TO NEW YORK BY HOTEL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 309, 6 January 1908, Page 4

TO NEW YORK BY HOTEL.

A DAY F1!0M MAIItETAMAS LOG--IJUOK. WONDERS OK TIIE .NEWEST LIN El!.

Regarding the largest and faateat liner in the world, a writer in the "Glasgow Weekly News'' say* you art* halt sceptic- ! al when you step on board. For weeks ' Uie daily jMjM ia bave bristled with ainuz- | ing autistic* all demonstrat.ng the vastue?a ot" the ilauretania. In all likelilijihl sou have heard how the town liali» oi Manchester and Birmingham—e»ui (.ila>gow's imposing municipal buildings—tuuld each Ue comfortably accommodated between the vessels first and fourth funnel*; how a couple of »ni>riing locomotives could *teani .side by >ide down one of these name funnels; ; in»w the Mauretania and her sister ship, ! the Uisitania, would completely block | the waterway under the Brooklyn Su* 1 [tension Bridge—the largest of its kind ; in the world; how the Mauretania her- • *ell placed on the terrace of the Houses | of Parliament would most grievously in-

comnioile honourable members; how she w as big a* St. Peter's (Rome) and the Vatican; liow she is bigger than a side of the Ureal Pyramid or the Capitol at Wa-hington. lou resent all this. -Inwardly you go length of declining to believe a word of it. Jauntily, therefore, you board the pretender, with a brief, as it were, for the architectural triumphs of the continents. (hie of her three hundred and fifty *tewar4< directs you to your stateroom. "E 4fl, sir! Straight along to your right and through the grand entrance, sir." lou gain the grand entrance after I three minutes' brisk walking. Down the grand staircase you sally, your case Incoming hopeless as you descend. Deck B sees you warer; at Deck C your wonder grows larger; and when you at last arrive at deck £ you have becoming an unwilling convert. There is nothing for it but to throw up your brief and go over to the enemy. From that hour you are a confirmed Mauretanian, a worshipper of the greatest wonder in the five seas.

Threading jroOr way through the corridors you come to your room—an achievement in compactness. Ia the least possible space, compatible with the greatest possible comfort to its two occupant?, there aTe two bunks, a couch, and a couple of wardrobes and a dress-ing-table (into which fold two hand basins, each with its separate supply of water). By tne side of your bunk are two brackets, one for your watch; another, a larger one, will hold a book if you are tempted to read abed of nights b;- the aid of the portable electric light which hangs near by. Those five flights of stairs trouble you when, suddenly remembering that the vessel ia about to start, you wish to get up on deck. But a ring brings the lift down to you. The attendant is pardonably proud of hii charge. He will tell you bow they used aluminium to make its grille with instead of iron or bronze: how about twenty torn of weight was thus saTed; and how the design, a tasteful one, you admit, is adapted from some antique wrought iron work of the sixteenth century. j Once on deck you are surprised to see I the quayside far astern. The Maure- ' tania has set off so stealthily that you I have never noticed her departure, for attached to the hull of the ship along her ! midship section arc bilge k'eels, precau- ! tions agaiiMt rolling which will ensure steadiness when the ocean is surging j mountains high. j But it i- nearly one o'clock, the hour | for lunch, and you feel rr;iily for your first meai on board. I.imrli. afternoon ! tea, dinner, and breakfast are served in I the dining saloon in a style in which j only West End caterers and the Maure- | tania's staff of chefs themselves ( there are fifty all told) could serve tliem. : Capped by a tremendnun dome, the din--1 ing saloon (which run-. down through the lir-t t«o decks of the ship) i> a fairyland ; of exquisitely-carved panelling, glittering light-, and delicate upholstery. The ilauretania'- orchestra plays while the I meals are in progre»», heightening the illusion that one j > very far indeed from j mid-ocean.

The meat bill for a single trip is of qute <i;irgantu;ui dimension-'. This travelling township cause* more dismay amongst fi*h titan by merely disturbing their native retreats in \\+ |>a*siigf, for it ha-* on Itoard no fewer than twelve boxes of herring, sixty boxes of kinners, two of mackerel, twelve Iwrrels of red herring, ten lusts of fresh herrings, eighty-four boxes of haddocks, thirty->ix ln-xe* of bloater*', one and a h;ilf tons «>f iing. forty-five boxes of turbot, sole, and other frerh fish, and <to come to the aristocracy «»f the genu*) three turtles.

weighing three hundred and twentv-fiw pounds, fifteen hundred pounds of *alni:»n. and twenty kegs <-f oy>ter*. The "leading line-in meat, and Imcon are no le-s astounding. The Mauritania *rearn-. am»-« the herring pond with two huudnrl and fifty partridge, two hundred and lifty grouse, eight iitiinlre«l tpiail. two hundred snipe, four hundred pigeon-, two hundred pheasant-, sixty lioiihi. ten calves. forty oxen, eighty >heep. on.* hundred and thirty pig*, two thousand fowls, ninety geese, one hundred and fifty turkeys, and three hundred and fifty ducks—a very fair Noahs Ark for the twentieth century! After you have played your little part in attacking the formidable array of H-h. flesh, and fowl, you may pass the afternoon in smoking in the luxurious sjnokeroom. It w divided into recesses, with divan* and card tables, two of the latter Wing fitted up with writing tables which give one a nice quiet corner for writing in. The chimney piece of the fiHoke-room is als> worthy of attention. It is surmounted by a carved hood, the frieze of which fya.s been modelled and carved from a tine example of De la Kobbia in the Museum ut South Kensington.

Ai hull pa-t -i \ tln* gong -uminnii- you t« Ure--! for dinner, timed for -seven o'clock. It over, You may aJjouriu.to the lounge and music room for a .-moke and a cup of rotTw. i'lm is one of the tine-t room, in all the magnilicent suite. It is decorated in the style whieli prevailed in France at the titter end of the 18th eentury. The furniture, upholstered in the various brocades in vogue when ifarie Antoinette held her Court, is at lirst rtight arranged haphazard. But trv to move a chair, ami you lind it muted to tlie spot with an iron rod. The large expanse of panelling is divided liy sixteen pila-ters of "Kli-ur ile IVcher" marble, with capitols and l>,i-es of mercury gilt bronze. Charming ta|>eMry earrie-j round the cool colour of the marble. Cream "(ilk curtains tone down the -tronger colour-. It i- an artistic triumph. an ideal after-dinner retreat. If yon are wise. after a little writing <>r reading in the library and writingroom over the way. you will got to bed early. For line as is the effect of the <»-nntles* ri'tfei!i.-n- of countless stars, it i- dearly Imught at the price of a sight nt the »nn coming up over the eastern inirizon.

And iruli'fd. it to 1* u'«»inj: •(own that with ;i Kunk iit fh«- ot a «»r < orrit|.>i i'»ir y*mr Mmh more you nm-o. t)ui ;i ]»nt»»] <l«K»r :tn<l ,\ himp lit -h.mM «;r.vt y..H ;it ill- en<l of th»« n«*\t (li<rhT.