BEN FULLER'S WORLD TOUR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 204, 2 October 1909, Page 4

BEN FULLER'S WORLD TOUR.

XII[RD AXD FOURTH LETTERS. I t~ '? HIS IMPRESSIONS OF "THE STATES." : . ure permitted to make the r lunuig extracts from letters receive.. Horn Air. lieu fuller, now touring tin ■ world: — 5?- S*n Fraaeisco, I6th April, I'JO9. t" On the evening of the 14th we went f> tu ihe Van >iiss Theatre and saw Oti- » Skinner and Company play lhe llouw f, of the Family" a fairly good play, we:. plaved and mounted—about up to ttv 'i Julius Knight standard. Morning loth, caught the ferry steamer at 8 a.m. t for Scnsalito, chaaged to train to San J* Rafael, changed again to another train 'i to Green Brae, thence by steam motoi : car to San Quentin, the Californian Stati ; 5'- prison. L— was not allowed in p- - sa t on a balcony overlooking a yard mid gazed at the cells of five ccrademmpiiaoners, one of whom never left til gvating the whole time she was theiv |t 1 went all over, and, compared with o„> §L prisons, it's a happy-go-lucky affa.i. P Tie prisoners have certain tasks ft lotted to thpm. Most of them (BUt), L woi*W on a loom where jute sacks on £ mode. When their tasks are finish.- £ they can go into a common yard »n P -'SB»Jie, read papers (they can read aa is;. paper that is printed outeide the Slat play handball or baseball, or pratiiI fer the stage show which tliey give .i. fc, the library where a email stage ami eL' proscenium are, on Xew Year's Day and j,, 4th July. They get a'shave and hair s»•'■■ ■ cut <race a week, and may wear the.r hair how they please, except when th.'v] *" first enter, when they are close-cropped

and shaved for identification purposes ~ photographed. They converse free;v. Some work in the vegetable garden, et*. (The death chamber and gallows we:.' shown us by a, "lifer" (he killed his - wife), who described everything minutely and interestingly. Since 1893 there , have been fifty-nine executions here. He showed me the photos of the '!■ ceased, and among them some fine-look ing fellows. When we tipped him, Te) handed the money to the guard, paj iii i "Please place that to my credit." l'-»< I guard, whenever he had occasion to r. - dress any prisoners, called them by the.; front name, and if it were not for t!:>; guards and the striped clothes the plii* - might have tyen a huge barracks of diers, minus the military bearing m: discipline. We walked back to, 5,.. Rafael in the broiling hot sun, ad. lance of five miles per road. Had lum-.i ! there, it is a pretty little place.

Los Angelos, 19th April, 1909. Saturday afternoon I packed a>< helped L—. Saturday night I had » "mooch" lotnd town, and tound out tat railway station. Went to bed at elev. 1. . ; . . Democratic country,, this. T'u. stationmaster asked the conductor •• there was any room left in our car, a,u he replied, "Oh, any amount, George. We had our breakfast on the train .> la carte. Had a boiled squab (a nativ< pigeon) each, and, with the etcetera a » tip, cost 1 dollar 80 cents the two. A San Jose, Xawn and party joined ti.« train. He' had come there from Oaf. lands, and we shifted iuto the Pullm in and observation car, which cost us onand a-half dollars each. The extra con fort in travelling was worth it. There is only one class, but all the travellers seemed to be a decent class. The porter put the ladies* hats in paper bags i*j ketsp the duet off, and they were sup-] p|ied with pillows. The trains run very j easily, and they have the block system on this line. I don't understand it, but I know every time we passed a signal—and they • were numerous—the same dropped. Horizontal is safe, and dropped is danger, "Keep to the right" is the rule of the road. Many things are different to us. The country we passed through was beautiful plains {Canterbury at its beet, and ten times better), ".-ills and valfcys perfect. Of course, ft is spring. The country seems well settled; houses nearly everywhere. Fine-looking cattle, but I only saw one flock of sheep. Guess it's too warm :o; them here in the summer. We travethd {Be Coast route, and for a long time went along the shore.. It was a perfect day-to travel, and although we were one, and a-half hours late in getting in (we 1 arrived at 12.30 o'clock this mornin*}, the journey seemed all too short. Wt saw a lot of prairie dogs (like very Dig rats), squirrels, and eagles en route. This is a fine town. In 1883 there were 11,000 .people here; in 1900, 102,000; now, 300,W0. The streets are well paved, the roads are asphalted; there are some fifteen-story buildings and some magnificent stores, with grcit stocks. The car service is good, and everywhere. The wumbering of streets makes it eaßy fo r a stranger to find his way/about, and if you want to find an olfiie by its number, you know, for instance, that 340 is between Third and Fourth Streets—each block running 100. I like it. Judging by the shops, I should tKlnk living 4 would be cheap h re —beef 10 cents a pound, (strawberries »> cents a box. The climate must be grand indeed.

Wednesday, 21st April. —Yesterday morning went out, per car, with Nairn, to look at a little bit of property he has at Hollywood. Well, I have never se-»a flowers in such profusion. Splendid roads, and footpaths splendidly paved. No fences round the front of the houses —mostly bungalows—and eacH person seems to vie with the other to get the best results. I saw strawberries growing in the open air. Nawn says it ?s like that from January to November. I saw orange and lemon trees with the hud, the flower, and the ripe fruit 011 the same tree. The weather hern is ideal indeed. Blue sky all the time, a gentle breeze, cool in the shade aud when the sun eets. They claim it like this nine months in the year. \u ideal place to retire to, and a lot 10 come here from the East, and many millionaires have made their homes it Pusendena, an adjoining town of 125,000. Ou Wednesday we were at the Pacific Electric Depot at 9.30, and took Tilton trolley trip—loo miles for a dollar. The chief point of interest was San Gabriel's Mission, 127 years old (there is plenty of evidence that the priests had sway here years ago—Spanish and Mexican). Posendena, through magnificent orange groves, to an Indian village—just a show place. Then on to Olong Beach, | the most magnificent stretch I have yet ] seen. There is a fine pier and prome-i-1 ade, and all sorts ot amusements —surf bathing, baths where anybody can go 1 in and watch the bathers free (mixed). 1 Then there is a run from the baths oa| to the -beach into the surf. We are | going to take it on next week. Frank Clark, looking well and prosperous, is running a small theatre on the beach. There were big crowds of people there, lie said that in the summer, when the big hotel is open, it is difficult to get along the promenade for the multitude. On Thursday morning went for a tram rude to Westlake Park, and then walked for a. mile or two admiring the beautiful homes, and came to Biinini Baths. Here, again, the bathing was mixed, and all seemed correct. It was a fine swimming bath, with all kinds of devices to eutertain the bathers. Adjoining the main bath was a, elightly smaller ov.t for the use of private parties, and with canvas screens rolled up ready to drop all round to make it private. The Americans do knW how to live, and I am beginning to believe in "private mterprise." We supped" aFTeroy's Cafe. This time Mr. and Mrs. Carmody were the hosts. Had a good time, and home to bed by 1 a.m. A valuable portion of the side frontage ; of this cafe is taken up by the kitchen, where passers-by may see tlie cooks at work and see what they cook.

Tuesday, 27ih April, 1909.—0n Saturday. morning went for a walk with Nawi), and -strolled Into a cemetery, which was beautifully kept. They have cut out all that junk about 'Dearly be loved" on the tombstones, aud, upon my word, it seemed more reverent.' Wphfc into a crematorium, and the proprietor took us all over, and explained things to us. I have long thought cremation the best way of disposing of the dead, and, after seeing the actual thing, am more than ever convinced that it is the way* Sunday morning walked through Elysium Park to the Pigeon Farm. There arc supposed to be 100.000 there. It takes two tous of grain a day to feed them.' They send out squabsyoung pigeons, three to seven weeks old —for the market, and very tasty they arc, too. All breeds are there. The farm is well situated on the banks of * the Los Angelos river—a small stream . now, but in winter a wide one, similar to Xe w Zealand rivers. They charged us 25 cents to go in. Next day round the town with Nawn in the morning. Had lunch at a vegetarian cafetara. The two of us had a great "blow out" for 63 cent*. The cafotarias are common here. I like the idea. When v'ju go in you pick up your tray, serviette, and table tools, and walk over to where the edibles arc, and, pushing your tray along the narrow counter, choose t"ie dishes -yOii want. When you get all you! require, you pass it in front of a girl, who looks over vour little lot and gbesj you a check. You carry your dinner to

in table, eat, drink. and bo merry, an pay ;ts \ou go out. It saves tipping and vuu tan «ee what you are getting We left -Sixth and Main, street depo at :U p.m. for San Pedro, the port o Los Angelos. Wo paid 50 cents eacl return—going one way and coming bad in i-mirely dillereut route, which land ■A us at Third street. It is 23 miles -v it is a little over one cent a mile A'e did the journey out in fit'tv minutexnd, a* we stopped a lot, we must bav' iveraged 40 miles an hour. Two Japan .•si 1 battleships, the lirst to ever vis' Sail Pedro, had arrived there that morn ng; they were the Ayo and Soyo. Tlr; »vere formerly llazau and Yariag, tha were sunk at Port Arthur—a pleasan sight for any Russians that may b< iround. San Pedro its plentifully sup plied with wharves. Not much ping. The war-boats lay inside a break water 2 miles 730 ft long. It looriec longer to me. Th's is a small town ibout the size of Timaru. It is laid out or miles, tor as we were on the trail rum San L'aulo to Poiut Finuin we saw iositj up iiumbenn«' streets in the Holds ■Vc went Jivy miles to Point Finnin there is a lighthouse there, and thej ire building iorts. We did a»t see the* alter, as a sea-fog came up, and we go 1 jack to Sail Pedro first car. The litUt own was en fete, and full of Jap sailors uid their countrymen who had conn iown to see them. They are making l ot of futis about our brown allies r jOs Angelos, giving them train and auto nobile rides and feeds. \\ v got back U jOs Angelos at 7 p.m., passing througt niles and miles ol Hat country, most o vhich is cultivated —oranges, potatoes iboU, eucalyptus trees, which lait.-i »ro\v well and are plentiful here, im land of the land-boomster is over th and. At night 1 went to the Simpsoi Auditorium, a two-tiered, semicircle shaped lecture-hall with a big orgai jehind the platform, and heard retirei \dmiral Rotiey Evans (Fighting Bou le is called, but I think he gave liimsel ,hat name) give a lecture on how )i .ook the American fleet from Hamptoi toads to San Francisco. It was a pleas nit two hours' talk in an after-dinue nanner on incidents prior to and during he voyage, and how he was invalidei tnd resigned the ctfre of the fleet t< Vdmiral Sperry, who took the ilee Ound the world. 1 enjoyed the talk nd I am with him when he advocate i fleet of twenty-four battleships fo lie Pacific The audience numbers ibout eight hundred. There was roo/. or lifteeft hundred. The charges for ad nission were 50 cents, one dollar, and lollar aud a-half. The Califomian mght to subsidise him and throw ope heir largest halls free to the public or I reckon his message is fraught wit-1 mportance to the people of the Unite< >tates in general, so Til forgive him hi •ccasioual "skite," and hope that th 'aliforuians will wake up soon. Thi Tuesday) morning at 10 o'clock Mr. J 3. Brink, a restaurant owner, called fo is with his 5900-dollar automobile, am i*e had a most enjoyable three hours pin round the suburbs and adjacoa owns. Wc went down one place, Orang Wenne. Pasadena. Well. I could no magiiic anything more beautiful. Ther> re thirty-one millionaires living there 'he architecture of the buildings, the arks around the houses, the luxuriant iowvrs. will never fade from my nernory, and 1 am satisfied that when hesc men who can afford the luxury of boosing their home residences come ere to live, from all. parts of the States his must ue earthly paradise.

Wednesday, 28th April, 1909.—1n the morning took out my ticket for New Orleans, via Grand Canyon and El Paso, including three nights' sleepers. It co;t 135 dollars for the two. I left Smith and Main streets at 1.30 p.m., and ar rived at the Alpine Tavern on Mount Lowe at 3.30 p.m.—soooft above sealevel. Part of the journey was on a cable car, the track of which is 3000 ft long, and the direct ascent of which is 1325 ft. Some part of the was 60 per cent. It is certainly a magnificent trip, but it was partly marred for 111 as the clouds were thick on top. Got a magnificent view from the Pintio Canyon of the flat where Pasadene.and Lo« Angelos lie. Left Mount Lowe at 4/»0 p.m. and arrived back at 6.20 p.m. Thursday, 29th April. 1909.—We Jert town at 12.40 for Long Reach. Went to Clark's Theatre then*, and met Maud Beattie, dressed well, and.looking splendid.

Frida/, 30th April, 1909.—Weill into the bath with Clark and L~, StayM in about two hours; lovely, water about 80 degrees. Ran from bath-house out into the surf. Great! Left Long at 2.10 p.m. Arrived at Los Angelos at 7.55 p.m. Left Los Angelos at 5 p'."i. Arrived at Venice at 5.45 p.m.—a »< v side resort with canals in imitation of Venice, only with banks covered with vegetation and flowers. Launches and gondolas ply for hire. Magnificent batii, auditorium, piers, skating-rink, wonderland (not open yet), and all kinds of sideshows and schemes for catching the nickel and dime. A fine beach, but 1 don't think they can have surf bathing, as there looks to be a strong undertow. There are some lovely residences around, and right round the bay I could sec towuships. Los Angelos and tsurroun 1higs are a wonderful place, and next time you come to America don't miss it. At night I went to a 10.15, 20, and 2f> cent musical comedy house, the Unique, on Broadway, near Sixth street. There were about three hundred people present, and they seemed to like what I thought was absolutely rotten. Our early waxwork ehows were line in comparison. I applauded in one place, when an usher came up and said, "Use your hands, please." Well, well. The audience. I must say, arc very orderly here. In fact, the people are orderly everywhere.

j Los Angelos, Saturday, Ist May, 1909. I This is what is called "Tag Day." People are stationed at every streetI corner selling labels, which you tie in | you r buttonhole. They cost 10 cents, 1 and I like the idea better than the coU i lection-boxes. The labels are signed on I one side by celebrities—Jim Jeffries, Adjiniral Evans, and the leading actors and 1 actresses. Bands play in the streets, , fellows singing and playing 011 lorries, i etc. They got 7500 dollars last yeav. Some people have bought and are weaving several tags, but they don't bother you if you arc wearing one. The weather here is beautiful. We leave hero iomorrow morning by the Santa l'e liu\ I have sent out trunks abend to New Orleans, and we a re-carrying grips futile next week. We arrive at Grand Canyon next Monday at 9 o'clock, Ivave there at 8.30 p.m.. arrive El Paso 011 Wednesday, slay there two or three days, arrive at New Orleans on Saturday or Sunday, stay there about tirev days, then to Chicago for a week, thenv to Buffalo. Quebec. Boston, New Vork, with a side trip to Washington, ete.. and expect to leave for Europe at th° end of the first or second week in Ju-f-. fo r London. Of course these plans are only approximate, and may be alteml according to circumstances.

Saturday, 2nd May. Loft Los Angeio.s on the Californian Limited from the Santa Fe station at 10 a.m. Through beautiful country. Orange and lemon proves for miles. Afterwards for hours through a sandy desert, between two low mountain ranges, nothing but a scrub growing sparsely. Very little humanity except people in connection with railways, or an occasional mine. Frand Cauyon of Arizona. Monday, 3rd May, 1000. Arrived here at midnight, and had n lovely breakfast in the El Tova Hotel, magnificently built in the rustic style, but with everv modern convenience, and this right in the desert and barren country and on the edge of the canyon. Wc left at 10 a.m. for a drive to Grand View, a fourteen miles drive, and uninteresting. Replace the pine trees with gum trees, and you have the Australian busa. Very little bird and animal life, and an occasional ant-hill. Lots of rocks similar to those overhanging ones in Sydney Botanical Gardens, where men sleep at night in summer. The views at the end of the drive were magnificent. Th<' i cleft in the earth is fifteen miles wide, with the river a mile below. The track* | I are difficult, and I didn't attempt thein.! We've nothing like them iu New Zcalland. Had our lunch out there, supplied | by the hotel and carried by the driver. I Thero is a hotel out there, but it ~.z dosed. Met some nice people on t ie coach. Have to call on a lawyer, Mr. Bressler, in New York. The Americans are companionable people alright. J won't attempt to describe the canyon. We returned to El Tova Hotel about 5 p.m. Afterwards went into the liopi Hotel, aii Indian house, built in the iiative style, two stories high, built Of stone. The architecture was crude, with \ery little light, except tile artificial electric, which looked incongruous. Plenty of curios for sale. The Indians gave dances. The men hollered out aud ended with a scream in a kind of rhythm, holding in their h-ind a bail on the end of a string, which was hollowed out and had some beads insi!«. Not edifying. Then some girls took a turn, accompanied by the men playing drums—flat-footed, miserable darlings. Thov evidently didn't like trouping, an-f if they <id their faces didn't show it. Afterwards two little Indian kids, about

five or six, imitated their elders. Of | course, we threw thvm nickels and dimes. We left by train at 8.30 p.m, md turned in. We arrived at Williams, md were side-tracked at 11.30 p.m. I En Route to El Paso, Tuesday, 4tii May. Left Williams at o.oS a.m. Passed arough more desert—dead cattle everyhcre. They did not get their regular iin last August, so it is eighteen lonths since they saw rain. Very few ocks of sheep, and the poorest 1 have ver seen. How they live is a mystery 3 me. We saw plenty of .Indians and lexicans wayside stations, who have uttery for sale. We passed one town >r all ihv world like a town in Paleslie—Hat roofs, and built of mud idobe). River-course all dry. We arved at Albuquerque, Sew Mexico, at j p.m. As we did not leave there until' i,20 a.m. we had a ''mooch" around. It j a town of 18,000. It has got a tram; .'slum, and we went for a ride out to ie old Mexican town. Very dirty and jry warm. We afterwards went to tie }lumbia Hall and saw a picture show. El Paso, Texas, Wednesday, May 5. Dirty town of 42,000 inhabitant 1 :, u«itly Mexicans, 1 should say. Great ace for consumptives, and they are aging war, per medium of a State jpartiuent, against the white scour;.*, e went into a store on the main street here doctors lectured on the subject, id all kinds of exhibits, including surcal ones preserved in bottles, and dia•aws wure shown. But 1 think they ivc a hopeless task here, considering le way the Mexicans live. Of that ion. In our hotel there are all natiouities—negroes and half-caste waiters, janish chambermaids (no savee Ineese), Chinese cooks, etc. Good car irvice. Thursday, Gth May.—Went into the >urthouse. Thv same old interrogating iry as to whether, in certain eventualies, they would "a true verdict tenjr." Everything serious enough, but it oked happy-go-lucky, as everybody noked cigar, pipe, Or cigarette, as too.t icir fancy. The judge looked to be bout thirty years of age. The sheriff isdained to wear a coat or vust. After inch we got on a car (5 cents a mile), tid in less than ten miutes were across le border, the Rio Grande river, into le town of Juarez, Mexico. The train ;ops when it gets over the bridge, and le Customs officer goes through the ir to see there is no contraband ox hinese on hoard, and tliv same business i repeated on re-entering American irritory coming back. What a mongrel >t of people, and what dirty, narrow Lreets. Hardly a decent store or office walked through the outskirts—eviently the poor part. Whole fa initio* ve in rooms about ten feet square iadc of adobe. The only light or ail iiey can get is by the doors, or an open ig on to the street. These rooms ua uilt around a common square or back ard, and are on to the yard. Tin Icxicans are a dirty, lazy lot, and n( listakv. They pay about one shilling week rent. llow they live puzzles me othing grows around El Paso exccpl y irrigation. They tap the Rio Grandt -'ith big canafe, and thus get the neees arv moisture, the owners of the lam raying for the use of the water by acre ige. All through Texas, from what j ;ould sec, wherever there is a stream o; mv kind, then; you will find an oasi? in the desert. It's a great thing for fhc country, and they seem to have it dowr to a fine point. Passing a gaol, a vcrj small affair, we were invited in. Tin guards looked like comedy soldiers, sin; the prisoners cadging money and cigar ettes, and selling little ornaments. A man who sold me postcards said thai he had been there twelve months nnc had received no trial, and didn't know I when he would. Several women wen conversing with the prisoners tbro'igl ithu bars, 'and giving them fruit am! ''tucker." It is a joke compared wit T r jour style of doing things. We went intr a Catholic church, a small place wiH | plenty of candles, altars, and worshin pers. We afterwards walked rouud Kir i better part of thtj town. We saw som< kids coming out of school. L—s Fvci'.l j came in handy, and we were taken owi I the jjehool" by three teachers, who eO»i<'. | speak very little English. Very dirty I school, scholars, and teachers. Plenty iof diagrams on the wall showing the I ill-eflWl* of nlsn nir-hivinl ln«.

Tory of Mexico. Got back to El Paso for tea. After darl; went for a stroll round the town. It was well lighted. Every eighteen yards, on both sides of the street, about twelve feet high, on lamp-posts, are enclosed are lamps. This is in the principal streets.

Ell Route, Saturday, Bth May, ISJO9.™ Desert, more desert, and then*more desert for a change. Warm and dirty riding. Arrived at San Antonio (population 70,000) at 7.30 p.m. Three hours' stay, so walked around town. Good ear service, splendid ceol drink. Plenty of niggers, and they seem to know their place. Colored labor. Plenty of picture 3hows. Color line drawn in them—one side white, other side black. One or two theatres open, playing stock. Went into a church, the service being in Span-, ish. Town well lighted, and narrow streets. Arches of colored lights across the principal streets. Left at 10.33 p.m. The country is getting much better looking and swampy. In fact, as we get near New Orleans the bush is very thick aud the groUnd evidently good soil, plenty of rice and cotton fields. Coons everywhere, some very black, even to the wliitcs CO of their eyes. Thcv seem happy enough. Wheu we saw a white man's home we were sure to *ce the shed where the coons aud their families reside. Saw plenty of turkey buzzards (vultures), especially 011 a horse. The train crossed the Mississippi on a ferry punt. The motive power was a small steamer locked to the side. Tire river was about half a mile wide, aud very deep. Arrived at Xew Orleans at (i.45 p.m., dusty and tired. | Xew Orleans, Monday, 10th May.

| Population of New Orleans 350.500. Big crowds about, and well-dressed. Coons' festival day. They all seemed holiday-making. We hired a carriage after lunch, aud for two and a-half dollars for two hours were driven around the old French quarter, the residential quarters, through the cemeteries (some magnificent tombs), the city park, Cus-tom-house, post ofliee. and county gaol. St. Louis Cathedral, and mint. Nigg-ir e | everywhere. To-night went out to West End outdoor party 011 the shore of Lakcl Pontchcstr.iin. All sorts of sideshows and a free vaudeville (very good) and 1 picture show in the open. Also a fine! bnml. Homo at 10 p.m. I

I Monday. 11th May.--Around town km I the morning, and afternoon tram-rides, land saw swell residential part. MagnifiI '"lit residences and grounds. Xew Oris here to stay. Saw the U.S.S. I Mississippi moored at the wharf. Plenty i of shipping, and the wharves along the river front—both sides—as far as the <\\e could r e aeh. At night "mooched'' around town. Cot wire from Johnnv*' : marked "Wellington. lOth May," at 10.44 p.m. I should have got it yesterday morning, but Cook's are not on the registered cable address here, as reference to their list will show you. !N T ew Orleans is marked with an asterisk, denoting correspondent. I wa* lucky to got Ihe wire, as it was.

Wednesday. 12th May.-Devoted this morning to this jeUer and packing up.l \Av are leaving this town at 7.10 p.m. t<»-day for Chicago. We expect to roadll there at !l.ir> to-morrow. Summed up, 1 would not like to live in this town. What with the Ilies and the niggers in the niirger quarters, ami the dirt of the •lews, in the part round the wharves it is like Whiteehapel. We won't be sorry to get out of this. L— in a little better. The noises in her ears are still troubling jher. It is spoiling the trip. She will not lay up. for Tear of missing something. (To be continued.)