IN AMERICA.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9644, 20 January 1903, Page 4

IN AMERICA.

♦ A young Australian, uo t unknown m IJunedin, m a private letter to his parents thus give* an account of some of his impressions m the United States — Chicago is a hateful tow rt-how does John Bnghfc's definition of war run, the •conglomeration," etc., plmise ?— well, Uiicago is the conglomeration, of Ainericun vileness. It has no redeeming features ; its vice is purely sordid and Vicious, it Jacks the elementary good nature ami bonhomie that render Seattle tolerable, it has not the radiant, "don't-care-a--cuss feature that makes life and vice m ban Francisco take on la* Bohemian air of romance, while it is nearly as bad intrinsically as either. Its inhabitants are more uniformly vulgar than one would deem possible; and the smoke, grit, smells, vice and noise that pervade itis streets go to make an intolerable whole. Its buildings are poor ; even when, large as to size they still remain poor and mean jii the exterior. Still, it is a busy, bustling, great city, and boasts some "magnificent shop windows. Marshall Field's and Siegel and Cooper's (two big "department" stores) are very dreams of loveliness, while some of the je.wellers' windows are .reminiscent of AU Baba's cave or Aladdin with his lamp. And the streets are busy with people all day, and the roads with traffic — for mere rush and noise they outdo New York. Cliicago, though, has one legitimate pride — her magnificent parks and boulevards. It is said that you can drive for 37 mlies from the Auditorium Hotel without leaving a boulevard. They are the. rail thing, too— very wide, finely asphalted, with lovely avenues of trees. Most of them ruu through parks, and Lincoln. Park is certainly the finest pleasure ground you can conceive. It has «, zoo, swing-boats, Ferris wheel, fountains, a. lake, with boats for hire ; Urn greenest and smoothest of lawns, terraces of bright flowers, music-stands, statues of notabilities (the -Lincoln statue is very fine indeed), museum, etc. Chicago can also boast of being- the greatest railroad centre m the world, and the railway yards and traffic are bewildering m their immensity. It is impossible to conceive (I speSik for myself) what railroad traffic means here among the millions unless you see it.' Why, there are more railroad companies than there are engines m Australia (I urn speaking wildly, of course). Goodness knows hriw niiiny lines run into Chicago, but you cross one every mile or so it seems, and on each trains go whizzing by all day and night — an eternity of movement. The public art gallery is a very in-and-out affair, but it possesses a few notable pictures. The most beautiful to my mind were two or three little woman faces by a man named Henner. Ido not know if he is famous, but his skin color is more beautiful than, any other painting T have ever £ecu; a faint sea-green tint seems .to struggle from beneatih the face colors, and it conveys the exact impression of a certaiu pale complexion you often see m women. Then it has a marvellous Perseus and Andromeda that I discovered m a corner under a. far window, and I was quite pleased. with my judgment when I found .it was by Sir Frederick Leighton. Oh. and an ihnpression.ist picrui'e by Whistler of a foggy sunset on the Thames. The colossal impudence, of the thing- is amusing — just a- blotch of muddy greygreen paint, with black uncertain, daubs for vessels, and a red splotch for the sun. I left Chicago for Niagara by the Michigan Central route. I felt quite jingoistic when, my foot struck British soil once more, and took off my hat to the Union Jack. . . . We got "elegant" meals m a luxurious car on the train at a dollar a time. But I have not yet- discovered any dining room iv America to equal those of some of the Sydney hotels at the price. In Sydney you get a "first-class dirtier for 3s (say 75 cents), and it would cost you at least l:S0dol anywhere m America. In fact, the Is meal m Punedin is the cheapest I have ever sat down to, and I've been through. America enough m the last 12 months to know that it can't be equalled here. .-•;.'. .At Niagara beautiful weather, a. palatial hotel, and a good time. Made a night journey to Albany en route, to New York — a city of 95,000 people, but far behind Brisbane m buildings, streets, trains, etc. So far Seattle and Vancouver are the only towns I

have seen whose train wrvi.ee is at all comparable- to that of the three Australian capitals I know. Buffalo is a city of 350.000, and Detroit 250,000. but both are far inferior m every way to Melbourne and Sydney. . . . By-the-bjv, we did some pivtly slick railway travelling un the way to New York. For (-In* first time m "my experience I wa-s whirled along at over tile mile a minute rate. Wo did one milo m 56sec. and 30 miles m 29min 58sec. This was m Ontario. East of Chicago the. rate of speed is accelerated. The smartest tLiw.ta.ble speed Iwtweeii Chicago and New York is that of the 20lh Control (Limited) of the -Pennsylvania, railroad. This train travels 952 miles m 23 hours— cost 53d0l (£6 15s). The fast trains cost very much more than, the ordinary service. Second-class fare (only available at all on slow trains) is 16dol", ; without sleeper, with sleeper 19dol (£3 19s 2d). The Lehigh Valley "Bl;iclc Diamond" express runs from Buffalo to New York — 448 miles — m 10 horn's, timetabled time. The New York Central and Hudson River have two daily tra.ins running } 440 miles m nine haul's, timetable. Th.i.s 1 include* stops at four stations. The aver- ■ age timetable speed is 49 mile* per hour. But practically only millionaires can travel <>t such a. speed as this — 440 miles. I with four stops !