A RUSH THROUGH AMERICA. [Special Correspondence to Auckland Star.]

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 207, 18 June 1887, Page 2

A RUSH THROUGH AMERICA. [Special Correspondence to Auckland Star.]

£laces and Points of Interest. Considering that I travelled at express speedl aindi completed the 3j,/)00 and odd miles, between San Francisco and' New York within six full days, including; the detour over fche Rocky Mountains, xii, may well be understood that my observatSon.of the cities and towns that I passed through was of a very superficial character. Chicago, where there 1 was a break of train aiod we stayed a few hours, was reached in the dusk of the evening. There was a drizzly rain and sleet. The suggestion altogether was thai of London in the winter. Personally, my impressions are confined ta the execrable paving of the streets and t&e luxurious escellence of the Palmer House. The next day, by the way, one of th© waiters at this hotel (a big negro) shot the "boss" waiter dead whilst dinner was proceeding — an occurrence described in a telegram to the Now York papers as " interfering somewhat with the comfort of the meal." Between San Francisco and New York the line runs through - literally so, for it generally takes the principal street — townships innumerable, in all stages of progress. Every locomotive has a huge brass bell swung over the boiler, which tolls like a summons to church, and warns everything and everybody out of the way. When a couple of dozen or so of these aro clanging all at once in or about a big depot or station the noise is somewhat distracting. Salt Lake City, and that portion of the State of Utah traversed, were seen under unfavourable circumstances. The trees, being all deciduous, were bare of foliage, and the city consequently looked desolate — a congregation of small wooden houses, the average of which appeared not much above the ordinary four-roomer of the colonies. The place in summer, since all the streets are lined with trees, must look picturesque, which ia about all that can be said about it. The only two public buildings I noticed — the Mormon Temple and the Tabernacle — struck me as being hideous. There is no doubt, however, that the Mormons hit on a fine location for their territory. The soil appears marvellously rich, and there is absolute abundance of good water. The effect of pushing railways through the interior may be specially observed in passing through the State of Nebraska, where ten years ago the occupation was practically pastoral. At the present timo the line passes through small townships about every nve miles, and the whole country is under the plough. _ These townships are as like as two peas, each with a few score cottager, a little church, and school-house. The " big hotel " is conspicuous from its absence in these streets and district?). From inquiries I found that the townships are all what v/o call private ones — simply the creation of the railway. It is a big skip from Nebraska to Albury, but my notion of the big cities passed through is considerably indefinite. Albury, however, stands out fresh and clear as it literally sparkled in the sun on a fine frostymorning. The situation ismostbeautiful occuping both banks of thelludson, which was- a solid sheet of ice. Wecrossedbyahand- j some bridge, looking down on fleets of river steamers firmly frozen in, awaiting the now imminent break up of the ice. From this to New York the line skirts the banks of this glorious river. It is a day's ride to remember. We see the famed Catskill Mountains, where Rip Van Winkle slept his twenty years, but where now there are two huge hotels — one at the very summit, and a railway to about where Rip must have encountered the gnome ! The Hudson was frozen over until within about 100 miles from New York ; a notable thing to observe being the large number of ice-houses, in which the river harvest of ice for the city consumption is stored. Many of these houses are of large extent, covering about the same area, but three times as high, as the Dunedin railway sheds. Ice, be it recollected, is in universal use in America, and this all the year round. Iced water is on the table at every meal, and come-at-able all day everywhere. Every railway car has a huge filter at each end, from which delightfully cool water can at all times be drawn. The steamers all carry ice, it may be said, in profusion, and a great luxury it is.

New York. I am going to say nothing about Now York. What, indeed, could 1 say, considering that my train ran into the Central Dep6t at about 8 p.m., and I had to drive straight to the Cunard Wharf to secure my berth on the Servia, sailing at daylight the next morning. I did, however, make an expedition up town, visited the Fifth Avenue Hotel, the celebrated Hoffmann Saloon, which, devoted to the liquid refreshment of the moneyed aristocracy, is well worth a visit in order to see the place itself and the exquisite costly works of art with which it is adorned. There are some half-dozen pictures, the aggregate value of which is stated to be not less than L 15,000, some beautiful tapestry and sculpture. The proprietor, who is plainly en evidence, is the individual who shot the notorious Jem Fiske some years ago. He was sentenced to death, had the sentence commuted, and eventually got off with about four years seclusion in Sing Sing Penitentiary. People in New York do not hesitate to say that by some means or other his vast wealth saved his life and secured his liberty. The murder was most cold-blooded. He shot his victim from behind at the bar of the Fifth Avenue Hotel, the motive being jealousy of some worthless woman ! The practice of carrying firearms is as general as ever, although I believe it is prohibited by statute. But, like many other laws in the State, this statute is held in little account by those who have plenty of dollars. Broadway," the Fifth Avenue, and other leading thoroughfares are very brilliant at night, not only being brightly illuminated by electric lights on high standards, but owing to the shop windows not being closed by shutters, whilst, brightly lighted up within. The establishments are closed, but a dazzling display of wares remains distinctly visible through the plate-glass windows. The electric light, it may Toe noted, is very generally used for street lighting throughout America. I observed it in all the large and many quite small towns from San Francisco to New York. The railway stations, " dep6ts as they are called, and the steatnboat wharves are lighted by night as by day. The mere glimpse I had of New York by night, and from the harbour in the early morning, gave me the idea of a very large and handsome city. I drove, in fact, through streets and streets of fine houses similar to thoso in the West End of London. In the harbour the attention is at once attracted lo the Brooklyn suspension bridge - a structure of exquisite dosign and proportion — and to the newlyerected bronze Statue of Liberty on the Jersey side, the vast size of which is dwarfed by the situation and surroundings Nothing like this has been seen in the world since the famed Colossus of Rhodes. The effect is really magnificent, and does not in any degree disappoint the pro- conceived idea derived from photographs and pictures! On looking over these notes I find that I have said nothing about San Francisco. Lauding, however, as I did, from the Ala-

nieda abou4 10.30 a.m., aiad leaving by theteain from Qak&eld at 3 p,m. the same day, my opportornities of observation were limited. The weather was fiae, and I saw all iihat could well be seen in th«- time. Themain streets struclt me as being- somewhat narrow, but that effect might possibly enough, Rave been produced by tha extreme height, ' of the building?, which xun to eight or ten stories. The most notable thing in my view was- the extent and variety of thetram service. Thoro seemed to be an endless procession of cars each way alon°- the principal thoroughfares, and lines strike off at right angles at each bloelt, running up pretty high gradients to the, more elevated , parts of the city. The system of cable i haulage is universal throughout ; but horsecars also run on parallel lines of rail along the level. The fare, a general one, is five cents, which may bo taken as representing the fifth of our shilling. The main streets are none of them, very long, but soon run cut into sandy and somewhat, desolate-looking buburbs. Thecity presents a very animated appearance, business* of all kinds being demonstratively brisk. The huge hotels were absolutely so crowded that the Alameda's passengers were unable to get rooms either at tlie Palace or the Baldwin. lam informed that there were at the least 5,000 visitors from the Eastern States, who have been spending the winter months in California, and were en route, towards home. More anon.