was half sleet, half snow, and froze as it fell until the streets and sidewalks were slippery, and walking was a feat of agility. Here and there a horse would be seen flat on its side, having fallen down in its-inability to climb the icy slopes. Great icicles hung from the roofs of the houses, and foot passengers had to be on the alert so as to stand from under them when they fell. Mount Royal was anything but a Royal mount, and I could see nothing of real dignity in the naked trees on its summit or in its slippery icy sides. And yet, notwithstanding the dreariness of the picture, I saw at a glance that Montreal was a city of much affluence and commercial prowess. I saw that her public buildings and private residences were substantial, handsome, and costly. I saw that while commercial depression was abroad in the land, Montreal was holding her own. Her situation at the juncture of the mighty l-ivers, Ottawa and St. Lawrence, between the wealthy provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and on the line of the great C. P.R., running from ocean to ocean, and being the only Canadian port of importance from which to load and unload ocean steamers direct to and from the Old Country, were sufficient to enable her to remain as she is—the Metropolis of Canada. Here was to be seen engaged in all classes of business, side by side with their English competitors, many of the descendants of Jacques Cartier and John and Sebastien Cabot. The French business men cater for English custom and the Englishmen are anxious to secure the trade of the Frenchmen. Many of the signs on the buildings were in both languages, such as Merchant Tailor, " Marchand Tailleur ;" or, House to Let, " Maison a Louer." A notice on the street corners Keep to the Bight read " Teutz a Droit." At the familiar notice of Railway Crossing it was " Traverse du Cheminde" Fer." At the railway station on the door was" Exit" and " Sortie." At the restaurant the familiar notice Meals at all Hours would be " Repas a Toutes Heures." Many of the best of the churches, cathedrals, asylums, convents, monasteries, and school buildings belonged to the Roman Catholics. Their buildings far out-number the Protestants, although in population they are about equally divided. The Catholics are just finishing St. Peter's Cathedral, said to be an exact copy of St. Peter's at Rome," except that it is just one-half the size. It has been building for many years at an immense cost, and was only open for worship at Christmas. Leaving Montreal in the morning we were soon crossing the great Victoria Tubular Bridge that spans the St. Lawrence and is nearly two miles in length. Skirting the southern portion of the province of Quebec, through a splendid farming country, but whose owners • [seemed to be far from, wealthy, for the homes appeared squalid and neglected ; we were soon in the State of Vermont and running along the shores of Lake Champlain, beyond which lay the far-famed and beautiful snow-capped Adirondacks. Our first halt was at St. Albans, the great railway centre, beautifully laid out, whose streets and buildings both public and private seemed to bespeak the abode of a superior people. The public park in the centre of the town on one side was flanked by stores and shops, on the other bv churches, schools, city hall and courthouse. The rows of ti*ees on either side of the street and lawns in front of most of the houaes were all evidence of taste and culture. One institution that I had been accustomed to in every part ; of America and Canada till I came here, I now missed. This was the ' liquor saloon, for Vermont is a Prohibition State. I did not prolong my stay here for it was Thanksgiving Day, which, next to the 4th of July, is the most sacred of all days to the American, but left that evening for Montpelier, the capital of the State. In my trip through Vermont I was everywhere impressed by the contrast between the farms and farmers' residences as , well as the towns and villages with those I had seen in Quebec. Thos°e of Quebec were characterised by slovenliness, dirt and poverty, while the others were neat and clean and comfortable. All the houses in Vermont seemed to have been newly painted, the fences were in order and the ground was well tilled. There were large barns and every part of the country in a prosperous condition. Thi§ fact became more aad more «

apparent until I reached Montpelier. Although it was after dark when I reached there I could not help noticing, in walking the residential street, illamined by electricity, how substantial, comfortable, natty and even luxurious the whole place seemed to be. Next day, thinking perhaps that the electric light was unfavourable for seeing things as they were, I again walked about the town to endeavour to find a single tumbled down shanty or a place where poverty seemed even slightly to hold sway. On inquiry I was told that this town, of 5000 inhabitants, with alai'ge farming population about it, and containing several factories and many working men's families, was absolutely without poverty, without any unemployed and no slums'only one prisoner in the gaol (who had been there but a few hours) and two policemen. Taking the town all in all, its buildings, its streets, its parks, its lawns, its avenues and trees, it was the handsomest and cleanest and finest town in every respect that I had ever seen. Did this state of affairs have anything to do with the fact that the liquor traffic was outlawed, and that there was no drunkenness in the town ? Good citizens told me that such was the case.

The snow lay white upon the ground, I the air was crisp and bracing as our train drew out of Montpelier. Our route lay over the famous White Mountains, the summer resort of New Englanders. They were very sorry looking mountains to one who had travelled in New Zealand or Western Canada, and would be called but good-sized hills. By nightfall we were in the State of Maine, and for two hours before reaching Portland we were passing through towns where 'Prohibition is the law of the land. From enquiry on the train and at the railway stations, from all classes of people, I received but one answer, namely, that the law was well administered and with good results. Our arrival at Portland was heralded by a blizzard that lasted nearly two days, and in the end left snow piled high throughout the city and over the landscape. Although the snow lay deep in the streets the horse cars continued instead of sleighs, as I expected, the track being cleared by monstrous snow ploughs drawn by eight horses. This city is famous as the birthplace of •the poet Longfellow. I visited the quaint old two-storey New England home which still stands in an excellent state of preservation. The building though of wood must be fully 100 years oil. The city has done herself credit and honour to America's greatest master of song by erecting a splendid monument to his memory in one of the public squares. But if Portland is honoured by being the birthplace of Longfellow, to my way of thinking she is still more honoured in being the home of the life long veteran of social reform, the Hon Neal Dow, the Father of Prohibition. It was my good fortune to have the privilege of a few hours' converse with the' old gray-haired chieftain, now nearly 90 years of age. I found him hearty and wonderfully active for one of his years. He certainly seemed to be a worthy example of the benefits of Total Abstinence. Portland, as its name implies, is the chief port for the shipping commerce of the New England States to the north of Boston, and of Eastern Canada during the winter months. Daily steamers ply between there and Boston all the year round, carrying freight and passengers at half the rates charged by the railway companies. It is a coincidence that the population of Maine and its chief city, Portland, are about the same as that of New Zealand and its chief city, Wellington, and I think it will be to the advantage of New Zealand if the coincidence is carried still further, and New Zealand, like the State of Maine, should adopt Prohibition. I found liquor at Portland sold in small quantities, but in a very stealthy way. and my testimony in this connection bears out the statement of the Rev Thomas Dixon, of the City of New York, when he, recently said :—" I know the City of; Portland, Maine, from personal observation. I have investigated its darkest corners personally, and I testify solemnly before God and man that if the best district in New York City were as clean from drunkenness as the meanest district in Portland we would be near the Millenium of. Temperance." My preconceived ideas of the State of Maine were completely overturned as I visited the different centres throughout the I had pictured the place as being rough, hilly and bleak, with a struggling farming population, and here and there mean little villages and wooden buildings evidencing more or less poverty. Instead of all this I found splendid houses, largely built of brick, with giant industries I sucb as paper mills, cotton factories, boot and shoe factories, &c. Here the farming population, I learned, were very independent ; their farms were rarely mortgaged. It was very pleasant to note that both in Portland, and in other parts of the State, that there were next to no unemployed, such as I had become accustomed to ever since I landed in Frisco four months before. From the Board of Trade Journal . of Portland, and the Madison Bulletin and other sources I learned that Maine is really to-day the most prosperous state in all the Union. The day after leaving Portland we found ourselves in' Boston, the " Hub of the Universe," the home of culture and refinement, and as we found it, the home of depression, commercial distress, poverty, squalor, and slush. To a stranger like myself, who had heard all my lifetime of the great beauty of the City of Boston, of its art, and grace, and culture, it seemed the very antipodes of these to learn that there were 40,000 unemployed ia the city, and that relief committees

were being formed, and the starving provided for.' Within one hour after arriving in Boston I saw more drinking than I had the whole previous week in the City of Portland. Boston has 800 licensed houses, each one paying 1600 dollars per annum, which brings in a yearly revenue o£ 1,000,000 dollars (£200,000). I will admit that 1 saw the city at its worst, for snow and mud commingled" filled the streets, and rain came down incessantly. Notwithstanding theseiittle drawbacks. I found time to climb to the top of the Bunker Hill monument, and view the splendid vista spread before me. .lust to the eastward was to bo seen the famous harbour where in 1776 the doings of the " Boston Tea Party " passed into history. A little further northward could be seen Plymouth Bock the most sacred spot in all America, where in the good old days the Pilgrim Fathers landed". Just in the opposite direction and over the river St. Charles I \ looked into the town of Cambridge, with j its famous University of Harvard. After considerable trouble and enquiry I ferreted out the identical building wherein William I Loyd Garrison published the first numbers of his famous " Liberator." Near by I < stood within the four walls where was ( printed the first copy of Harriet Beecher Stowe's " Uncle Tom's Cabin." On Sun-

day I had the honour to visit Tremont Temple, in which one of the largest Sunday Schools in America is held. In the afternoon I was present at a Union meetin the new " People's Church," convened by the committee of 100, where I listened to several eloquent discourses from Boston's most ablo men. lam satisfied that although there is much moral torpor and spiritual stagnation and plenty of vice in Boston, thero is at the same time, an extra amount of reformatory activity manifested in many ways. Many great social questions have their, advocates here and this place has given birth to some of the greatest political and social issues of the day. Yet here women are still without the suffrage, here the... liquor traffic flourishes without hindrance and hero men of gallantry sit at ease while the women stand, "as the trams are homeward rolling." The people of New Zealand some times talk of hard times, but those who indulge in this habit should visit Boston for a short time. I found street car drivers, who have to work iri the blinding sleetand chilly blasts of winter t for fourteen hours a day and get 4s for 1 wages; waiter girls in the restuarants work from six in the morning till eight at night and seven days a week, for 16s. Should a single word be said against these terms hundreds and thousands stand ready to take their place at even lower wages if need be ; besides this all kind of expense incidental to house - keeping are the very highest. All kinds of food, clothing, fuel and house rent are as dear or more so, than in New Zealand, and those who seem to know, those who have had the most experience and who have watched the trend of circumstances, the closest say that this state of affairs will grow worse instead of better in the near future.