AN AUSTRALIAN ON HIS TRAVELS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 701, 22 August 1870, Page 2

AN AUSTRALIAN ON HIS TRAVELS.

Under the above heading, the News of the World (San Francisco) publishes the subjoined letter, which is signed "J. C. Fergusson." It gives an account of the writer's experiences on a trip from San Francisco to New York and back, and is daled San Francisco, July 5 : — I have been in Melbourne, and now I am in San Francisco. I kaow them both, wherein they differ, and wherein they resemble each other. The differences between them are but small in comparison to the one great cardinal point in which they are precisely alike, and that is, they are each filled with a busy, enterprising people, famous for their freedom, intelligence, and warmheartedness. Neither has any jealousy of the other, while both are pressing steadily on to the goal of their great future. There is no narrow-mindedness among the people of either city, and either will be glad to take a " wrinkle " from the other, and frank enough to acknowledge where they got it. I had sufficient proof of this, as far as my Melbourne friends are concerned, when my old Indian friend " Tom Cringle " went over to Victoria, in '66 and

showed the good folks of Melbourne how to construct better ventilated and cooler houses than they had ever before. His well known "bungalow," in the vicinity of Melbourne, was to be their model. He also threatened to "burst up the Victoria ice concern" by showing the Melbournites how to make ice themselves, as the Hindoos do, if a reduction j of prices did not follow the threat ! Now, the point I am desirous of making is, not that the Victorians acted on Tom Cringle's advice, but that they were not offended with him for showi> g them how things are done in other countries, and what appliances could be used to increase their comfort. This is precisely what, with your kind permission, I design to do also. _I have recently crossed this continent, by rail, from San Francisco to New York, and back again — a journey of nearly seven thousand miles — and during my travels I have seen several things which I think our colonial triends, both in Australia and New Zealand, might copy with advantage. This is especially true in railroad matter?. But this is not to be wondered at. The railroad enterprise is so gigantic in this country, and involves such huge interests, that it has been reduced to a science. The best engineering skill and mechanical ability have been utilised to make the road as complete as possible ; and the happy results of the impetus given to inventive genuis by the American Government are everywhere observable in their superior railroad cars. i Fancy, if you can, my colonial friends, travelling seven thousand miles in a railroad car without stopping on your journey, except to take up passengers as you go along 1 You cannot do it. With your ideas of railroad travelling, you do not hesitate to Bay the thing is practically impossible. Your mind reverts to the little cars partitioned off into small compartments, into which, unfortunately, travellers of both sexes are locked indiscriminately, without the possibility of getting away from a disagreeable fellow 1 traveller, or being able to find any conve- , niences whatever. In this country, till such unpleasantnesses are anticipated and provided for. The cars are much longer, and have no partitions i whatever ! The doors are placed in the ends of the cars instead of in the sides, and the passengers can pass clear through every car on the train from beginning to end. In the cars themselves, also, every want of the passenger is provided for. Large cisterns of deliriously cool iced water are placed in , each car, with silver-plated mugs to drink out of. In each end of .each car there is also a water-closet — here called by the nice name " Saloon," and with a plate on the door i marked "Laiies' Saloon," or "Gents' ; Saloon," as the case may be, which are upholstered with red plush. The seats are ranged transversely at each 1 side of the car, leaving a clear passage way down the centre. The windows, which are > capable of being open or shut, at the taste of the traveller, have also Venetian blinds attached to them for keeping out the sun- ' shine. Ventilators are placed in the cars to > cool the temperature when it is too hot, and stoves to heat it when it is too cold. The superior finish and general neatness of the cars is also a noticeable feature. A rope, connecting with a bell on the locomotive, passes from the last car clear through all the cars, and is within easy reach of every paa- , senger, so that the train can be stopped at any moment if occasion require. The reader may imagine that I have been describing a "Palace Car." No; the de- . scription applies only to an ordinary first- , class car. The Silver Palace Car is a much more magnificent institution. It is constructed of black walnut and maple polished • to the very highest extent, and clamped with silver! whence its name "Silver Palace ( Car." At each end of it, small " State Rooms " are fitted up, of different sizes, to suit the wants of travellers. A lady travel--1 ling alone can have the use of a . state room just large enough for herself. A married i couple can have a larger one ; and there are , some large enough to contain a whole family ! In each case the most perfect privacy is secured; and if there is a hotel car attached to the train, meals can be served to . passengers in their state rooms while the train is in motion ! In the palace cars the interior fitting is of the richest description ; elegant carpets cover 1 the flnor; and the state room windows are of cut glass with different designs neatly cut in , them. , During the day the car is an elegant drawing room with splendid lounges and every ' appliance for comfort. Each palace car has a porter attached, who, as night draws on, at the wish of the traveller, transforms the ele- , gant lounge into an equally elegant bed, with downy pillows, damask curtains, etc. For those who wish to read, a lamp, fitted in the : side of the car behind a mirror, which he can > slide up, is lighted, and a small table, is attached by hooks to sockets fitted in the side ; of the car to receive them. The one end is ■ supported by these hooks and the other by ■ two legs, which fold up underneath when the i table is not required. On these tables the i traveller can rest his book or paper, and ■ enjoy all the comfort asd ease of a parlour library, at the same time that he is crossing i the snow-clad summit of the Sierra Nevadas, i the alkali plains of the desert, or the elevated i table-lands of the Eocky Mountains. Every- ; thing is so complete and neatly adjusted, that i the luxurious bedroom or the comfortable 1 library can be improvised at a moment's ■ notice. The Hotel Car is at once a marvel of rail- ■ road travel; and a triumph of Yankee inge- ! nuity ! Similar to the palace sleeping car in ; style and finish, its interior fittings are i different. In one end of it there is a complete • "cuisne" with its "chef" and his : subordinates. Culinary utensils for all purposes, and of the most novel ' descriptions abound in it ; and its bill • of fare comprises almost everything you can i obtain at any first-class hotel 1 It matters I not at what stage of the journey you are.

Even on the summit of the Rocky Mountains, 8325 feet above the level of the sea, you can have fresh California salmon, tender steaks, fresh batter and eggs, and in their season, luscious strawberries and the most delicious cream 1 And these viands are not served up " any way," but in the nicest manner ! The conductor of the hotel car conies round a little before meal times with a printed bill of fare of sufficient variety to suit the moat fastidious taste 1 Soups, fish, entrees, roasts, pastry, dessert, wines, fruit, &c, can all ba obtained ! The price of each dish is plainly marked, and the traveller can order just what he pleases. Then again, the tables are so admirably arranged, and have so many novel little appliances for keeping everything snug and in its proper place ! Fixed into each corner of the table, there is a little silver buttonlike stud ; corresponding button-holes are wrought in the table cloth, bo that when the cloth is buttoned to the table it is impossible any disarrangement of the cloth can take place. Even the cups and saucers are of a peculiar shape, calculated to prevent their being upset. The meal over, the cloth is removed, and that which a moment before was a sumptuous dining-room is changed into an elegant smoking-room. It is quite impossible to convey to those who have not experienced it, the comfort of American railway travel. Great as is the care taken on the cars to secure the comfort of travellers, quite as much is observable at the different stations at which trains stop for meals. The cisterns containing drinking water are all cleared out, and fresh water put in, chests of ice are also had in readiness, and their contents transferred to the ciaterns of the passenger cars to keep the drinking water cool. At the different "Eating Stations" are found large restaurants, with tables already set, and a large staff of waiters — frequently ladies— in attendance, to supply the traveller with whatever he may order at a moment's notice. The recipient of so much attention, all conducive to his comfort in the highest degree, instead of being oppressed with a sense of weariness and fatigue against which he cannot hold up, exults in the perfect ease, comfort, and enjoyment which he experiences, and feels, under such circumstances, he could travel on for his entire lifetime. Then again, there is the additional and evervarying charm of watching the scenery through which the traveller is being parried. And on the Great Transcontinental highway, a careful observance of it, does indeed enhance the pleasures of the journey. One day the traveller will be carried over the smiling valleys of California, the broad expanse of their golden grain pleasantly interspersed with happy homes embowered in groves of fruit trees; orchards and vineyards gay and more luxuriant than any ever seen before, probably, will refresh and cheer him on every hand by their bright green presence. Large cities and fast rising towns will also furnish their quota of pleasure. Another day the traveller will be among the foot-hills -, and the broad and fertile valley will have given place to the rolling upland covered with the tall and graceful pine. Every gully will bear marks of having been despoiled of its golden treasures, and along the sides of the hills, flumes and water races, full of rushing water, bear evidence that mining is still diligently followed. As the ascent of the Sierra Nevadas is being made, mining towns of four and five thousand inhabitants will be passed. There will be seen the digger's shanty, with its well cultivated little garden before the door— an old familiar sight to a "colonial." A little further from the road will be seen the hydraulic mines, their bold *hite bluffs contrasting finely with the dark-green background of the forest. Higher up the Sierras the traveller will b« carried through a belt of country whose scenery for imposing grandeur cannot be surpassed. Higher still, the snow line will be reached, snd those triumphs of engineering skill, the snow sheds will be seen and entered. These structures are absolutely necessary to keep the line open during the winter months. In some winters the snow-fall on the upper Sierras amounts to twenty feet. Immenee avalanches, during this season, are frequently hurled with tremendous velocity down the mountain sides, and but for these admirably constructed snow-sheds, any train passing before them would be unsafe. The snow-sheds are so ingeniously and strongly constructed, however, as to preclude the possibility of an accident occurring. The frame work is built of very strong sound timber, the uprights being upwards of twelve inches in diameter, and the trussels for the roof proportionately strong. This frame work is planked over with etrong boards. When the shed is built on the "divide," or open country, and is intended merely to protect the line from " drifts," it is built with a roof like a house — sloping off on both sides ; but when built on the side of a mountain and intended to ward off the rushing avalanche, it is so constructed that the upper edge of the roof comes under, and conforms to the slope of the mountain. By this ingenious arrangement no weight rests upon the shed at all, and the avalanche, meeting no resistance in its downward course, glides rapidly over into the gully below. These snow sheds have been constructed at cost to the Company of about 10,OOOdols per mile, and they aggregate forty miles in length! Some of them »re very long, and others are but short, just according to the nature of the country passed over. Of course the view is obstructed by theee snow-sheds, but still, the company have not been unmindful of the traveller's desire to see the country through which he is passing, and they have very considerately left open spaces, like windows, on the valley aide of the shed. Through these, a glimpse can be bad of the country passed through. East of the Sierra Nevadas the traveller

trill enter the State of Nevada— tbe most barren and inhospitable of all the States of tbe Union, but still teeming with mineral wealth. The traveller's road will lie for hundreds of miles through a belt of the American desert. Here there will he but little to interest, but there will still be the novelty of riding over a desert under such auspicious circumstances — having all the comforts and .elegancies of civilisation in the midst of such sterility and barrenness as few travellers have ever seen before 1 Leaving Nevada, the traveller will enter " Utah Territory," with its magnificent Salt Lake stretching out before him like a vast inland sea ; its Mormon inhabitants with their peculiar institution ; " " Pulpit Rock," " Hanging Rock," " Castle Rock," and its wonderful canons or mountain gorges as w.would call them. In these canons, the most fantastically shaped rocks severally named " The Devil's Slide," " Deadman's Rock," &c, &c, are found. On the summit of the bold high precipices — hundred of feet high — will be seen piles of large stones called " tbe Mormon fortifications," because when the Mormons were threatened by General Johnson in 1856 they placed these stones there with a view of hurling them down on the -devoted heads of the soldiers in the gorge below I Of course, I cannot here in this letter even allude to the thousand and one objects of interest that constantly surround the traveller in this charming journey, bo I hasten on. Having left Utah, we. hurry through Wyoming Territory, with its female jurors, its beautiful " Moss Agates," its splendid coalfields, 300 miles long, and its magnificent plains, unoccupied save by the antelope, the €lk, and the Indian, and we ascend the Rocky Mountains to " Sherman," the highest railroad station in the world, where we can breathe the pure air of Heaven at an elevation of 8325 feet above the level of the sea I Beyond Wyoming, we enter Nebraska — a state now on the Western frontier of Eastern civilization . Nebraska has but few settlers, although it has hundreds of miles of rich agricultural lands open for settlers in the great valley of the Platte. Omaha, a city of 30,000 inhabitants, on the western bank of tbe Missouri, is the principal city of Nebraska, ftnd the terminus of the continuous line of railroad from this city to San Francisco. On the eastern bank of the Missouri, four different roads offer accommodation equal to what the traveller has hitherto enjoyed for conveying him still further eastward. He will have an opportunity of seeing the States of lowa, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or New York, as he may elect. And he can also go through Canada, passing along the margin of her splendid lakes. He will pass through Chicago— the great city and railroad centre of the West, with its 350,000 inhabitants, while 40 years ago its site was occupied by a trader's hut, at which trappers sold their furs. So, by whichsoever road he goes, he will pass through some of the great cities of the East with the innumerable objects, new and interesting which every one of them presents to observing travellers. In fact, there is so much of importance to the colonists of Australia and New Zealand, to be seen on this overland journey, that it ought to be preferred to the old route on that account alone. But when all the other attractions of this new and rapid route to England and Australia over the old route round the Cape via the Mediterranean are taken into consideration, there cannot be a question as to which is the most desirable route to follow. There is the saving in time, and the ease and comfort of travelling in a locomotive hotel, through a country teeming with objects of interest and information, in contra-distinction to the tedium and monotony — not to speak of seasickness and other attendant evils — of a long flea Toyage. I am delighted, Mr Editor, to see by the Australian and New Zealand papers just to band per A jax, that such unanimity prevails in the colonies for the Trans-Pacific steamers, and I have no doubt that ere long the line will be so arranged as to give the utmost satisfaction to all parties. Should a renewal of my notes on the Trans-Continental journey be desired by my old friends in New Zealand and Australia, I may on some future occasion addresß you. In the meantime, permit me to hope that every success may attend the Trans-Pacific line of steamers, and your excellent paper.