A MAORILANDER IN YANKEELAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2104, 21 June 1894, Page 41

A MAORILANDER IN YANKEELAND.

BY W. H. MATHIE3ON.

A few notes on the impressions made on a New Zealander during a sojourn made in the States at the time of the Chicago Exhibition may be of interest to your readers. I shall not attempt to give a connected account of my travels, but will content myself with a few stray notes on the most interesting parts of my visit.

I left Buffalo with regret, as I could not help forming a favourable opinion of it from not only a sanitary, but also a business point of view. I shall be very much surprised if it does not turn out a large and important manufacturing centre at no distant date. I was anxious to get to the end of my journey, and took the night train en route for Chicago. I left on a beautiful moonlight night, and in a very short time we crossed the Great Cantileaner bridge over the Niagara below the falls. This remarkable structure is 910 ft long, and is recognised as the greatest triumph of modern engineering. It has consequently attracted in a greater degree perhaps the solitary exception of the Forth Bridge) tbe attention of the scientific world than any other work of modern engineering, and has brought interested visitors from every quarter of the globe. The principle adopted in its construction is put shortly — that of a trussed beam supported at or near the centre by arms extending, each way, one end being anchored or counter-weighted to provide for unequal loading. Each end is made up of a section, entirely of steel, extending from the shore nearly half way over the chasm. Each section is supported near its centre by a strong steel tower, from which extend two lever arms, one reaching the rocky bluff, the other projecting over the river 175 ft beyond the tower. The outer arm having no support, and being subject like the other to the weight of the trains, a counter advantage 'is given by the shore arm being firmly anchored to the rocks on' the shore. The towers that support this massive structure rise from tbe water's edge. Between them is a clear span of the width of the mighty river, compressed at this spot to under 500 ft. This is the longest doubletrack truss span in the world. The bridge is built of steel, and it was plainly visible from tbe Niagara falls. It stands 250 ft above the water level. Oar train was delayed on the bridge for nearly 10 minutes, and I got my last glimpse of the falls from it, and I shall never forget the scene. The majestic falls were quite visible, and the clouds of Bpray, as they rose like a fleecy mantle and faded in the distance, were too lovely to portray in any language at my command. The roar of the mighty falls as they surged over the mighty chasm in tho calm night will linger long in my memory. We were soon speeding away through the Canadian side of the river. I had a look at the country as we passed, and this part especially would compare very favourably with the farming districts of England and Scotland. We had a most distressing accident while travelling with this train. The passengers told me that a few hours before I joined the train had run over an old man, who was walking along the line. The driver saw him and the bell was rung, and as a last resource the whistle blown, but the old man took no notice, being deaf probably. The trafn overtook him, and cut him all to pieces. His remains were collected and put in a sack, and the train resumed its course. I found out this after the events I am about to narrate occurred. We were coming into a town, and ju&t before a train passed us, going in the opposite direction. Our train oame to a standstill at the outskirts of the town, and word was passed round that another man had been killed. The passengers jumped off and ran in front, when a most distressing scene met the eye. It appears that a young German and his wife had been strolling along the line. They had watched the other train pass, being on another line of rails, walking arm in arm, when the train that I was travelling with came up and caught the man, but, strange to say, brushed aside the woman, who was not hurt. 1 was present when the awful calamity that had befallen her dawned upon her, and during the time the ambulance was coming her piercing shrieks made one shuddder. The man was still breathing when taken to the ho3pital, but died in less than aa hour afterwards. His name was Hanson, and I learned tho fact of his death from the papers the next morning. The railway lines aloDg the prairies, and in some of the towns even, are not fenced, and their is very little regard for human life, thousands of people being killed annually. This is one fact that redqunds to the ere Jit of our railway officials. I am informed that for the miles run and the number of passengers carried we stand as high as any country in the world in immunity from accidents.

It was nearly 9 o'clock the next evening when we arrived at Chicago. Some 15 miles before we came into the town I got my first sight of the exhibition. I saw the massive dome of the exposition building lit up by electricity, and I obtained a sight of the biggest wheel ever made by human hands, also illuminated. Nothing in the " Arabian Nights " entertainments, though bathed in all tbe glorious colourings of Oriental fancy, and read as I read them, with all the romance of boyhood, could equal the magnificence of this sight. On the train I had got into conversation with the conductor, who went by the name of Mac — a pleasant, burly Scotchman. He advised me, if I did not want to pay an exorbitant price, to hire a room by the week, and promised to take me to a widow who would let me have a room for sdol a week. This, he told me, was a very low sum for a single bedroom. Well, I did not know anyone, and was glad to put myself under his care, so I handed my brass token to an express company, and we made our way to the house, "which was on South State street.

The town at the time of my visit, in July, was in a feverish state of-activity, 500,000 people arriving and departing every week. Chicago has the reputation of being the most wonderful city in the world to-day. Her progress has amazad mankind. There is no record of human skill and industry

that will bear comparison with the transformation that has been accomplished within the span of a human lifetime. Sixty years ago a swamp ; to-day a city with nearly one million and a-half inhabitants, and still growing vigorously. It has 1240 miles of streets lit by electricity ; and has cable, electric, steam, and horse cars, where you can travel nine miles for 5c with cars every minute night and day. In 1871 tbis city was practically swept out of existence by a terrible fire. It was thought that it would never be rebuilt, but as in the case of our own town, the old wooden buildings made room for the massive stone structures that are admitted, and justly so, to be the best built in the* world to-day. While many of the largest and handsomest buildings are built solidly of stone, a new system has found much favour here, and is being generally followed. This is known as the steel frame system. The Btructure proper consists of a mass of terra cotta or other material, not intended to support the edifice in any way. The floors consist of steel beams with the arched terracotta tile work filled in between them, and covered either with the usual flooring boards, or with orcamenal tiles or mosaic work. The partitions are built of hollow terra cotta tiles, the object being to make them as nearly as possible fire-proof. Owing to the ground being of a swampy nature the foundations are a most expensive item. Piles were first used, but experience soon showed that they were not satisfactory. Steel beams laid crosswise are now used, and hundreds of tons of these are often used, filled in with concrete, before the foundations for the building are on a level with the surface. The state of the Chicago river, which receives tho whole of the drainage, is unquestionably a disgrace to the city. The time I saw it was in midsummer, and it presented the appearance of a seething, bubbling mass of decaying corruption. I have never seen anything to equal it in my life. One had to hold a scented handkerchief to the nose fully 50yds before coming to the bridge, and until as far away from it on the other side. On either side of this open drain are situated large wholesale merchants' stores, and I was informed at the time of my visit that over half the men employed were at the time down with typhoid fever. I read, last week that the schools were closed, as smallpox was decimating the population. Ido not wonder at this, but am surprised at it not occurring long before now.

The next morning I took an early train to the Chicago Exposition, as it was 11 miles from the centre of the town. Early as it was, when I got near the railway station there were thousands upon thousands going in the same direction, and I was borne along with the crowd. We got to a lot of Bmall ticket offices, mostly filled by young women. You presented your dime (10c) and got a ticket ; presented the ticket at a little gate, and got on to the platform, and then took your place in an open oar not unlike a large tramcar, and when one was full — which it was in an incredibly short time— you were soon away. The ride along the edge of the lake in the early morning, with the cool breeze from the lake, was the most enjoyable one imaginable; and thousands came out that way, or took the whaleback — a new kind of steamer that carried about 2000 passengers every hour, the fare being 15c. There were nine different ways of getting out to the fair, and they ranged in price from 5c to 2dol. In the latter case you got a seat in a real English drag, with four high-stepping greys, tooled by a coachman dressed English fashion, with a conductor tooting the horn every minute. This, I need hardly say, was extensively patronised by the elite (or those who wanted to be thought such, " don't yer know "). What I caw at the exposition I shall reserve for another issne.