Class _Xla2.L- Book .C8 fe Copyright N" COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT foreign flasbligbts H Collection of Xettera from JEurope # Copyrighted By Iv. M. CUTTING 1907 i LIBRARY of CON«a£SS, Two Copies RweiveC DEC 24 1 907 Oopyiitti!. tiury OLASSA XXc. No, COPY B/ i) ft ^1 n '^ 26 TO VIRGINIA LEWIS DALBEY, Whose magic wand created for me and my spouse, not only a carriage and prancing pair, but trains of cars, ocean liners, comfortable and beautiful hotels, art galleries and great Cathe- drals in which the best loved energies of the greatest artists and builders of all ages have been centered: This collection of notes is dedicated. MAY V. CUTTING. foreign f lasbligbts CHAPTER ONE OUTWARD BOUND May 15, 1907, Via Pennsylvania R. R.; Indi- ana, One Hour East of Terre Haute. Dear Papa: We have ridden into the sunshine, and the coach is warm; so there is no more shivering as there was this morning. Your apples look pretty on the window-sill, Mrs. Lewis has been reading Dickens' Christ- mas Carol to me. Virginia is engrossed in the Mettle of the Pasture. I have been looking out the windows at the green of the fields and trees. The boys (rather inappropriate for the man past his half century) are still grinning over their vacation. Leonard ate so slowly that his strawberry shortcake lasted until we were thro* our meal. We had soup (our choice of five 3 Foreign riasHll^Kts kinds j, white lish, roast beef, lamb chops, pota- toes (chipped, French fried or new creamed), asparagus, tomato salad, coffee and short cake, I hope we shall not eat much supper. The observation car is beautiful ! Great, easy willow, cushioned chairs, can be pushed about. A bookcase, with good books, is built on each side of the desk with its beautiful stationery. We have the free use of a stenographer and type- writer, and I would dictate to this red-liveried man if I had not been brought up never to dic- tate to anyone. The balcony must be delightful in hot weath- er, but I have my gloves on now to keep my arms warm. Lunch is called. I may add more later. You see eating is a big part of going to Europe. 9 :15 p. m.— We are waiting for the beds to be made. AYe discovered when we entered the din- ing car, that we had eaten only a lunch at noon, and must eat dinner at night, so we did our 4 Outward Bound best; but it was almost a case of craming. We'll have more for the fishes- I hope we shall not eat much tomorrow. There are the cutest little electric lights that pop out from a secret spring in the lower berth. I shall go to bed now and read myself to sleep. Good night— and lots of love for each of you at home. The time will soon pass when we shall be home again loaded with memories. I am sure I forgot to tell Fannie goodbye, and she was so kind to help me off this morning. Hotel Aster, New York, Maij 17, 1907. My Dear Ones: That makes you individual, doesn't it? I spent a few hours in Philadelphia. It did my heart good to find dear old Uncle Frank so werl and I had the most delightful call at Cousin Mary's. She took me all over her grand house, and out over the garden with its old trees and winding paths, bordered with box and old-fash- 5 Foreigjn FlasKli^Kts ioned beds of flowers of every variety. She was so cordial and inquired very particularly about each one of ' ' thee. ' ' At 5:30 Leonard and Dwight met me at the 23rd street dock, and we came to this beautiful hotel. It, in itself, is worthy of a long descrip- tive letter. We have an outside room with pri- vate bath— a pair of paper slippers is furnish- ed each day, and the sanitary wash-cloth is sealed at 212 degrees so the paper tells us. The as tor is the decoration of carpets, dishes, tumb- lers, wallpaper— everything. Even the ink-well from which I write is an astor. We ate our evening meal in the Louis XIV dining room with its beveled plate mirrors. Gren. Kuroki was being banqueted in the Wisteria room. The offices were swarming with the brown uniformed Japs. After an evening at the Hippodrome, where we saw a wild west show— lots of Indians, cow- boys—a regular circus with horse-back and bi- 6 Oxjit-ward Bound cycle riders, Arabian acrobats, trained seals and elephants. And then a play, Neptuns's Daugh- ters, who rise out of the water, blink the drops off of their eyelashes, and lure the young men who have been hired to entertain the summer boarders at this sea-side resort, into their brimy home. After all this we went through the ho- tel kitchen, where two hundred people are em- ployed to feed the six thousand daily guests. We saw quantities of beautiful bread and bak- ed apples just out of the ovens, dainty baskets of flowers made of candy, and a ship too— per- haps to compliment Gen. Kuroki. Two stories below ground, we went to see the immaculate machinery that lights and heats this great house. And down there we found another banqueting hall— a wine cellar furnish- ed with heavy dark tables and chairs, and en- closed at the far end with a replica of the great wine cask at Heidelberg. Foreig'n Flashli|^Kts May 19, 1907-Koing Albert We are one day east of New York. The watches are set up thirty minutes. Everyone is giad we are gaining time, for the meals come earlier. Breakfast at eight, bullion with ham and tongue sandwiches at eleven, a five course lunch at one, tea and lemonade with all kinds of cookies at four, a nine course dinner at seven, more lemonade and cookies before going to bed. I need not tell you the sea is calm. To be sure *'the ship steps up to meet you'' (quoted from D wight) ; but we are all good boarders. A remarkable thing is that Leonard, Dwight and I are the only passengers we know of, who have never been over before— many of them habitually— even as many as thiry-nine times. It is common for our fellow passengers to tell us they envy us our first impressions. And there is a certain joy in the newness of experiences. Our first surprise was the steamer letters. How precious those good wishes with their familiar 8 Outward Bound signatures were, when we were 'way out of sight of land. Virginia is practicing today, for the church services tomorrow. There is nothing that needs a doer but that she is the one to do it Mittwoch, den 22 Mai, 1907. I have copied the date from the picture pos- tal breakfast menu. We were wakened Sunday morning by a most impressive chorale played by the band. They also opened the church services with religious music. Dr. Johnson, of Balti- more, preached a beautiful sermon to a dining- room well filled with passengers. The singing was led by Mrs. Cummings ot Chicago. There are several talented people on board: Mr. Al- bert Kusner, a composer ; Mr. Bensinger, a por- trait painter; Mr. Palmer, a snow scene artist; Mr. Crane, a great ship builder. But the only passenger that really knows his worth is a tiny brown wooly dog who cost one thousand dollars. 9 Foreign FlasKligKts and has been taken aboard seventeen times. He wears his hair in a single braid between the ears, it and the ears are tied with long, pink ribbons. He always has the personal care of his foster-parents, which is an advantage over the children on board, who are all in the care of nurse maids. Monday night there was a dance on the star- board deck. The two sides were draped with the signal flags, and those of many nations ; and the ceiling was festooned with red, white and blue electric lights. The girls looked so pretty in their light dresses, and the music was so en- ergizing, that Leonard and I went to the deck below, where we w^ere alone, and there we— aged collectively ninety-one, took and gave our iirst dancing lesson- It was hard w^ork and I soon tired, so we went back to the ball-room and watched the others. How well the young Ger- man officers danced ! Always in perfect time to the music, but the Americans— some of them- TO Out-ward Bound just sawed wood or strolled at the most leisure- ly pace, with the arm rather nearer than is con- ventional in walking. We have such good orchestral music during our lunch and dinner, and a concert at ten o'clock in the morning. Between those times the musicians are making beds or waiting on the tables. I have been amused at each steward's admiration for his emperor expressed in his waxed mustache. No matter how thin the growth, it is carefully twirled up towards the eyes in true Wilhelm II style. Leonard and I made a tour of the ship this morning. We found the second cabin very clean and coii^'fortable— of course there is more motion aft than in the middle of the vessel ; but its dining-room is almost as beautiful in its walnut finish as ours is, in white and gold. The kitchens for both the first and second cabin pas- sengers seem equally tempting, and a steward aft was polishing the steel knives until they II Foreign FlasKlig^Hts shone— just as bright as ours. The Ospedale on the deck below was all that could be desir- ed in fresh air and well scrubbed floors and walls. There were only a few patients. If I had to travel steerage, I would hope to be a patient, that I might lie in one of those clean beds, and be cared for by the kind nurse. May 24:th. The post-card menu tells me what day it is en shore. This morning the picture was of Die Wartburg, which immediately suggested Martin Luther. As I lay awake in the early morning, I wish- ed I could describe the noises of the engine and creaking timbers as the ship rolled along. I went to the door and found some one polishing shoes —long before dawn. Then I remembered that when we went to bed at 11 :30, men were scrub- bing the passages. The working hours are surely very long. Everything is so immaculate. I have carried the same handkerchief for a 12 Oxit-ward Bound week— but it had tears of joy on it today. When we were at breakfaet, we saw— the Nekar! A gull, then four, tlien a dozen skirted out ship ! (There have been six days with no sign of life outside our own vessel!) They were scarcely gone when the cry of "Land! Land!" brought everyone to the railing. On the eastern hori- zon was a faint, cloudy outline. About noon, the engine stopped for its first rest— for we were really at the Azores. Gems of green set in the blue sea! The fields are like patch work sewed with hedges; and tlie houses are so white, nestling against the hillsides; and the cattle look so venturesome, grazing on their steep pasture— one advantage, they do not have to bend the neck much to reach the grass if they stand with their backs to the sea. A row^-boat floating the stars and stripes, and carrying Portugese sailors, three well dressed ladies (one of them w^as using a longnette) and a well shaven priest, brought us a can of cream 13 Foreign FlasHligHts and baskets of fish and flowers. They carried home with them dozens of magazines and a pouch of letters, which will be given to the first west bound steamer stopping there. Gihralter, May 2Sth. About three o'clock yesterday we landed on the pier here, and were received by great dele- gations of porters, fruit and post card venders and carriage drivers all determined to assist us. The conveyances are the quaintest little spider phaetons drawn by one horse. But the walk was short thro the city gate, (we were so glad to be putting our legs to use again) and up the narrow, crooked streets to the hotel. It is a queer adaptation of Moorish art in its mar- ble floors and tiled walls. The walls are nar- row with turns and a few steps up or down at the most unexpected places. As soon as we could find our way out of the queer halls, we were across the street, darting into the shops 14 Out-ward Bound one after another, perfectly bewildered with the laces and drawn work nailed outside the doors, and the embroidery and carved ivory in the shop windows. The Hindoo merchants are all persuasion, but are in business only for your sake, so will sell you anything for five dollars if you refuse to pay ten- Mrs. Lewis asked me to help her selct a Maltese lace collar— and it was for me! Wasn't she clever? I bought some embroidery from China and more from Japan, drawn linen from the Canary Islands, a black Mantilla from Spain, and a carved san- dal-wood fan— all in a little shop about twelve feet square. Shopping became such a mania that I bought two silk shawls after leaving land —threw the money and the merchant threw the shawls across the widening water. But speaking of Gibralter, we went to ride in the funny carriages this morning thro' the park where the flowers grow to look like giants of our home varieties. Indeed, they do every- 15 Toreign FlashligHts where. One entire house roof was covered with sweet peas, and another with geraniums. The houses are built of brick and covered with plas- ter. The governor's plain abode is patrolled every instant by three red coats; the other five thousand nine hundred ninety-seven are some of them patrolling the neutral ground. Mean- while, the black uniformed Spaniards pace their line with equal step (but the back bone is not so straight). Most of the English soldiers are perhaps at their barracks— beautiful gray stone, modern buildings— to the south of the peninsula where the cannon spread their mouths on every side to the open sea. That sounds very terri- ble, but in every crevice,, where a bit of earth may lodge on this mighty lion's rocky frame, are growing millions of yellow daisies— fear- less of all foes. And 'way up high from the top most point, the Marconi Mercury tells of incoming ghips by hanging golden balls aloft. But the gnarled olive tree interests me; and i6 Oxjit^vard Bo\ind even more, the fezed or turbaned Moor. How does he keep on his heelless slippers ? How much width is there in his enormous trousers? Who made the beautiful bag that is slung over his shoulder? He is all courtesy. He said ''Good- night" to us last night when we were return- ing from our lark. We passed a restaurant where we read the signs ''Married people of the rank and file only are admitted" and an- other "Beer will be served in the skittle al- ley." We were not tempted to prove our "rank and file" or hunt the "skittle alley. After wondering where we would "rank" in English society, we appreciated the courtesy of the Moor's "Goodnight." AVhen we reached our room, our chamber- maid was waiting for us in the hall. She ask- ed to serve us, and when we assured her we wanted nothing, she left us with a courteous "Goodnight." Here we are landed on the other side of the 17 Foreign FlasHligKts Atlantic and I haven't written you a word about the sunshine in the ocean spray, the sun- sets that trailed after us a great flood of gold, the moon-light that multiplies its ' strength a million times in a broadening path on the ocean. How I have longed for language to clothe those most joyous sensations! Now% I think of it, I haven't told of the school of porpoises jumping over the waves, and the tiny flying fish that really look like birds as they skip four or five times, (as you skip a flat stone) and then disappear below. But I must mail this. The call is ''All aboard for Tangiers!" i8 CHAPTER TWO TANGIERS T anglers, May 29th. A Moor in red silk embroidered coat and blouse (which name I shall give the garment covering the legs, for there must be at least two yards of blouse between the knees. If I were making one— or two, whichever may be the correct numeral— I should make a broad bag just the length from the waist below the bend of the knee. In each corner, I should cut a hole large enough for the foot and calf to pass thro'; then plait the top into a band fit- ting the waist. If I were rich, I would make it of a heavy soft silk; if not, of coffee sacking. This richly dressed Arab in fez and turban — the white cloth is wound around the bachelor's fez when he takes a wife— was the captain ot the steamer that brought us across the Straits of Gibralter and along the mountainous coast of Africa to Tangiers. We anchored a miie 19 Foreign FlasKligKts from shore, and then leaned over the railing; a half hour watching and listening to the high- keyed babel of the Arabs in the row-boats and the Arabs on the steamer, bargaining over the price of landing us. Such fun ! At last the ropo stairway was let down on the outside of the ship. The oarsmen of the boat to be loaded, hung tight to our stair platform, the baggage was carried dow^n and thrown in; we followed to the square platform, aimed well and jumped seaward with a sinking heart and a fluttering hope that it would sink into the boat instead of the ocean. Athree mile row— counting the ups and downs, over the crest and into the trough of each wave brought us to the pier— the only modern thing in Tangiers except our hotel. While on the pier, a merchant approached us, carrying on his back a bundle much like a good sized family's weekly wash. He threw it on the rough planked floor and untied the cor- ners. Then he shook before our eyes richly em- Tangiers broidered squares of cloth, finely wrought webs of drawn linen. He knew enough of our lan- ested, so he thought to tempt with a price of guage to say "$3000." But I was not inter- $15. This was for a marvelous bedspread show- ing months of careful toil. Leaving the merchant, we walked thro' the city gate where three white robed, wise looking custom officers sat cross-legged on a shelf out of the dirt, and ordered the best looking pieces of baggage opened for a merely formal inspec- tion. A further walk up the hill thro' narrow streets with many turns, stepping on the round- est of cobblestones and trying to avoid the mid- dle of the street which is slightly depressed and serves as the only sewerage system of the city; dodging droves of little burros, laden with sad- dle-baskets holding at least two bushels of char- coal, sand, brick, grain, barrels, ( three large ones or four small ones), driven by boys who yell "Ar— r— r— ah!" to urge the beasts on- 21 Foreign FlasUlis'Kts ward, and guide them to right or left by an in- flection of the voice; what seemed quite a walk, tho' it proved to be only two blocks, brought us to the hotel. Such a haven! Marble floors in black and white diamonds; and gliding over them, three silk-robed, slippered Arabs to serve us. Great high walls hung with hammered brass plaques, a balcony looking out over a bay as beautiful as the bay of Naples. Our rooms were over it. One of our party not knowing of the balcony, threw some water out of his window. A French gentleman and his lady were sitting below in the moonlight, probably "out-nighting" Lor- enzo and Jessica, when the water fell. We v. juld not understand the French language, but ges- ture and facial expression and color made th' man's thoughts clear. Apology seemed slow when only possible thro' an interpreter— but when the silver-tongued apology was empha- sized with frold, the Frenchman subsided. In- 22 Tan^iers ternational warfare had been imminent ! Virginia's room was on the street, just on a level with the roofs opposite. The people ot the house came out on the roof in the twilight. We bowed and smiled and waved at them. They stared and smiled and stared at us. They spent the night on the roof, and the street is so nar- row (one street is just the width of my arms akimbo), that Virginia really scarcely slept, fearing they would step thro' her window. Their houses do not have windows; they are built of brick, covered with plaster, which is white, or colored by rubbing on a pink or blue powder. The next morning at four o'clock the high pitched voices rose from the bay to our open window. By six, there was such a babel T could not sleep, so sat me down at the window to enjoy the activities that had begun two hours before. Several flat-boat loads of freight had come in during the night, as far as the shallow 23 Foreign FlasHlig^Kts beach would let them, and the business of un- loading was at its height. There were six men wading waist deep to a flat-boat of bricks. Each carried a basket full on his shoulders to the &hore and dumped them in a pile. Another fiat boat carried thirty-six steers. Each one of these was lifted by placing the end of a plank under the belly; then he was rolled down the inclined board into the water. He disappear- ed with a splash, came to the surface in a mo- ment, and swam ashore. One little boy, not more than ten, was driv- ing as many loaded burros with only his vioce to g*uide, and a stick to encourage them. This "Ar— r— r— r— ah!" called out by hundreds of drivers, is the commonest noise of the streets. It is accompanied by the tinkle of the brass cups carried by the water venders, who sell you a drink from a hair covered goat's skin. These men show their lack of ingenuity by holding the thumb over the mouth of the skin, instead 24 Tan^iers of using a cork from the trees "just over the way" in Spain. To us who use tons of coal, the fagot vender was a strange sight. Women carrying bundles of fagots as large as the arms could clasp, walk- ed in stooping posture, with the hands under the bundle on the back, fully eight miles from their country homes to the market. At evening, back they trudged, if they had made no sale, to return the next day— with better hope, I start- ed to say ; but hope is a stranger to those faces. In the market, too, was the scribe, painfully copying each character of the Koran. And with much more zeal was the story-teller— a single toothed, skinny man, whose eyes glared as he dramatically told the story of Mohammed; and regularly punctuated each exhaustive declara- tion with three beats on his real tortoise-shell timbuctoo. Then there was the snake charmer, who play- ed music to his sleek, wriggling companions. 25 Foreign FlasKlights Allowed them to bite his tongue, and with the poisonous blood that they drew, he lighted a fire by putting straw in his mouth; and the tlame and smoke that ascended to heaven saved his filthy body from the death that would come to unbelievers. But not all Arabs are filthy. The officers in the custom house and the dining-room in our hotel were exquiisitely groomed men. Their gold embroidered silk coats and blousy trousers, with the handsome sash wound around the waist, the leather embroidered great pocket that swings from the shoulder, the red fez or white rimmed turban, form a costume of good har- mony in color and outline. I was all in sym- pathy with Desdemona in her peculiar choice of a husband— but lo! when I came to Venice, our drapper little courier told us Othello was not a Moor— the romance was shattered! Yes, this same little fellow said Shylock never lived in Venice, and another waxed mustache told 26 Tangiers US the ball before the battle of Waterloo was a myth. So I shall believe as I prefer! But 1 think one of the handsomest of these Moors would have made a fine lover for Desdemona. Of course, not the common kind! Not one of those making doughnuts with his fingers and frying them in an old churn that has the end knocked out, and a pan of greece fitted in, while a boy sticks fagots in at the bottom. Not even the man that was hammering the patterns of crescents into the brass trays. No ! nor the mail carriers who walk fifty miles every day, carry- ing thegreat basket pouches on their backs, from Tangiers to Fez— a distance of two hundred miles. Certainly not the beggars sitting against the walls in the narrow streets waiting to die. But one of those speeding his beautiful black steed on the sandy beach— every movement of the horse showing strength and beauty, every line of the white robed rider showing alertness and decision. 27 Foreign FlasKli^Kts We met these horsemen when returning from a long ride thro' the Riff village and out to an old Roman bridge. The Riff is the home of the very poor. The land is covered with prick- ly pears all in pink or yellow blossom. The thatched huts are in scattered groups in this most inpregnable enclosure. Even we, who were so comfortably seated on our Spanish sad- dles, scarcely avoided some prickles. The Span- ish saddle has a back and two sides and a foot rest. You sit facing the mule 's left side. There are no wheeled conveyances in Tangiers. So much more engrossing were all these scenes from real life than the so-called theatre to which our dragoman guided us with his lantern in the evening. In a small upstairs room, a dozen men sat on the floor, four of them playing cards, and the others singing, their eyes cast heaven- ward or entirely closed, accompanied by a single timbuctoo. Our dragoman joined the singers, seeming to be perfectly familiar with 28 Tangiers the Oriental melody. For there was melody— minor, in common time. The other singers, we had seen on Tlie streets or in the bazaars- The fee of admission was a peseta, or twenty cents, and entitled us to a cup of very sweet black coffee. There were only five in the audience, so these men cannot live by singing alone. But night scenes are veiled from the tourist in Tangiers, by the very essence of darkness. Even tho' the moon may transform the bay into a sheet of silver, she cannot bend her beams to illuminate those narrow, crooked passage ways. 29 CHAPTER THREE SPAIN May 30th,— Bound for Cadiz. We are aboard the Barcelona— a beautiful yacht built for the Queen Dowager of Spain. It is Moorish in style. The ceilings of carved cedar in star and hexagon design, inlaid with blue and gold enamel. Arabic letters in blue and gold border the stairway, and a tiling of the same colors forms a dado around the walls of the upper and lower cabin. There are three suites of rooms furnished in blue and tan and red, respectively; and a great marble tub is in the Queen's bathroom. It seems the Queen does not enjoy the sea, so this exquisite piece of workmanship is in the public service. Cadiz— Friday, 8:30 a. m. We go to ride in thirty minutes. If people are not too sociable, I'll have that much time «.vith you. It is pleasant to be in a party, but I 30" >pair\ cannot always write when I want to. This is a very congenial party. People of means, but no flummery— just sensible as you and I are- Our conductor is so helpful— calls us in the morning, explains the money system, has good, airy rooms reserved for us at the best hotels, looks after all the baggage, interprets the lan- guage—we haven't a care. But you are saying "Hey, there! your time will be up and you haven't told us a thing." We are here at the holy season of Corpus Christi. The streets are festooned with flo-vrers and all the city is in gala attire. There was a bull fight yesterday in honor of the day. Two of our party went. But we preferred to sit in a palm shaded square and watch the peo- ple. There were a few ladies in modern dress and last year's hats— they turned up instead of down. There were ever so many exquisitely diessed children— as elaborate as the big dolls in Field's show window- all over lace, embroid 31 Foreign FlasKligKts cry or drawn work, not a simple dress among them. The nursemaids looked like ladies, but wore wide embroidered aprons. I have decided all Spainiards are beautiful. The bed rooms are full of mirrors so they must know how they look. I took care to notice one child's hat yester- day, so I could tell you about it. It was a broad, lacey affair, and had on it two large bunches of grapes, one purple and one white, two large red roses on long stems, and one white one, and the foilage of rose leaves. The child wearing it was not over five years old. All the little girls had black curls— no! I did see one whose hair was crimpy. (I saw a baby in arms with hair in curl papers.) This hotel is built like the Palace of San Francisco. There are great palms, a foot and a half in diameter, in the court- What puzzles is, did they build the house around the palms, or do the palms grow as fast as a castor-bean? 3^2 Spain We went to the cathedral this morning where Murillo's last painting:, the Adoration of St. Catherine, is over the altar. It was while painting this picture, that the artist fell from the scaffolding, and died two months later from the injury. Then we went to the bull ring where the floral decorations are not yet withered, or the blood stains in the arena yet dried from yesterday 'f^ slaughter. There were "only" five bulls and five horses killed yesterday. Usually there are six bulls and as many horses as possible. We went into the six pens and heard more than we wanted to about the fasting and tormenting. I wonder whether 'Hor" means bully-ing? The streets are clean— (women scrub the pavement) and ^ narrow only fifteen feet wide. Leonard stepped it. The houses are four or five stories high, with overhanging windows and graceful iron railings. As the houses line with the street, they, themselves, 33 foreign FlasKli^Kts shade the street every hour but midday. There are many open squares where seats are plenti- ful, and there is always the open court indoors, so the people spend many hours under the sky. Llany women on the street are wrapped in gaily embroidered crepe shawls and wear a flower in their hair. At church every woman wears her black dress and mantilla. Somebody 's sweetheart lives over the way. We passed the lover standing at her window as we left and as we returned to the hotel yesterday. He must have been there an hour. This morn- ing the lady-love was at an upstairs window, but he stood on the pavement delivering his mes- sage wdth as much ador as before. These narrow streets educate the horses to back v/ell. The first carriage to enter a block has the right of way, and any others must back out. The mule, and his kind, are used here as in Tangiers to carry everything. We saw one this morning that was apparently bedecked 34 Spain with flowers. Drawing nearer, we found him to be the vegetable carryall; and the skill with which the measures and scales were adjusted, and the harmony in colors of the fresh foods proved the vender to be a mechanical and ar- tistic genius. The cows and goats are driven from door to door and deliver their milk in person to the purchaser. The market has all kinds of supplies: laces, pottery, shoes, foods— all spread out on the ground. A merchant seems to have his entire stock within a four-foot square. Seville, May 31. Four hours' ride brought us from Cadiz. On each side of the track, for miles out of Cadiz, the ground is covered with trenches. In the far distance we saw what we supposed to be the white tents of a soldiers' camp; but when we approached we found them to be pyramids of salt. Men were chopping out pieces with axes. 35 Foreig'n FlasKlisKts The trenches were for evaporating the sea water. The higher ground, for miles and miles, is in olive orchards. Frequently we passed bare fields where funnel shaped piles of red earth, like chocolate ice-cream, formed rows in every direction. Those w^e learned, covered the stumps of olive trees; this care renews their fruitfull- ress. For railroad fences, the long leafed cactus is planted. At every wagon-road crossing, a wo- man was holding a chain across the road as we passed. We soon came to her humble dwell- ing, and there was always a washing hung on her cactus fence. Leonard and I were in the compartment with three— I was going to say foreigners, but we were the foreigners— a Spanish gentleman, and the French minister to Tangiers and his wife. I remembered the Frenchman's face— I had seen him riding a beautiful dappled gray horse in Tangiers, and my mule driver told me who 36 Spain he was. At the first station, he bougth a bag of boiled shrimps, and urged ns to partake— the motion explaining the language. We did; but what could we land-lubbers do with those shelled fishes with heads and tails defying all ingress! Our host laughed at our dilemma and showed us how to remove the delicate armor and find the luscious morsel. When the train stops, a counter on wheels, passes the car windows. From it you may buy fruits and drinks. Yes, morel Even live chickens ! From another, a cart that looks like a clothes-horse on wheels, you may rent a pil- low. There are no porters or peddlers as on our trains. At every station a company of gentlemen and ladies were waiting to greet our French fellow traveler and his mfe, and bid them "God Speed." Many other passengers stepped out to walk about during the five minutes stop. Then the bell rang, or a horn blew, passengers took 37 Foreig'n Flaslili^Kts their seats, guards fastened the doors, and we were off— without any whistle or sizzle. Soon the Spaniard, with eyes dancing, point- ed out the window shouting "Torros, torros!" True, we were passing a field where a great herd of long, sharp horned black bulls were grazing. We smiled and nodded "I under- stand." But we wanted to give him a thunder- ing oration on that cruel pastime of his nation. This hotel is so beautiful. It is built around three gardens of palms and vines and playing fountains. The floors and stairs are of marble —so cool and clean. But, oh ! it is such a laby- rinth, and no one but the hall porter in the of- fice can understand English and direct you to your room, which is always on the other side of some other court. Before breakfast we were out for a walk, down the street of the Serpent, passing men's clubs and beautiful homes. One that was most at- tractive was the house of a bull-fighter's wid- 38 Spain ow. He had been a reckless man, and was hurt many times, and at last killed by liis would-be victim. The heads of all the bulls that had injured him, were mounted and hung on the walls of the entrance, all around the court (where they seemed inharmonious with the rest- ful freshness of trees and flowers and playing fountain), and, more appropriately, in the stables where the sleek horses stood at their stalls. We found the town hall where hangs an immense painting of the Emperor of Moroc- co handing the keys to O'Donnell, an Irish leader of Spanish troops, who captured Tetuan about a hundred years ago. After breakfasct, the Pillars of Hercules, where thirty-four thousand people were burned during the Inquisition, better prepared us to "see the twenty unfortunate horses standing in the bull-ring, waiting for tomorrow's gory death. Not even the auctioning of their hot flesh to the hungry poor, as is done with the muraer- 39 Foreign FlasKligKts od bull, can excuse the horse's torture. A sur- gical room finished in white tiled walls and ceiling, and equiped with shining instruments, awaits the use of an injured matedor; and an exquisite chapel is next it, where he may re- ceive the last sacrament. The walls of this city were built of mud by the Moors about 900. Ten centuries, instead of wasting them away, have only made them more enduring, for now they seem to be one solid rock. One of the street sights is a tiny burro, pulling a wagon loaded to the verge of tippling with cork. The trees are native here. The cork is their bark and is shed every seven years. Man aids by cutting the bark down opposite sides and around the top and bottom of the trunk and the large branches. An old tree is a very gnarly sight for the "joints" are so large. The railroad tracks are bordered with piles of cork bark as we see lumber piled in our country. But when I saw these burros hauling 40 Spain their loads along the banks of the Guadalquiver, I wished they would jump in, and let the cork carry them. Great loads of yellow straw look- ed like enormous turtles walking along the country roads. They, too, had two pairs of legs that certainly belonged to a burro, just visible underneath. But back to Seville : The Alcazaris, the won- derful Moorish masterpiece of this city. It was used by Charles V. and has his coat of arms in many rooms. But he did not mar the Arabic writing repeated millions of times around the doors and windows "There is no other conquer- or but God." The children's nursery, too, ia just as the Sultan's children played there, with the playing of the fountain to make music for them. But the garden is the most beautiful with its palms and orange trees. One orange tree bearing fresh green leaves, was planted by Peter, the Cruel, six hundred years ago. The House of Pilate is interesting if it is a 41 Foreign FlasHligKts replica of Pilate's house, as the Duke of Me- dina, its builder, claimed for it- It is used, now, for a dormitory during Holy Week, when the city is full of pilgrims. Speaking of Holy Week, reminds me of the celebration here at Corpus Christi. In this city only, on all the earth, a sacred dance is a part of the worship, three times during the year. Little boys in Philip III. costume, of white and red, with plumes hanging from their hats, play castanets and sing while they step with the orchestral music as if dancing a minuet. All this was within the iron railing that encloses the altar and organ, which occupies the middle of the cathedral. The archbishop and forty priests conducted the service which preceded the dance. The congregation knelt. A long sermon follow- ed, and was listened to attentively by the men standing erect, and the women, in black dresh, and mantilla, sitting on the bare marble floor, or on chairs they had carried with them; for 43 Spain there are no pews in the churches. Murillo's St. Anthony is the gem among the paintings of this magnificent structure, for the church is an architectual masterpiece. Adjoining the cathe- dral is a square pile of stone towering three hun- dred feet above the city. It was built by the Moors for the priest's call to prayer. The Span- iards have added enough structure to support twenty-five bells which blend so sweetly that they did not seem loud even when we were in the height of the tower. The ascent is made by an inclined plane which folloAvs the four sides of the tower. It really is an easy climb, and your shoes do not grow too short when you are com- ing down. A few steps bring you to the Murillo mus- eum- One long room is devoted to his paintings. The best known are the Concepcion and the Madonna of the Napkin. There are some queer paintings on boards in another room. One of Christ rescuing souls from Purgatory, which 43 Foreign FlashligHts is symbolized by a tiger's mouth. It is a night- mare ! Then there is a collection of Roman sculptures unearthed in Italica only a few years ago, A Diana of the Hunt has only the hands missing. There are relics of the Visigoths here, too. This is an old world! Yesterday, when I saw the tomb of Columbus in the cathedral, borne by the four women (they represent Cas- "What an infant I am." Today, I see these Roman carvings and think "What an infant tile, Arragon, Leon and Navarre), I thought Columbus was!" Sunday night, 11 p. m.— We have just been for a walk on the plaza, where all the people are out having a good time. The water carrier is busy selling drinks from the bag on his neck. News boys (of sixty surely) are crying extras that tell of the bull fight in Madrid. But best of all, the little girls are dancing such a pretty game, something like King William. Each one has a pair of castanets which she knows how to 44 Spain use, and she swings her feet and tosses her head with the most easy grace while she joins all the others in sonor. 45 CHAPTER FOUR THE MOSQUE AND ALHAMBR.A Cordova, June 4, 1907. I am sitting in the writing room of the Suis- se hotel looking out upon a court of flowers. The gardener has just called me to hand me a pink rose which I have put in my hair. The air is cool and balmy, but there is one draw- back to perfect harmony— that is a blind-fold- ed mule hitched to a pole and made to tramp round and round all day long to pump watev to supply this hotel. We saw several such con- trivances (well, man and mule) near Seville for irrigating the gardens. It seems hard on ihe poor blinded beast. The four hour ride from Seville here yester- day passed less wearily than in our humid cli- aiate. It was hot, but so dry we did not notice it much, and were diverted part of the way by 46 TKe Mosqxje and A-lKambra a Spaniard who thrust himself into our com- partmeut as we pulled out of the station. As we could not understand him, he showed Leon- ard a newspaper, pointing to the words, "Bandi- to Murderetto." Leonard met him again in the evening and learned thro' an intreperter that a bandit, who had defied the authorities for two years, had just been captured and murdered. Our fellow traveler was rejoicing with the na- tion. As soon as we reached the hotel, we rushed for a drink out of the earthern bottles that stand about everywhere. What was our sur- prise to find the water so cool ! It was the first cool drink without ice since leaving America. The vessel is so porous that the soup plate plac- ed beneath is full of water. I realize that the newness is wearing off- I did not jump out of bed every few minutes when I heard passers all night, to see how they looked ; whether the burro was carrying a house 47 Foreign FlasHlig'Kts or a brickyard; whether he was driven with a bridle, or by pulling an ear to guide, or pull- ing the tail to stop the beast as they do in Tan- giers— and throughout Spain as far as we have seen. When I heard a bell and the clatter of little feet this morning, I knew it was a herd of goats being driven to the consumers' homes to be milked. When we went to walk after nine last night, we passed a drove of Nannies delivering their milk in person. 2 p. m.— It is delightfully cool here in the writing room and blistering hot in the sun. Dwdght thinks the foot Avashing custom among orientals is most sensible— nothing else could make one so comfortable. There is a foun- tain—or more than one— outside these old mosques, where the Mohammedans bathed be- fore entering to worship. The mosque here was built in the seventh century— a marvel of beauty— eighteen thousand pillars support double arches. The pillars were brought here 48 TKe Mosqvie and AlKambra by the Arabs from the Byzantine empire. They differ in detail— it is said there are no two alike— but have the same effect as you look to the front, to the right, to the left, and so on. The capitals are similar to the Corinthian. The arches are of red and white stone, the ceil- ing is carved and inlaid cedar. There is beau- tiful lacey carving in alabaster around \the doorways, and exquisite mosaics with every pos- sible pattern are used. The architects cam? from Egypt and Persia. One circular domed chapel is still intact We noticed the worn path in the marble floor made by the bare foot- ed worshippers as they circled the room read- ing the inscription on the wall, "There is but one God and Mohammed is his phophet." The mosaic work here, wherever the original has been revealed, is the finest of any public building. Our courier held a candle on a long pole so we could see the coloring and workman- ship. Surely they were a rarely gifted people. 49 Foreign Flashlights When the Mohammedans lost power and the Christians over-ruled the land, it was sad for Moorish art. The Catholics built a cathedral in the midst of the great expanse, spoiling tiie" symmetry made by the continuous columns. This cathedral seems out of place. The choir i;i very rarely beautiful of itself; carvings in high relief from the life of Christ and the old testament are on each seat. The treasury has jeweled chalices and crosses in many designs to be used in service. So rich are these jewels that they were stolen in war time, but have since been replaced. There were many black slabs of marble marking the burial places of the judges of the inquisition. I trust the color was selected to signify condemnation. We walked from the mosque out on an old Koman bridge over the Guadalquiver, built in thirty-seven B. C. and still in good condition. The Arabs built a fort on the far end of the bridge. 50 TKe Mosque and ALlKambra Keturning to the liotel, we passed a large stone building whose only visible entrance was an opening a foot square on a level with the pavement. A bell rope was there to call the porter. Those who enter there are the babies who have no other home awaiting them. With- in are the good sisters of charity who devote their lives to these inocent weelings. 51 CHAPTER FIVE THE ALHAMBR.A Granada, June 6, 1907. A day spent on the ears, leaving Cordova at six— a two hours' wait at Bobbadilla, and we arrived here at four-thirty. The ride w^as thro' beautiful country. Still the olive groves, fields of grain, and the snow topped Sierra Ne- va das in sight the last few hours of the way. The drive from the station to the Washington Irving hotel thro' a dense elm forest, six hun- dred feet above the town, was the most restful experience, after spending ten days in a white, treeless country. This forest is said to have been planted by the Duke of Wellington. He aided the Spaniards and was given miles and miles of territory in this region In return. These trees are only a few feet apart and tower high up the mountain side before the branches in- terlace, forming a bower everywhere. They are 52 THe AlKaxnbra hung with red and yellow (Spanish colors) elec- tric light globes at night. The cascade falling down the mountain side glitters over the color- ed lights. It is truly like fairyland, floor of vines- The rooms below open upon a The Washington Irving is a quaint hotel. Theire are no door-knobs, but old-fashioned latches. The door hinges are metal caps like those used to put out a candle. They swing upon a bent metal pin that is fastened to the door-jamb. Our window looks out upon a level garden Avhere fountains play. We cross the street three times a day to sit at a long table spread under one of the many bowers, made by the Duke of Wellington's elms. We walked to the Alhambra, or red palace, tliis morning. This was the summer palace of the Sultan, and is a series of pilliared courts and exquisite lacey wall decorations, with foun- tains or baths in every room— always running v/ater. At the entrance, the gate of justice has 53 Foreign FlasKli^Kts the open palm outlined on the keystone to symbolize fair dealings. In the court of myr- tles, gold fish were swimming in the big open square of water. The mosaic tiling and inlaid ceiling of pearl and cut Steele show wonderful designs, and skill in carrying them out. Here, as everywhere, the Catholic kings have left their mark— plastering over the w^^k of the Moors because they were infidels. The paintings or- dered by Ferdinand and IsaDeila and the bou- doir for her, are graceless in comparison with the work of the Moors. It is an interesting fact, that, where the Oatherdals stand, the mosques stood before them., and the Roman temples dedicated to pa- gan gods stood first. The ground evidently is set apart as a place of worship. We stood on the spot where Ferdinand and Isabella received Columbus after his first voy- age—for the Alhambra was captured January "J, 1492, and used by the Spanish for a royal' 54 TKe AlKaixibra palace after that time. And until this day, on the 2nd of January, the people worship before an altar erected at that time, and the maidens ring a bell all day long and dance on the watch tower so they may marry within the year. This watch tower gives a sweeping view of the sur- rounding country. It is fully fifty feet square, and, in Moorish times, a fire was built on it to signal to friends when the foe molested. The towers of the Infantas and the Sultana are beautiful prisons indeed, and so high yoa would think escape impossible, but it wasn't. (Read Washington Irving 's "Alhambra.") The same exquisite carvings and Moorish arches are in the Generaliffe. And the grounds are a work of art— terrace upon terrace A^th every design in well trimmed box, and quanti- ties of running water and pools of gold fish. We climbed to the tower ; it made the Alhambra Avatch tow^er look low; and when we reached it, we saw way above us, the ruin of another tow- 55 Foreign FlasKlig'Kts er built for protection from the common enemy —man. How they ever ascended such steeps \vith stone and mortar! But the view! It was 5>o beautiful looking over the valley, and across to the snow covered Sierras! Coming home we met a funeral procession. Four boys were carrying a baby a year old in an open pine box. The child was imbedecl and bedecked with flowers and crowned with an artificial wreath of orange blossoms. The box swung on two long towels. Eight men fol- lowed in the procession. There were no women. Of another period in history is the Cartuja Convent which contains horrible pictures rep- resenting the torture of the Catholics in Eng- lo'nd during the reign of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. A wonderful echo is heard in the Re- fectory, and a painting there of a cross is so realistic that birds are said to fly in the window- to light on the nails painted in it. The Sacristy in this building is very beautiful. The walls 56 The AlKambra are of Sierra marble as exquisite as fine mosaic in white, chocolate and touches of blue. The doors of this room are ebony inlaid with moth- er-of-pearl and ivory. The floor is inlaid mar- ble. One lone monk occupies the building now since the order has been supressed, and with it, the secret of making the famous Chartreuse wines. Beggars swarmed around the door and followed our carriage. We passed the gypsy quarters— veritable dwellings in the sides of the mount aiin. But the caves were dug out by the Moors centuries ago, when this was a flourishing city of five hundred thousand, before its surrender to Ferdinand and Isabella. The gypsies ran by the carriage beg- ging us to buy trinkets of polished brass. At last the guards, who had walked beside us throughout the gypsy region, drove them off. The police system in Spain is thorough. We noticed police armed with revolver and sword patrolling the plaza during the band concert 57 Foreign FlasKligKts at Cordova. From two to six armed soldiers of at least eight years service ride on every train to guard the passengers. This beautiful, fairy-like park is studded with white coekaded, mounted guards and myriads of foot soldiers; and on our drive the soldiers walked several miles by our side. We shall be sorry to leave the Alhambra. Spain seems very near to us when we think how Christopher Columbus discovered us, and Wash- ii-igton Irving discovered its greatest treasure. The Alhambra covers 2678 by 730 feet of ground and the walls are about six feet thick and thir- ty feet high. The elevation is 2600 feet above the sea. I can not conceive a height where more restful, beautiful views abound. Tomor- row morning when we are rising at five o'clock t'> make an early train, the Alhambra bell will ring, as it does every morning, to tell all the people that the irrigating trenches are open to freshen the land. This water system is an- 58 THc AlKambra other of the wonderful works of the Moors. The water here is so pure and there are many great wells— even on the highest elevation. On the Catholic birthday here— January second—one oi' the celebrations is to clean out the enormous cistern of the Alhambra, one hundred and lifty feet across. This cistern too, was built by the Moors. From Granada to Ronda was a cool ride in a saloon car, which made it possible for our en- tire party of fifteen to be together. The car is divided into two connecting rooms with seats around the walls, and a long table down the middle of each. You look out of the window opposite you, and hold on to the table to keep from sliding off the seat, which is too high for any but the longest limbed to reach the floor. In the corridor cars, where compartments are reserved for senoras, a man is fined two pesetas if he is found in such a compartment, even tho' 59 Foreign FlasHli^Kts he is talking to his own wife. A guard walks on the outside ot the car. Ronda was the victim of an earthquake in some remote past, and the scar — a chasm three hundred fifty feet deep— is a vivid reminder of it. But the Romans bridged it over, and the citizens accept all past history without a quiv- er of appreciation— to judge from their count- enances- Why, I, myself bargained for some lace at the market, which is a mere place on the ground, under the shade of some wall— I say, I bought this lace quite forgetting the earthquake and the Romans. An old coleseum, all built of stone, is no long- er useful in that capacity, but is considered a very good bull-ring. The mosque has been ap- propriated, too, and added to, and is now a cathedral. Thus do three words, coleseum, mosque, bull-ring embody the political history of that now almost unknown city. Like nil Spain, this obscure town is awake 60 THe ^IKambra to the possible needs of the king. A company of about five hundred soldiers passed to mar- tial music, on their way to mass. We followed. It was a sight to see so large a body of men kneeling in worship, and standing in at- tention to the sermon. A common sight here is the women scrubbing. They kneel in a box that has two side removed. We have not been in a cobwebby or dusty spot in all these pal- aces. The floors and stairs are scrubbed every day and ''every day" includes Sunday. As we walked thro' the streets we saw every kind of work of the day before— Avomen scrubbing the pavements at the entrance to the court of the house, or frying doughnuts on the streets, or selling vegetables and laces. Men were sawing boards and sewing harness. And in the fields were the harvesters— as many as forty in a group, using the hand sickle to gather the grain. They leave their homes in the villages and camp in the fields (for there are few farm 61 Foreign FlasKlig'Kts houses) until the task is finished. Their pay is twenty-five cents a day, and they board themselves. The region between Ronda and Algeciras is one of the most beautiful! Much of the way, our train hugged the mountain side follow- ing the course of the Guadiara river. Its banks were bordered with small palms and lux- urant oleanders in full bloom- There wt .^ a few thatched huts scattered miles apart and seeming to hide in friendly curves of the hill- side. We went from Algeciras to Gibralter across the five-mile stretch of water in a little steam- er. It seemed good to see the old rock again. The streets have grown wider and the cooking is better than it was two weeks ago. SOUTHERN ITALY Prinzess Irene.— North German Lloyd. We stood and watched the old rock as we 62 TKe A.lKambra steamed away, and recalled the sensations of entering the fort, seeing the picturesque Moors and the patient back-laden burros for the first time, and the beautiful drives everywhere. As we came into the Mediterranean, the familiar pic- ture of the rock presented itself. The real British lion! On Tuesday night, the promenade deck was a picture of colored lights and flags of all na- tions, and pretty girls in prettier dresses, and the band played and we whirled to the music. Leonard was not afraid to dance in the glare of the improvised ball-room— instead of on the dark deck below as we did on the Konig Albert. Last night at dinner a concert was announced for the Sailors* widows and orphans to be giv- en at 9 o'clock. It was very impromptu, but the talent of the passengers filled two hours with most excellent productions. Miss Marie Bissell of New York sang several numbers ; Mrs. Dampman of Reading, Pa. gave a part of a very 63 Foreign FlasHligKts fine lecture on Rome. It was most instructive and the language as beautiful as grand music. A lady read a poem "Drifting, My Soul To- lifting program, the Chairman, Madam Cap- day is Far Away," etc. To close this most up- piani of New York, a woman of most unique and commanding presence, told us of a trip in a balloon way above the tree tops in Milan. She weighs two hundred pounds and has a heavy voice added to that, but in spite of it all, this basket into which she accidently stepped, lifted her— or in her own words, ''the earth went down from her." It was very graphic and her audience were shouting with laughter at her tale of distress, as she, in mimicry, held to the ropes and careened in the wind which blew her about. The collection was over $100.00. If I could keep time to the music with my pen, you would receive a good marching letter, for this is the hour of the morning concert. The bugler on this steamer plays a very sweet 64 SoutKern Italy- melody to call us to our meals. On the Konig Albert it was the usual trumpet call om^. We are crossing the southern shore of Sar- dinia—have been since early this morning. It is a big island in the Mediterrean, if not on the map. The southern shores are not cultivatea, but look rocky and barren. Naples— Hotel De Loudres, June 14, 1907. If I were to tell all about the Captain's din- ner last night, it would fill many pages— so you must picture the flags, bonbons, tiny boats with sailors on them, coat of arms of diiierent nations. Then think of the guests in their very best clothes bedecked with caps and flags of every variety, and after the feast, the dark- ened room and parade witli the illuinated ice cream— the clapping and laughing and play- fullness as of little children among the guests. After it, another dance filled the last night on board. 65 Foreig'n FlasKlig'Kts This morning, we were on deck at four o 'clock to see the Bay of Naples as we entered it. Ve- suvius is not the perfect cone of the familiar pictures. That is explained by the loss of eight hundred feet which fell into the crater in April of 1906; when there was an eruption that kill- ed five hundred people. There was a long wait in embarking, but everything was interesting— not least of which was the lifting the trunks from the steamer— eleven at a time— and swinging them into fiat boats. Three steamers came in this morning. There was truly an invasion of Americans. Af- ter dodging trunks on men's shoulders with our heads, and empty trucks with our feet, and buying a cameo of a station boy; we were tak- en in carriages to the museum. We kept our eyes open— reading every sign and translating by the aid of the window display, studying faces and costumes. The most unique thing is the ornament on the harness of the horses. 66 SoutHern Italy A silver or nickle harp, cupid, horse, dog, goat, or any other design, sometimes a foot high, is fastened to the saddle of the back band. When it rains— as it did this morning— the driver takes off his coat to protect his harness, and he, himself, gets wet. The commonest vehicle is a fiat cart from six to fifteen feet long bal- anced on two wheels eight feet in diameter. The load is balanced to a nicety to keep from lifting the dwarfed mule off the ground. Oxen and small horses are hitched together to some carts. One horn of the ox is sawed off to keep from stabbing the horse. The museum contains collections from Rome, Pompeii and Herculaneun, which had been buried for hundreds , almost thousands of years. The frescoes, mosaics, pottery, bronze lamps, horse-shoes, fish hooks, braziers, and statues from Pompeii better prepared us for the visit to that city in the afternoon. But nothing ex- cept a walk through the streets, could take 67 Foreign FlasKligKts US back those eighteen centuries to the city of chariots and drinking fountains whose story is told in stones worn by wheel and hand and lip. The Pompeian red has not lost its rich- ness in all these years. The frescoes delight the eye in form and color. The designs in themselves tell the story of a playful people in their dancing nymphs. Many activities are read in these beautiful wall decorations— racing, gathering grapes, compounding chemicals, weav- ing cloth, sacrificing the bull to Apollo, etc. The mosaic floors are as exquisite in design and in as good preservation as if they had been made only yesterday. The dog in the ves- tibule of the tragic poet is really startling to come upon, so real is he- There he is chained in black and white mosaic, but he looks as if he would like to chew you up. In the museum are the casts that have been made by pouring plaster into the ashen sepulchre of the bodies. A dog in writhing agony seemed more awful 68 SoutKern Italy than the people. We went to the Arcade this evening. It is four blocks of store buildings arched over and paved like a great mansion. Our bedroom floor here is of hexagonal tile without rugs except by the beds. This too, is a beautiful hotel. A notice in four languages invites guests to make suggestions to the managers whereby they may mprove in any way in the service, or in pleas- ng the guests. I might tell them the elevator s small, but I shan^t. Mt. Vesuvius.— June 15, 1907. We had a most interesting six mile drive thro' the old town of Naples (105l B. C.) to the train that carried us up the mountain. The people live in the streets. They were boiling potatoes, frying doughnuts, rolling chocolate, hanging out washing along the walls of the houses, and across the pavement, and combing 69 Toreig'n riasHlig'Kts their hair. Many, many were inspecting scalps. And as we drove thro' all this, we could often peep thro' a vestibule to a beautiful court of flowers and palms which are in the homes of the rich, while the rooms on the outside of the house— on the street, are used by the much less favored. The ascent up Vesuvius is made by cog rail- way. On either, and sometimes both sides ot the track is the mud thrown out last year. For eleven days the mud poured out of the crater, partially burying a village. The valley down which it flowed has been walled across with twenty-five or thirty high stone embankments, to keep the mud from being washed down upon the village below with every rain. The soil is very fertile and not a weed did we see, but acres and acres of gardens where figs, grapes corn, beans, potatoes, tomatoes were planted with such precision and economy of space, that the black soil is scarcely visible. We lunched upon 70 SovitKern Italy the mountain at the upper terminal of the rail- way above the clouds, and had the most lusc- ious fresh oranges served on the branches, and black cherries three inches in diameter. I brought home the cherry pits. Mr. Lewis asked me how we could raise them in our climate. I told him Leonard had some of the lava in his pocket, and I would take the sunshine in my heart, so we hoped they would grow. Rome.— June 16, 1907. At midnight, last night, we were walking across a broad, well paved, and brilliantly lighted street from the station to our hotel. 1 thought to myself "How like going across Michigan avenue from the Illinois Central to the Auditorium." A smiling little maid in black dress, white cap and apron stood in our hall to show us the room. It was well prepared with fresh drink- 71 Foreign FlasKligKts ing water, hot and cold water for bathing, and three kinds of bowls (two wash bowls, two foot tubs, and two sitz tubs) to bathe in. A variety of stationery, new pens and a cleaned, filled ink well were upon a beautiful table of inlaid woods. All the English the maid knew was, "Is there anything you want?" and "Good- night." Our bed was worthy of the Caesars, it was so roomy and elegant. Carved mahog- any, with pineapples for the posts, and Dona- tello (as to ears) grinning from the foot- board- It takes an athlete to jump into any of these beds, they are so high- A brown tile stove with an open front and real iron dogs ^^'as ready for a little fire. We went to St. Peter's to mass this morning. It was well to go there when we could stroll and study the architecture, sculpture and paintings for it is so immense— covers two hundred forty thousand square feet. The mosaic of a quill pen in the hand of St. Luke 72. SoMtHern Italy is seven feet long, but every detail is so well proportioned it looks only seven inches. The paintings are mosaics, we learned in the lec- ture. Dr. Russell Forbes gave us four lectures. He reminds me of Uncle Frank in appearance He is the best living authority on Roman history. The first morning we walked around and over the Palatine Hill, Rome's birthplace, and he told us of every inch of ground— and perhaps each had layers of history three tiers deep, one emporer built on top of another so often. Delicate ferns grow in the house of Nero's grandmother, wherever a globule of earth finds a lodging. The walls are still beautiful with frescoes of winged victories, and festoons of fruit. A panel shows Juno and Argus watching the disdainful lo and the clever Mercury who is bringing a message from Jupiter. The walls are polished like a piano. The dry coloring was rubbed into the fresh (damp) plastering with 73 Foreign FlasHligKts the fingers— hence the word "freseoe," fresh color. From there we looked out over the hill to the dome of St. Peter's— that masterpiece Michel- angelo—and down on the Forum; and heard one stoiy crowding upon another, from the Rape of the Sabines to the latest excavations. In the fore- noon we went to St. Peter's with him and stood on the stone where Charlemagne was crowned and the church honors are still given. All the monumental tombs were explained to us. The Apollo Belvedere is the model of an angel on one, and many of them have Minerva as a guardian angel. He told us of the washing of hands as a cermony before and after business transactions and likened it to the symbolic use of holy water. He called our attention to the origin of the words "basilica," "nave" and "aisle," and explained how an overturned boat suggested the style of the early public build- ings. 74 SovitHern Italy The next morning we went to the Vatican, that palace of eleven thousand rooms. Of: course, we passed millions of beautiful things and stopped only at the masterpieces. The living, present feature is the Michel-angelo— designed costume of the Swiss guards. Such a brilliant coloring of yellow and dark red and black! The Sistine chapel is more than I could have dreamed of. A perfectly flat roof, but arched in effect by the painting. The arches look as if supported by the shoulders of the prophets! The panels are of the Creation— I shall not forget two: in one God is giving life to Adam with a spark from his finger, and the other is of Eve kneeling to God in adoration. The last Judgme^nt— sixjty-four feet across— is a strange conception. The Christ has the face of strength rather than love, and his body is muscular. It is copied from the torso of Hercu- les which Angelo claimed to have been his teacher. The dead rise from the graves in the 75 Foreigri FlasHligKts left lower corner, and pass up on that ^^f de- Christ stands in the center and judges. The just ascend on the right; the unjust go down into hell in the right corner. The biggest man down there is a portrait of the Pope's Chan- cellor, w^ho criticized Michelangelo's figures be- cause they were nude. Michelangelo said we go to judgment without any covering, but he covered parts of that portrait that coils of a serpent and put ass's ears on him. So many of the paintings have portraits in them. We saw portraits of Raphael at fifteen as a sleeping guard, at eighteen, twenty-one and thirty-six in the paintings where he need- ed many faces. Other famous men too, Dante. Savonarola, etc. Raphel's transfiguration. Madonna di Foligni and Domenichino 's St. Jerome are in the same room— the masterpieces of Rome! The Liberation of. St. Peter, by Raphael, over and on each side of a window, is so real that the prison barred painted win- 76 SoMtKern Italy dow seems as if it must be a continuation of the real one. The lights, the torches, the moon in first quarter, and the radiant holiness of the angels give wonderful effect. As Carl Justi sa3'S, those holys pictures have a "gift of lan- guage intelligible to all times and peoples, to dU classes, and even to aliens to the "faith." The ]\Iother Church, S. S. Giovanni in Later- ano is the shape of the Maltese Cross, llie court, once a part of an old monastery, is sur- rounded by twisted mosaic columns that sup- port the inner roof. The old chair used for the Pope's coronation is in this court, and a beautiful new one in mosaic is in the cathedral. It is very new, for the Pope is a prisoner of the Vatican and cannot use it. The papal pul- pit has not been used since Pius IX. A mos- aic over the new papal chair is an allegorical study. A tree with four rivers (the Gospels) flowing from it, lambs drinking from the stream, and the dove whose light falls upon the face 77 Foreign FlasKligHts of the Savior. This is the second representa- tion of Christ. The first is "uncomely" ac- cording to Isaiah; so this was to be more beau- tiful, and it is a face of strong sympathy and beauty. It is so high and there are no seats (as it is in all the churches) so there are dif- ficulties in studying it even if we had the time. Outside the church stands an obelisk captured from Anthony and Cleopatra, at the battle of Actium. It dated from Rameses II and was a land mark for Moses ! A short drive brought us to Pontius Pilate's Palace the Scala San eta, up which Christ walked and was scourged; and upon which Martin Luther kneeled and heard the voice which led to the reformation. Two peo- ple were kneeling from step to step— saying a prayer on each and kissing the floor at the top. This gives them a thousand years out of Purj.-a- tory. The baths of Oaracalla demonstrate the spacious elegance of ancient Rome, with its 78 So\itKem Italy gymnasia and baths to accomadate sixteen hundred at one time, and its halls for music, poetry and philosophy. On the floors are still patches of red and green porphory in nau- tilus pattern, and the niches in the walls need only a mental picture to be filled Avith statuary. So, too, must the mind's eye fill the arches of the coliseum with graceful figures in marble; must cover its dull brick walls with marble veneering, and top it with a sheltering roof of gay awnings manned by one thousand sailors: must fill its seats with eighty-seven thousand of the beauty and valor of Rome who clap their hands to approve the cruel victor, who, with his opponent, has seemed to spring out of the very ground by way of secret elevators. One time this victor was Commodius, who kill- ed one hundred lions with one hundred jave- lins. And the last victim was a monk, Telemach- us, who rushed into the arena, and plead with the people to cease their cruelty— and they 79 Foreign riasKlig'Kts stoned him, as others had stoned St. Stephen. But the emperor was moved and there was never another butchery. My dear little daughter: We have been this morning, walking around and over the original Rome, a square one and one-quarter miles around. Aunt Lucy wil! tell you the story of the wolf in the picture. Dr. Russell Forbes, who took us about this morning, told us Romulus and Remus were puc in a basket and thrown into a branch of the Tiber. They were found by a shepherd and nursed by Luper, his wife, but her name was the same as the word for wolf, so legend has it that a wolf nursed them. We went thro' houses built one on top of another, for they had flat roofs and one roof would make the next floor. Seven hundred fifty-three years be- fore Christ seems a long time ago, but those walls are firm. Dr. Forbes told us how the geese cackled and 80 SoutKern. Ital^ saved Rome, and no goose is ever sold for food" to this day. Don't you think your pet hens. Kate and Duplicate would be glad to bequeath such a safeguard to all their chickens? We were at St. Peter's Cathedral yesterday and saw his statue. It is black. It is placed out in the main aisle where every one passes it. And most people stop to rub the big toe with their sleeve. The statue is just high enough for me to reach it with my mouth, and many people lifted their children up to kiss it. The toe is more than half worn away with all the devo- tion of the people. Mrs. Lewis has just brought in a magnolia surely ten inches across and so fragrant! I wish you could see it! She gave me a cameo bracelet, which I have on. We had been shop- ping for Roman pearls and scarfs. The Roman pearl shop invited visitors, and we watched the girls cut the beads out of a piece of alab- aster, cool them and dip them on a knitting 8i Foreign FlasKliglits needle into a paste of whatever color desired. The best ones are dipped twenty times and are supurb. beauty. It is so high and there are no seats In the afternoon, Leonard took Mrs. Lewis and me a beautiful drive thro' the Borghese gardens and over the Pincian Hill where we can see the city in panorama. It was a beau- tiful and restful drive and statues of Victor Hugo and Goethe make one think Rome is not so old— but they Avere the exception— everywhere were broken pieces of architecture and statuary. There is an interesting water clock, where the dripping from the fountain makes the pendulum swing from side to side. The water falls into a boat with a dividing wall. When one end of the boat is full, it tips and the other end catches the water until it is full and tips, that is the regulator. I feel that our stay here has been a mere taste. It would take a year, I am sure, to be 82 SoxatHem Italy familiar with all the history and legend that every corner is full of. The exteriors are very ugly, many of them, but the churches on the inside are faced with beautiful marbles in pan- el work— exquisite mosaics that are so fine the stones can not be seen even with good lenses. After such a day saturated with history, we went to the opera last evening to hear the Bar- ber of Seville, and Pagliacci. The opera house seemed small. The orchestra numbered more than fDrty pieces and played as one instru- ment under a very enthusiastic leader. We enjoyed both operas— the contadini were not powdered or painted nor corseted, but looked as natural as they are, and no prettier. The singing was excellent. The stalls, as they are called, corresponding to our boxes and balconies, are in four tiers straight up from the floor in- stead of receding balconies- The best dressed people sat in them. This morning we climbed flight upon flight of 83 Foreign FlasKlig'Hts Stairs thro ' an open court to St. Peter in Chains, ^vhere we found Michelangelo's famous Moses. We sat and looked at the strength and decision in every line, the softness of the long beard held in by the finger— the left foot ready to lift the body and speak his niessag-e or decree. I do not wonder the sculptor slapped him on the knee and said, " Speak 1" Then we tooK: a carriage and c'rove to the Fountain of Trevi— and drank from our hand and threw the penny into the fountain with our faces turned away and scrambled over rocks so we couldn't even get a peep at the fountain and drove away. All this brings us again to this mother city. NORTHERN ITALY. Ju7ie 21, 1907. Six hours ride over and under green hills, by fields of ripened grain where many men were using the sickle, past vineyards where vine and 84 Northern Italy tree are planted in the same spot, and the vine reaching to the top of the low tree, is festoon- ed from tree to tree, making a field of garlands, past the beautiful lake Trasimeno, whose cas- tled island is so imposing— and all the cheerful company of happy people, eating cherries that would shame America— six hours of such good humor that they seemed as one, brought us from Rome to Florence. Our window looks out upon a street and across it into the other windows and shops where statuary abounds. Virginia's room looks out upon the Arno, which was beautiful last night in the moonlight. I looked up and down to see Tito swimming in a race for his life, but there was nothing but the quivering moonlight upon the waves. Today we crossed the river several times in our drive past Dante *s birthplace and the house wherq Elizabeth B. Browning departed this I'ife. A tablet commemoraites each revered 85 Foreign FlasHlig'Kta home, and the courier points with pride to these names so much loved the world over. But the church of Santa Croce is richest in memorials to genius. Michelangelo's tomb and Galileo's are on opposite sides at the entrance of the church, and the tombs of Machiavelli, Rossini, Cherubini, and many other illustrious men, border the walls. Memorials to Dante and Amerigo Vespucci are here too. All arc beautiful works of art- Several of them by Con- ova, and the Giotto pulpit is very beautiful- The frescoes are being uncovered. A white wash was coated over the walls after a plague when the sick had been harbored here. The Duomo where Savonarola preached was what I wanted to see. I could better under- stand his freedom of speech when I saw how far from the altar his pulpit was hung — it is no longer used. The dome of the Duomo is fres- coed with illustrations from Dante's Divine Comedy, and a small picture of the mountain 86 Northern Italy is on one side of tiie church. The floor is very beautiful with inlaid marble designed by Michel- angelo. Giotto's Campanila is all that we read about— a poem in black and white marble. The Baptistry across the street is the same black and white stone. The doors would have interested me for hours, but we are truly playing tag in Florence, so I bought a picture postal of them and had to be content. AA^e went to the old palace- the toAvn hall-built by Savonarola, and in whose tower he was imprisoned forty days, and just outside of which he was burned at the stake. It seemed the irony of fate that in the very hall of the very city where he Avould have justice and charity abound— he must suffer for the injustice and cruelty of his fellow citizens. In the Uffizi gallery we saw many, many beautiful paintings. The adoration of the Vir- gin by Correggio, and another of the Shep- herds were my choice. There were many copy- ists in the gallery doing very good work. Two 87 Foreign FlasKlights of them were nuns. By the way, I saw a company of dominoed men crossing the Ponte Vecchio— nothing visi- ble but their eyes. This order is composed of men in the ordinary walks of life who have taken a vow to be ready to aid the needy at a moment's call. An elderly American lady of our party told us she had been cared for by them. A kick from a horse caused her to fall upon the street. She awakened from uncon- sciousness in a hospital with one of this order sitting at her bedside, waiting to serve her in any way possible- These dominoed men remind- ed me that in Naples, we saw a man with a full horses tail on the top of his hat, and several with great bunches of dozens of rooster 's tails on theirs, but the black dominoes were the most conspicuous of all. This afternoon, we took a most beautiful drive to Bello Sguardo, a high point where the Arno and Florence spread out before you in the for- 88 NortKern Italy' est to the tomb of an Indian Prince. After the drive we went to the Ponte Veechio, which is bordered with jewelry shops. No museum could be more interesting than an antique shop there. The jewels indicated the lavish array in the days of old— necklaces, bracelets, brooch- es, and high combs all set with precious stones, form a set. They suggest Savonarola's bon- fire of the vanities. Virginia bought a necklace of ten large cameos, each illustrating a mythological tale. I found a cameo of Beatrice de Cenci, which I selected as my souvenir if this city of flowers, and which I shall always love for the sake of the poor girl whose story never grows old. A modern art is a mosaic factory, which made us hold our breath with wonder at the skill. Table tops, wall pictures and jewelry were made of the pieces of stone so carefully selected for the color and so perfectly placed, that the eye denied that art could so well re- 89 Foreign FlasHlig'Hts fleet nature. A piece ordered by Tiffany was under way. Sixty thousand dollars was to be the price. Venice.— June 23, 1907. x\n early breakfast in Florence, eight hours over and thro' the Appenines, and across the plains, and four miles on a trestle over the sea, and lunch at Venice. Much of the way, the track lay between fifty foot strips of land, separated by trenches with rows of trees grow- ing on each side of the trench. As in Southern Italy, the trees were festooned with grape- vines. A very pretty and must be a very old custom, for one of the frescoes in a Pompeian dining room ^s a copy of this. A step into the gondola, and then an absolute- ly motionless glide thro' narrow canals, around sharp corners, under arched bridges, with never a touch against other gondolas that we meet and pass; and our gondolier standing on a platform 90 NortKern Italy' on the back, guides the boat to the step where we alight. In the Grand Canal were barges of freight boats; one so laden with black heads that it almost dipped the water. These freight men were singing to themselves as the glided along— the same inflections as those of the mnle drivers in Tangiers, and the laborers in Spain and Southern Italy. Women were swimming in the back door-yards, and one old man sat on his step cooling his feet in the water. The lit- tle boys performed wonderful athletic stunts, revolving on hands and feet for a whole block, wherever there was a pavement along the water's edge. This was their way of earning an honest penny. There was no lack of diversion all the way to the Royal Daniele— which hotel was to be our home for the next few days. The Daniele is composed of two old palaces, connected by a glass enclosed bridge over the canal. There was a little elevator that would carry three 9t Foreign FlasHligHta average weight or two large ladies up, and four down. So there was a constant "After you, my dear Alphonse/' and "I prefer to walk up- stairs, it will reduce my hips." After much parleying there would be a general scamper of all under sixty years and one hundred sixty pounds, up or down the great hydranga bor- dered stairway. Our room is spacious and rich in handsome old mahogany. After lunch of the never fail- ing omelet, we went to the lace factory and lace school; for lace making is taught here as arithmetic is at home. There are four thous- and girls employed a day, with an average wage of one franc. Each girl has her specialty ; some making the net, others the separate parts of the pattern. The price depends on the time it takes to make it, and that is increased by the fine- ness of the thread. A really beautiful bertha is priced at sixty dollars. We live just beyond the prison, on the great 92 NortKern Italy lagoon, so we must pass the Doge's palace and St. Mark's wherever we go. That seems, we must always stop going and coming to feed the pigeons. An old man sells cornicopias of shell- ed corn for a penny each. Every tourist buys, and stands in the broiling sun perfectly ob- livious to all discomfort, because it is such fine fun to have four or six pigeons perched on your arms and fingers. "They" told us that the an- cestors of these very pigeons brought the news of the surrender of Constantinople in 1202, so their progeny have been loved and cared for ever since. And now, the descendants of these news carriers are one of the most interesting features of this most interesting city. And that word Constantinolpe explains the style of St. Marks, for it is very unlike any other house of worship. Its five gold and blue domes, its many colored marble columns, its four bronze horses suggest a very magnificent merry-go-round. Within are mosaics or rough 93 Foreign FlasKligKts glass against a background of gold. The marble floors are very uneven, due probably to the shifting sands far below. We left a well attended service Sunday morning to feed the pigeons that are always welcoming strangers in the square. But before we had left the steps a man invited us to visit the glass works, which are opened to visitors until noon. Girls were making mosaic tops for jewel boxes, and the men were coiling melted glass around the heads of hat pins, rolling them into perfect oval, studding them with colored glass jewels, and tracing them with scrolls of gold. It was all done in a white flame of fire. In the afternoon, D wight invited us to go for a row (or a paddle) and stop at a beautiful garden. Did you know there was a garden in Venice? I was surprised to see an island large enough. But there we found walks and flowers, music and laughter, and the deep blue sea only a step away from everywhere. 94 NortKern li^l-y It was raining in the evening. As we came from dinner, we heard singing in the large open court- It was a family of men and women who usually sing on the lagoon. To the accom^ paniment of a has viol and three violins, they sang the entire opera of II Trovatore. Their voices were so sweet and clear, and the expres- sion so dramatic that only the stage setting was lacking. One of the women passed a plate, and received a few pennies from each of her hearers; but why aren't they in America receiving those pennies' weight in gold? Monday morning was devoted k> the Doge's palace after a float across the lagoon to San Salute. Our guide told us that on Nov. second a pontoon bridge is always built over to the church, so the people may cross and give thanks for their blessings— especially that of health — for the church was built as a thanks offering after a plague. In the Doge's palace is the first map. It 95 Foreign FlasKligHts was made in 1495 by a monk who is buried on St. Michael's island. The map pictures Europe on the south, Asia on the west and Africa on tlie north. The rotundity of the Earth was not known then, but the boundaiy lines are remarkably like the maps of the present day. There were paintings by Titian, Tintoretto, and Paul Veronese, but these did not interest me (altho' one was one hundred fifty feet long) as did the talks on the political history of the city: the lion's mouth into which secret accusa- tions against fellow citizens were passed to the Council of Ten or Three, as the case might re- quire; the marriage of Doge to the Sea; the love and veneration for this elected ruler of the city whose term of office expired with his life. Across the Bridge of Sighs is the dungeon dungeon into the passage, there is a single where Lord Byron spent twenty-four hours to imbibe the atmosphere for his poem. From the 96 SoutKcrn Italy six inch opening thro' a wall as thick. The passage, itself, is perfectly dark, so the slight change of air is the only benefit of the open- ing. The lecture in the afternoon was the most perfect in its setting. We rested against luxur- ious cushions and glided over the water, five gondolas abreast. Our guide stood in the mid- dle one, and pointed to the right and left, say- ing, "This is the home of Desdemona, a doge's daughter. Othello was not a IMoor, but a dark skinned Venetian ."It was a narrow house, of the best Venetian architecture, on the grand can- al near the open sea, or south lagoon. And again "This was the home that sheltered Robert Browning" or "Richard Wagner," or "Lord Byron," as the case might be. As Ave neared the Rialto, "We shall step out here, and walk thro' that dark street passing an old Avine house that is the fabled home of Shylock. A few steps thro' the market Avill bring us to a 97 Fo reig'n FlasKlig'Hts small open square where Gobbo bends his mar- ble neck to support a platform from which of- ficial announcements are made." The Rialto is a highly arched bridge with broad steps all the way over it, and on each step is a little shop. A walk from the bridge thro' very narrow, very crooked streets to St. Mark's passes, many shops where ready-made garments are sold, and twice as many whose doors and windows are hung with corals, glass beads and mosaic pins. An appropriate souvenir would be a brightly polished steel paper cutter patterned after the gondola head which looks like an ox and a key— as if it cleaved theway and turned the lock. It is a symbol of the past— way back in the days of Pepin of France. Venice cannot be left without a moonlight evening on the water. The singers' lighted gon- dola forms a neculeus for others out on the lagoon. We are bunched so closely the man pass- ing the hat, steps easily from one gondola to 98 NortHern Italy another, the voices are as smooth as the sea it- self. The moonlight on the south scarcely dims the rows of the city's lights reflected many times in the water. Milan— June 25, 1907. An early breakfast and a dreamy float in the gondolas and we were aboard the train for Milan. Another beautiful ride like the day be- fore with the mountains of the Tyrol on our right and the beautiful lake Garda nestling against them. Then we came to fields of short stubby trees— cruelly trimmed, and were told these were mulberry trees for the silk worms. We missed the flowers— the oleander and poppy of Spain, and the poppy of southern Italy. The air is delightfully cool. A drive this afternoon thro' the park to the cemetery, where we walked among the forest of mausoleums. There are very many bronze figures ("very pecurious'' in the language of our local guide) and some very good ones rep- 99 Foreign FlasKligKts resenting the grief of those left behind. To liear a lecture every day by a foreigner is far from dull. Yesterday we saw "Europa horse- back-riding on the bull" in the Doge's palace. Another interesting picture there is Paul Vero- nese's ''Last Judgment," in which he has painted his wife's face in Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. Speaking of pictures, we went to see Leon- ardo di Vinci's "Last Supper" this afternoon. It is a fresco on the inside of an outside wall; and is badly damaged. Two copies of it, made by his pupils, are much more comprehensible. If Leonardo had painted on glass with Ber- tini 's colors, the tourist would not be disappoint- {>d. Bertini painted the windoAvs of the Milan Cathedral- Worked on them forty years, and died in poverty. Those windows to this day — hundreds of years afterwards— are so beautiful you catch your breath in admiration . at their coloring. The reds and blues are like the ricli- 100 NortKern Italx est velvets. The hail and wind of all these centuries have not broken them— nor the storm cf wars. . Truly a wonderful preservation! And the setting for the windows is as it should be— a holy house. This is the cathedral of spires and statues. The structure is as beauti- ful as fine lace or a delicate flower. The in- terior is so vast and the pillars so gigantic! There is no great canopy to obstruct the view as at St. Peter's— just a long row of immense pillars, with the soft light coming thro' those ex- quisite windows; and in mid air under the lan- tern where the light falls upon His head, is the crucifix. This is truly a house of God— St. Pet- er's seems more like a museum. SWITZERLAND. Lucerne— June 26, 1907. AYe thought the ride in Spain along the Guadiaro was beautiful, but there are degrees of beauty, and we had not seen Switzerland! lOI Foreign FlasKlig'Hts To one living on the plain— with no running water (except the muddy Mississippi at the distance of a day's journey) the high peaks and the beautiful cascades of pure snow water splashing down the mountain side, the nestling chalets, the picture work in cultivated fields, form a panorama that I am helpless in des- cribing. I could better tell of the twenty min- utes nap through the St. Gotthard tunnel— for the brain was weary of the very beauty of the Lakes Como, Lugano and Maggiore and their reflections of the mountains and snowy clouds. I am more helpless than ever in speaking of the beauty from my window. I sit here on the balcony and look across a little meadow (where the hay-makers are yodelling as they work) at the stretch of perfectly smooth and clear blue water. It looks so still that a squall would be impossible ; but I know it was so, long ago when Tell was being taken in chains to Zwingen ; and was released that he might steer the boat, and 102 S^itajerlancl bring his tormentors to a safe landing. Across this sheet of blue, rise the green mountains, embroidered with tall pines; on the peaks— and far down the sides— is the eternal snow. As we steamed through the valleys and over the heights, we saw the garnered grain and the snow banks on the same mountain side, and ap- parently only a few steps apart. I walked across the old Capell bridge and studied the quaint triangular paintings in the gabled rafters of the roof. There is the pic- tured story of the hero of these people just as Schiller wrote it for all generations to read and Rossini, for all to hear. Surely a noble deed does not die. Our room at tlie Europe has its interesting features. On the beds are the dearest little yellow down covers about three inches thick and tufted like a comfort. In one corner of the room is a great white porcelain stove fully eight feet high with a pipe like a great worm coil- 105 Foreign FlasKligKts ed over it. There are six gilt bands around the stove and a band of figures in relief around the top. It is really an ornament to the room, far different from ours which are only desir- able when the bitter weather makes us feel their necessity- We have had modification of this stove throughout Italy— a brown tile the height of a table in Rome, a white one nearly a foot higher in Florence, but this gigantic pillar is our first as we go northward. Of course, I looked in it, at once, to see if little August Sti^hla of Nuremburg could get inside his be- loved liirschvogel, and ride in it to the king's palace. It is true! There is room! This child- ish story of the Nuremburg stove recalls the let- ter I have just received. Beer Park, Wednesday, June 19, 1907. Dear Mamma and Papa: I have a whole lot to say. It is about Ind- ians. AVell I'll begin. This afternoon I thought 104 S-witzerland I would go over to Helen's to get her to come over and play but she wanted to go to the creek. After while we were standing on the porch and we saw a whole lot of horses. Then we saw an Indian leading them, they soon were out of sight. We went on trying to decide whether TO go to the creek or over to the Manse. Myr- tle and Helen wanted to go to the creek. Dor- othy and I did not want to. Then we saw four Indians over to Myrtle's Grandma's house. Myrtle's Grandma's house is right along beside their house. They had their flock of horses. AVe saw them throw the rope over their necks and choke them down. Then they would tie a rope around all their feet and let them lie there for a while. Then they would break them from their wild, wooly ways. They had a hard fight but the Indian beat- The two I have been talldng about were sold for thirty-two dollars, for both. Then a man wanted a gray horse and Indians broke it for him and he would not 105 Foreig'n Flashlights take it. The Indians said they were going to lick him but he got away. Then another man wanted a mouse colored horse with a colt the color of Pet. The Indian had a hard time to catch the right one. He rode the other two for nothing. He wanted money to ride this one. He got a dollar. Then they took their flock and did not break it for him, but they Jeft their ropes. Helen's Grandpa picked up the ropes as quick as he could and put them in thebarn. The man that bought the horse with the colt is in a pretty fix. I hope you are having a good time and enjoy your trip. Amen. June 28, 1907. If I had risen at three yesterday morning, it would have been to tell you of the nightingales' liquid whistle that poured in thro' our open windows. Birds are rare in southern Europe and this was the first time I ever heard a bird 1 06 S'witzerland singing in the night (Virginia heard them iu Granada, but I slept too well and was so sorry!) It is even more beautiful than listening to the meadow lark from my window at home, and that is one of the joys of life. But I didn't rise— which deserves mention after so many mornings of five o'clock break- fasts and six o'clock trains (but really that is the time to see this beautiful world.) We took the lake steamer yesterday morning for Vitznau— such a beautiful sail ! The air clear and invigorating, the water transparent to the very bottom and the- mountains rising peak upon peak on every side. On one promi- tory only fifty feet above the water with a background of the green trees, stood a carved wooden image of Christ blessing the waters. It is most impressive. Very near is a tiny island that is entirely covered with a gabled shrine. The lake itself is in the shape of a cross— a shrine reflecting its Maker and 107 Foreign FlasHlig'Hts giving joy to this people. At Vitznau, we took the cog railway and climbed up the Rigi to the very top. What a view is there! Whole towns look like groups 01 toys that you could hold in your hand. We counted ten towns, some of them giving liomes to thirty-five thousand people, and they were as a child's Noah's Ark. And three lakes spread out to our view. Blue as blue can be! When the time came to depart, it seemed that I could not get my breath at the thought of leaving so much beauty. It was like leaving a friend I had always longed to find. Upon our return to Lucerne, we strolleu up the village street to the park where the famous lion is carved into the side of the cliff. There is a pool of gold fish in front of the monument, and the trees that grow near hang their branches like garlands against the rock Avail that forms the gigantic frame. The flashing gold fish and the light and shadow seem to pay tribute to the io8 S-witzerland king of beasts. There lie lies, his paw, even in death, is protecting the fleur cle lis of the Bour bons, and at his head is the shield of Switzcp land. The streams of people that are constantly coming to look at it, pay their tribute too, in silent appreciation. The Glacier Gardens are another monument — not to character but to the millions of years gone by when boulders, like pebbles, were churn- ed against the rocks by the action of the ice streams, until great pot holes, twenty-seven feet across and twenty-nine feet deep, Avere made by the friction. The great pebbles still lie in the greater pots. A powerful stream was dash- ing into one of the pot holes and churning the great boulder to demonstrate the action of the stone against its rocky bed. Then too, side by side with these ice mills were stones with the fauna, and flora of the tropical lands and seas in them— the palm leaf is very plain. The next sight was the old mill bridge which 109 Foreign FlasKligKts took us thro' the old part of the city. There in the gables, are the paintings of the dance of Death, visiting man at every stage of life. At 6:30 every day a concert of organ and vocal music is given at the Cathedral. The organ was built by the inventor of the "vox humana" stop. The organist was equal to his instrument and gave us the most soulful music. The singers' voices (men) blended perfectly.. The church was full of people who scarcely breathed during a rendition. Wood carving is the chief industry. One small picture cut in a block of wood not more than ten by twelve inches was priced at one hundred and twenty dollars. Interlaken—Jtme 30, 1907. While the tired oozes out of my feet, I'll try to think what has happened in the past two days. There were moving pictures and some pretty magic work at the hotel in Lucerne Fri- IIO Sivitzerlancl day night. The magician made an omelet in a chafing dish. When the lid was removed two white doves flew out. She also pealed an orange and out flew a canary. The next morning, we rose early again and left Lucerne with expostulations of regret. A train ride over the Brunig Pass (where we had a glass of delicious milk) and along the lakes of Sarnen and Lungern and at last by steamer on the Briens and Aare to Interlaken. It was a beautiful trip— every step of the way! The lakes reflecting the hills and chalets, the wind- ing roads of grey-white against the clean green of the mountain! As I sit here in the writing room, I look across a garden of flowers and fountains to the Jungfran. All the village is built with that in view. The trees are topped about the height of a grape arbor so you can look over them at the ''bride of the Alps." Leonard and I walked in the afternoon, and III Torei^n FlasKli^Hts rested at the Kursaal, a beautiful park with flowers and statuary, leading to a great shelter ed audience room where an orchestra playai sweetly, and the most picturesque of Swiss maids serve you with any kind of refreshment. The people sit fully an hour sipping a single glass of beer, and listening to the music, and gazing out over the musicians' heads at the Jun^^ran We attended a Scotch Presbyterian service this morning. There is one church with several auditoriums and the signs pointing to "Roman Catholic," "Church of England," Service in French," and Scotch Presbyterian." This is the nearest to church unity that I know of. It is the first non Roman church we have visited since we left the steamer. We walked up on the mountain to Heim.veh- fluh this afternoon. That proved to be another " Restauration " as the signs here have it, and very well put, I think. The view there is very beautiful of Interlaken in the valley of the 112 Switzerland Aare and the lakes of Brienz and Thun on each side. Our walk home passed a house with the inscription ''\ATio has peace in his heart lives in a palace.** July 1, 1907. The warm fragrance of the hotel is very pleas- ant after a day spent in the ice and snow of the Jungfrau. We left here at eight this morning for Lauterbrunneu, where we held our breath to see the cog railway that was to take us ui> to Scheidegg. It was a strange sight— the banks of snow and the quantities of flowers side by side. And such flowers! So delicate and of every color— the butter-cup and daisy, the for- get-me-not, pansy and the cornflower— just great sloping hillsides of beauty! In order to forget how cold and hungry we were, we had some fine chorus singing at Schei- degg— the familiar songs. Auld Lang Syne, and many others, while the lunch was being served. IT3 Foreig'n FlasKligHts An Englishman present said Americans knew how to have a good time. After lunch another railway— an electric line— took us thro' a long tunnel, two miles long, thro' the solid rock, to Eismeer. A wonderful piece of engineering! Arrived there we ran out to the daylight and saw oceans of snow. Snow so vast and deep that the mind could not fathom the foundation of it. Heaps upon heaps, as far as the eye could reach in every direction. The rain was pouring down below us, for we were ten thou- sand three hundred feet high, had climbed about four thousand feet thro' the tunnel- Of course, Dwight washed my face with snow, and I threw a ball at Leonard. We came down the mountain to Grindelwald and took a train back to Interlaken. If any one can describe this Swiss scenery, read it— I am helpless. But, if you can imagine a fall of water nine hundred sixty feet, you will know- one of the beauties of that day. The name of it 114 S'witzerland is Stauback— dust fall, because the water sep- arates into very thin mist. Another wonder was a glacier lying apparently motionless in the valley. It had made a path through a pine forest. July 2, 1^01— Railway from Berne to Strass- hurg. We reached Berne about two hours before lunch, in time to feed the Royal bears of the House of Hapsburg ; to see the town clock strike and the bear images make a circuit of a little tower; to see the horrible Boy-eater over the fountain; the markets under tarpaulins stretch- ed in the open squares; the long arcades where all that can be bought and sold is in view; the women with their tight braids wound around their (heads, (sweeping the sitreets with long fagot brooms, and polishing men's shoes; the dog carts, and the beautiful bridge built high over the valley and the river Aare. The view "5 Foreigfn FlasHligKts from here is beautiful as is every reach of vis- ion in this garden spot. The chalets lend them- selves so perfectly to the landscape. The rich browns of the unpainted protruding beams whicn form the walls are so harmonious with the ven- dure of the hills. The overhanging roofs with wide overspreading eaves look like real shelter —as the *'hen that gathereth her chickens.'* A BIT OF GERMANY. July 3 — Strasshurg. At the market this morning we saw women with their tons of carrots, cherries, potatoes, etc., every cart had a great dog helping either man or woman (more often a woman) pull it. Boys on bicycles with baskets the length of their backs and heads, were carrying loaves of bread longer than the baskets. The women's head dress is so unique— a sash of four and ODC-half yards of ribbon, six inches wide, tied ii6 Germany in a double dow— the loops hanging over the shoulders and the ends all the way down the back to the waist- The rest of the costume is not striking as is the Swiss. The colored silk apron, black velvet bodice, laced with silver cord and hung with silver chains, the white bosom and stiff white sleeves, make any girl picturesque. And the men wear the greenest of green aprons. There was a real cloud burst this a. m., but it did not keep us from going to see the famous clock, with the apostles and the crowing rooster (some of our party thought it was an eagle— so much for their Bible knowledge.) The cIock is a wonderful machine! Phaeton in his char- iot and four other pagan gods make a circuit in the twenty-four hours. There is a calen- dar of the three hundred sixty-five days— with the holy days all marked; a dial showing the hours of sunrise and sunset; another with the sun, the signs of the zodiac and all the plan- 117 Foreign FlasKlig'Kts ets, all these revolve in their correct times. On the highest balcony is the image of Christ around which all the Apostles walk and bow, and He makes the sign of the cross. On the bal- cony below, Death stands with his scythe and strikes the hours. At the first quarter a child enters, a matured man at the half, a middle aged man at the three quarters, and an old man at the hour. There are so many wonderful things about it, that it would weary you even if I could remember. But I must add this— it hasn't -been repaired for forty-seven years. The munster is part Norman and part Goth- ic architecture. They are very different— the smooth round columns of the one, the grooved pillars and grained arches of the other. There is a pulpit— a lacey carving of mar- ble. Around the bottom the sculptor has chiseled portraits of himself, his wife, his father and his dog. Do you suppose he could not en- grave his name? ii8 Germany Fourth of July—Heidelhurg. The stars and stripes wave from our window and over our table, but there are no firecrack- ers to frighten us— a very peaceful time— and just as keen patriotism as if it were noisy. The stars and stripes are tiying even from the Uni- versity. And American students were flying our flag at the table in the garden last night. We were passing vv^hen they "spotted' us and invited us to join them. We lost no opportun- ity to ask about the students in the colored caps of green or blue or white, and were told they were fraternity men; the white capped coming from the most aristocratic homes. They told us, too, that one morning a week is set aside for the duelling, which is really the most wide- ly remembered feature of this renowned Univer- sity. At the old Schloss are several women lectur- ers, who lead you up and down, in and out, thro' dark passages, and out on high levels over- 119 Foreign FlasHli^Hts looking the Neckar and its beautiful valley, and thro' the great gate (with its heavy port-cullis) that leads to the bridge over the river, Down in a cellar is the six thousand barrel wine cask, whose replica we saw in the Hotel Astor wine room; and a larger cask, which formerly was connected with the dining room by a great pump. The platform on top of it could be a dancing floor, for four quadrilles. The walls of this great castle are seventeen feet thick ; the on our way to the hotel- Our dining room flues where the barbecue was prepared are ninty feet high; and the bread oven has a sixty-foot chimney. A walk to the market before breakfast gave us a peep at beautiful windows of shops not yet open. The market place was crowded with women, and we met many pushing their carts —but there were no dogs to help them. We saw no Alsatian bows adorning their heads— indeed their heads w^ere uncovered. It seemed 120 Germany strange to find such a marked difference in so few hours ride from Strassburg. The old church, forming one boundary of the market place, has little shops nestling within its flying buttress- es. It is common to see great loads of small wood, being drawn by one horse hitched to a single pole. We never saw two horses except to a carriage. We think of the Germans as low, but wit- nessed a force of city workers that accomplish- ed more than the street laboring voters at home. We left the hotel at 6:45 a. m. for our walk and all was quiet — no one in sight. At eight, when we returned, the asphalt paving of the cross roads had been removed- At 9:30 we started for a drive and found that the new composition was laid and being made smooth. When we returned at 11 :00, we drove over the new road, as did every other vehicle. 121 Foreig'n FlashligKts Mayence. I am sitting in our room looking out of the window to the Stadthalle on the Rhine, and until 9 :15 this evening the 'daylight lasted. Now the river is even more beautiful, reflecting the lights along its banks; and the garden is like a dream of music with the voices of laugh- ter and good cheer. Our ride today was bordered with grape vines, not festooned from trees as in Italy, but supported by poles and cross bars, as regularly placed as the threads of muslin. Women (at 12 1-2 cents a day) were weeding this earth- en cellar— as the ground looked to us. There were a few fields of wheat — no corn — and the poppies grow in it just enough to make the field the prettiest sight imaginable. We lost a good deal of scenery in having our palms read, by one of the cleverest girls in our party. Our youngest member is to become famous thro^ marriage, our prettiest girl has Germany a very stubborn thumb, Dwight has the most practical hand she ever saw, and has made the most of his opportunities, Virginia does even the most trival thing artistically and is a good nurse. While all this was going on, Leonard stepped out at the end of the car to close the door— which opens, by the way, on either side. He pulled the wrong thing, touched an air- brake and the train stopped. Of course it went on again— or we should not be here now. This city is very beautifully laid out all the way from the station to this hotel— the Holland. There are long squares of grass and flowers bor- dering our drive. After dinner we walked in the old narrow streets that curve as in every old city. Basket making must be one of the industries for the shop windows have every variety. Tomorrow, we experience a longed for desire— a trip down the Rhine. I shall look for Das Rhinegeld and the maidens. 123 Foreign FlashligKts Cologne— July 5, 1907. A most delightful sail down the Rhine today —indeed, I do not know how it could be other than delightful any day ! The river bends so con- stantly that we seem to be in a lake all the time, and steering for the shore. There are railroad tracks and wagon paths on each side of the river.^ Trains of many handsome coaches were passing us frequently— occasional automobiles, and one load of hay drawn by a team of cows —such is the German thrift. It must be such sights that prompted Mark Twain in his recipe for German coffee to say, "Unhitch your cow from the plow, obtain a blue liquid, etc." But to get back to the Rhine. The steamers and freight barges were so numerous on the river that it is evident all the business of this world is not on our side of the water. The fields and vineyards ai^ cared for until not a weed can grow in them, unless a poppy deserves such a name. The banks are so steep along the upper 124 Germany Rhine that the fields are made of terraces. And on many a rocky cliff of the same color and seeming to be made of the same rock, nestling among, or towering above the thick foilage of the trees, are the castles that have the many legends which every girl has dreamed of. The one thought that is most pronounced, as I see new types of man's abode, is the perfect har- mony, the absolute blending of man's work with the world God made for him. There is not that feeling in the cities, but there surely is in the country round about. We had a fine river view of Bonn, the birth- place of Beethoven, and burial place of Robert Schumann. The street cars passing at frequent intervals, the "Quaker Oats," and "57 Heinz Varieties" signs everywhere, dispelled the halo with which my mind had encircled the town. But if we could have landed and visited the sacred palaces, reverence would have returned. We spied the Coin Cathedral towers on our 125 Foreig'n FlasKligKts left half an hour before landing. In a few minutes we looked again and they were on our right— the other side of the river apparently. Soon again they were on our left, and so re- mained until we drove by the magnificent pile here is so handsome— that quiet richness so characteristic of Germany— the smooth grey- green wood and blending tapestry; and lights forming an oval ceiling piece, and penOfant side wall pieces. We never have time to peep into a hotel parlor— they may be beautiful and there may not be any. Dinner over, we rush out to see everything. Tonight we found an automat. Our friends were new to the busi- ness, and were as happy as children over it. As usual, Leonard and I went for an early walk to the market and looked in the shop win- dows on our return. Cologne is a beautiful city— much more cosmopolitan than the cities of Italy. The windows show a desire to please all tastes, and the styles do not differ from 126 Germ an>- x\merican. Many shoe windows had the sign "American Form" in them. Virginia bought her a pair of beautiful shoes made in Baltimore, and rubbers made in New York. We were told before leaving home that they could not be bought. Burnt leather is the most frequent window exhibit. The book covers and waste-pa- per boxes are exquisite! The store windows extend far down below the pavement, and the goods are most temptingly arranged for the passerby to look down and see great caves of wealth in color, form and fibre. But quite the opposite of modern luxuries was our morning walk— first to the church of St. Ursula, commemorating the death of that Saint and eleven hundred Christian women at the hands of Attila, or some other barbarian, about 450 A. D. I expected to shiver with the hor- rors when surrounded by all those sacred hones, and was surprised to find a decided Moorish style of architecture within, and no sign of 127 Foreign FlasHligHts skeletons unless you peered into dark cubby holes to find them. The rows of skulls with embroidered bands to cover the ugliness of the mouth, were indeed pathetic. When I think of all the tortures that were suffered in the past, I cannot but wonder why it was so. What have we done more than they, that life is all one glorious burst of sunshine for us? The Cologne Cathedral is another of the sacred ones- Indeed, visitors are not allowed to walk about during the service; that pleas- ed me. There are pews for the worshippers. We have not found them in other churches ex- cept St. Ursula. The worshippers everywhere have seemed totally oblivious of our presence, but I have always felt like an intruder. The vastness of everything— of the pillars, (eighty feet in circumference) of arches over head, of the two lacey steeples! But the glory of it is in the millions of hours of human strength de- voted to its construction. There is a beauti- 128 Holland fill legend that the architect, Master Gerard, made a bet with the Devil, his soul to be the wager. The Devil bet he would have ducks swimming on a canal from Treves to Coin be- fore the cathedral was finished. It became a mania with Gerard, and when he found the canal made, he dashed himself off the high scaffolding. Lightning struck his house the same day. The cathedrla was not finishea for six hundred years. HOLLAND. Amsterdam. Twas a long train ride to Amsterdaam, but not tiresome. For acres and acres, as far as the eye could reach were green fields, with never a fence— just lonesome looking farm gates standing like samples at a fair. These were on bridges over the canals— for the fields are fenced with water. It was a strange sight to 129 FoTeig'TX Flash lig'Kts see a steamboat or a sailsliip crossing a grassy pasture ! And even the windmills ! How much more beautiful they are than can be pictured! The doors and shining windows with staivhy curtains, the thatched sides and roof, and the four great arms that look so strong to pump the water or grind the grain. I should like to write a poem about the windmill as the pre- server of the nation! After our supper here at Amsterdam, we went to walk The streets were so crowded we could scarcely make our way. At last a policeman told us we must walk on the right side of the street. This must be a thickly populated city, for there was no unusual occasion to take the people out. July 7, 1907. This has been a most interesting day! We took a steamer and went out thro' a lock into the Zuyder Zee— three feet above the land— to 130 Holland the Eiland of Maarken. There are one thousand four hundred people living there— descendants* of the original families, six hundred year^ ago. They dress as their forefathers did— bloomers for the men, colored and flowered basques, lace caps and aprons over black skirts for the women. The girls and boys dress just like the women until they are eight,, when the boy puts on bloomers. By close scrutiny, you can find that the little boys have a circular crown in their caps— the girls not. The men catch herring and are at sea from Monday un- til Saturday- They are very religious and go to the Protestant church. But by the time we landed at noon, the children were at the shore to meet us and beg for money. We landed again at Monnikendan, a quaint catholic town. The church is seated wdth rush bottom chairs. Under each woman's chair is a little charcoal stove for her feet. The men do not have cold feet. There is no other heat 131 Foreig'n FlasKlig'Hts in the church. Then we steamed thro' the canal to Broeck where we landed again to see the process of making Edam cheese. The barns joining the house, are as clean as sand stone floors can be, and all the woodwork is painted. A cupboard bed is in the wall, and the baby sleeps in a narrow trough-shelf built cross- wise, high above his parents' heads. We walked along the perfectly laid sidewalk, under the symmetrically trimmed trees, pass- ing house after house with their shining win- dows. And we were not more interested in the surroundings than the villagers were in us. At every window were faces, and nearly all or the windows were provided with outside mir- rors that reflected the passerby. I was quite startled when looking into one fastened to a window far to the rear of the house, to see in the mirror a searching old face— as curious as mine. We steamed home thro' a canal— could almost 133 Holland touch the grass on each side. On one of the banks where there was a little slope, three grown girls were rolling over in the grass. Several solitary fishers sat watching their poles, and one, who had gone to sleep, was wakened by the water which the steamer dashed over the bank. Lovers, too, were lounging in the high grasses, and we wondered whether the swish of wetting would not be a startling interrup- tion. In the evening we walked thro' the Jewish districts where thousands of children were mer- ry-making. A dozen or more joined us in our stroll— really, we could hardly walk for them. A man drove them away but seven came back and walked with us a mile, I should think. I felt like the Pied Piper of Hamlin. Passing thro' the streets the next morning, the costumes of the dear old ladies, with their quaint lace and gold bespangled caps, was what we most enjoyed. Then, too, it was good to see 133 Foreign FlasWli^Kts the statue of Eembrant and his comfortable home, and the Ryk museum. We looked at only the most famous paintings. Rembrant's Night Watch is more than I could appreciate in the time we had, but as I think of it, I recall the coloring, light and shadow, and action. But I enjoyed The Endless Prayer much more. The dear old woman's prayer is answered before she loses her last breath! A beautiful, peaceful face sitting before her fru- gal table ! On the first floor are the costumes of the many provinces of Holland. Such a study of styles! So queer, some of them so beautiful! We went to the Royal Palace, too- It was built for a town hall. I think I enjoyed the bas-reliefs over the doors of the departments as much as anything— Mars for War, Venus for Marriage, Darius Green's prototype for the treasury, etc. Very clever, don't you think? Queen Wilhelmenia lives in this building one 144 Holland week of the year. It is beautifully equipped for her. The throne chair has emeralds and rubies in the crown at the back. The wall ta- pestries in each room are like the chair fur- nishings. Over one small door is a fresco so like marble bas-relief that we had to stand un- der it and see it was a flat surface before we could believe our eyes. It is as deceptive as the ceiling of the Milan Cathedral which is paint- ed, but looks like carved marble. The n ague— July 9. No day could be more crowded with seeing things than this one. Before the party started at 9 :30, we walked as if to a fire to the Arcade to buy a tile. I had one minute to make the purchase and then make the return trip, but found that our money was not acceptable. Then we wanted the tile worse than ever. We joined the party and went thro* the Spanish prison. Such horrors of torture are in- 135 Foreign FlasHligKts conceivable! I wonder whether the government offered prizes for the latest devices in inflicting pain. I never stayed in the room to hear the lecture, but it came thro' the air on the hear- ers' tongues. To see was enough for me. Like all else in Holland, it was exquisitely clean- The board steps scrubbed white— no cobwebs even in the dungeons. I do not wonder tha* the Puritans were extermists. We met a school of children in the prison. In so many historic places we find children not more than twelve. These tours are a part of their public instruc- tion, I am told. It was a relief to visit the senate chamber. The quiet green cushions and desk covers in the silent room gave just the right setting to the splendid portrait of Queen Wilhemena's grandfather standing back of the president's chair. At the art museum, I lingered vvith Murillo's Madonna. I believe I like it better than anything in Italy or Spain. When we 136 Holland entered the room where Paul Potter's Bull stands, in an instant I was entering another room like it holding my mother's hand, for I saw the bull in Philadelphia in 1876. It is wonderful! The hair is so soft and real, you can scarcely resist rubbing it. And the ar- tist was only twenty-two when he painted it in 1847. Rembrant's Antomy is in that gal- lery, but I am not studying anatomy and did not look at it. We walked over to the House of Knights where the Peace Conference was in cession and waited for the most honored of every nation to appear. Nothing cou^i bet- ter prove how all the world's akin, fo* we were doubtful as to all the nationalities except the Japanese and a strong guess at the Rus- sian embassies. An Argentine delegate and his family, a beautiful wife and four lovely children, eat at the table next to us. TVe could have guessed that they live in Illinois. At two o'clock, we took carriages to drive 137 Foreign FlasHligKts to the Palace in the Woods. The drive thro* the mossy trees is as dreamy and restful as the woods always are. These are real woods- great, tall trees growing everywhere— leaf - mould and tender weeds covering the ground- At the end of the drive is a very plain brick palace in an exquisite garden of walks, vines, flo"wers, lakes and statuary. The interior of the palace rivals all language. The walls and furniture in the dining room are of Chinese embroideiy showing the cultivation of rice. The next room is Japanese in birds and bridges and exquisite lacquered cabinets. The walls of the central room are covered with paintings symbolizing the life of Frederic Henry, who died before the building was finished. One painting is of Minerva and Hercules opening the iron doors so Peace may enter with the olive branch. This was to commemorate the peace of 1648. It was in this room the first Peace Conference w^as held in 1899. The rug 138 Holland covering the floor was a gift from the Shah of Persia to Wilhemena at her marriage, and other gifts are in the palace, too, vases from China. A statue of her baby being carried to Heaven by the angels is very touching an beautiful. Another long, beautiful drive brought us to Scheveningen on the North Sea. The sea was breaking on the sandy shore. A few people were wading, but the day was too cold to make bathing comfortable. The beach is lined with tents and chairs. The drive thro' the old town delighted us. Heaps of children in wooden shoes, running, climbing fences, doing anything in those clumsy things— grown folks, too. These shoes cost sixty cents and never wear out— a good fashion, no breaking in new ones. We passed the Queen's palace in the city and her stables. They look much alike on the out- side. Tonight I went back and bought the tile- It is a woman carrying two buckets on a yoke, 139 Foreign Flashlights a boat with a tub of milk in it stands in the canal, a gate, some cows, a tile roof, etc. Just met a Jap in the hall on his way to the bath. He had on a dark kimona. The maid followed with his towels. I suppose he is a del- egate to the Peace Conference. BELGIUM. Antiverp. In driving from the station to the hotel at noon today, I saw in a shop window a lace ber- tha that I wanted, so we did not finish our din- ner, but skipped out to buy it. It was then or never, for we must "do" Antwerp in an hour. The real reason we stopped here was to see Rubens' "Descent from the Cross.'* The pic- ture was painted for the Order of St. Christo- pher, and its three divisions — for it is a trip- tych — each shows a Christ-bearer. On the left is the visit of the Virgin and Elizabeth before I4.0 Christ's birth. At once you hear Mary saying, "My soul doth magnify the Lord." On the right is the Infant Jesus on a pillow, in the temple, carried by the old St. Simeon; and the thought, "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have beheld thy glory," is reflected in his countenance. In the central painting, those who love Christ are lifting His body from the cross. Like all of Rubens, the figures are too heavy. A better Christ is the head painted on marble by Leonardo da Vinci- There is no bust, and the beard hides the neck. The face is of warm flesh tints, and the dark blue eyes look deep into your heart. There is a carved English oak pulpit in this cathedral. It is an arbor, covered with vines and leaves ; and on the branches are many kinds of birds. These are the ones with whom St. Francis talked in his hermitage. There is a painting wAth -portraits of Luther, Erasmus 141 Foreign FlasHligKts and Calvin learning at the feet of Christ in this E Ornish church. It sets you to thinking. Brussels— July 11, 1907. It was quite like being in America to be driven thro' the streets of Brussels. They are wide and well paved— the buildings are modern —for the old ones were torn down within the last half century. All this takes from the quaintness, but not from our comfort in the hotel, for the elevator runs upon request, which i1: didn't do at The Hague. Our early walk revealed women sweeping and scrubbing the stores. We find women doing such work every- where, but we did not see them delivering news- papers as we have frequently. The morning was spent at the House of Justice— a structure larger than St. Peter's and with a much more imposing dome. That is because St. Peter's pupil- The HaU of Justice seems as useful as is hidden by the attic put on by Michelangelo's 142 Belgium a fisherman's silk hat. Very impressive architec- ture in the classic Greek, but more enjoyed in the possession than the use. The architect died insane— so did the painter, whose paintings we saw next at the Wiertz museum. It is an im- mense room holding the life work of a man who would not paint for money. The subjects are as unique in art as is Dante's Inferno in literature. There is a dog in a kennel that seems real and is only asleep, and a lady with a rosebud, but the others tho' well portray- ed, are gruesome. The modern museum is much pleasanter. There, Teniers' Kermisse niakes you glad. A bad dream called St. Anthonj^'s Temptation is more like the funny page of the Sunday newspaper in coloring and grotesque- ness than anything more serious. Rubens' Neg- ro Heads hang there. I wonder where he found his model, for we have not seen a negro, except one, who was imported from Congo, and walks about this hotel in bright red and buttons, to '43 Foreign FlasKligHts add to the picturesqueness of the stained win- dowed and beveled mirrored rooms. As Rubens lived in Antwerp, and that is a shipping port, the negro model may have been found on an. African vessel. The Ascension of the Virgin by Rubens, we saw in the cathedral at Ant- werp and again at this gallery. The clear white light oi the gallery is better for the painting. It is viewed across a large balcony. We went to the town square, or the old forum, bounded with historic interest. The Hoted de Viile, or town hall, is still used tho' it is almost a century since the ''sound of revelry by ni^nt'' and it was several centuries old before that. The facade and spires are most exquisite in lacey effect with statues in every curve. Some fine tapestries are in the hall- A ceiling paint- ing is worth studying. It is the angel Gabriel who seems to turn shoulders, wings and bugte, and fly to meet you as you wialk around the edges of the immense room. 144 Belgium A drive thro' the park shows more splendia trees than are common with us. The w^ealthiest homes have a plain exterior, but every window in Brussels— even the poorest, has a fine lace curtain in it. The shop windows are more than enough to turn a woman's head. The church of St. Gudule is the home of an- other carved wooden pulpit— Adam and Eve being chased from Paradise by the angel with the flaming sword. The whole is a tree whose branches and leaves form the pulpit. Adam and Eve seem to be trying to find shelter from the angel under the pulpit— thus forming its support. Jiihj 12, 1907. Have just come in from the market. It fills all the pavement surrounding the Bourse of Commerce. There the women sit behind their piles of peas, carrots, potatoes, onions, aspara- gus (white as milk) egg-plant, currants, and 145 Foreign FlasKlig'Kts cry their prices to everyone passing. It is the noisest market we have visited. On the side streets are the dogs resting under the carts that they have just pulled into the city. The loads are heavier than you would think possi- ble for a dog. We saw one big cart loaded with iron from a foundary, iron pieces that fitted each other so there was no waste room, and one large dog was whining under that load. Many people use two dogs, and we saw several teams of three abreast. AVe went to the Town Hall again for I wanted to get a better look at the house where Jean Val Jean was born from Hugo's brain. It is a brown stone, more impressive than many homes of writers, but there is no inscription to identify it. One window is used to display gymnasium devices and the other has a big paste-board par- rot in it. Food for thought! 146 Faris-^July 13, 1907. We arrived at the North Station at five o'clock. Everybody else was there, too, but we sat in a bus for comfort and safety and cringed at the thud of trunks falling on the top. A man with a trunk on his shoulder walked up a ladder to the top of the bus and then let the trunk drop. This happened eleven times, so we grew brave and each crash seemed less dan- gerous than the last. Then one horse pulled seven people and eleven trunks across the city. We peered thro' the openings betweenpeople 's heads and saw more people— all going some- where. I'm sure it would be fatal to stand still. The raised platforms around the street lamps look as if they were made for foot pas- sengers to change their minds, but we did not see any one doing it. The two story horse cars and motor cars caught our eye. 147 ForelB'n FlasKlig'Hts July 14, 1907. Our hotel is over a railroad station, but we would not know it so great are the distances. Did I tell you our hall is six hundred twelve feet long to the turn— and then half as long to the elevator, and then half way back to the dining room? We always have a good appe- tite. Really, a study in perspective is inter- esting. The figure becomes so small, that it is only by a sv^^agger or characteristic movement that we know our own husbands. We have a letter box on our door, a clock run by electric- ity stands on the mantel, and a telephone with no transmitter is on the wall— you just talk in any direction. But I should be telling of the cannon that fired at eight this morning when President Fallieres began reviewing his forty thousand troops, and of the Marsailles to which they came marching back to the city. We were at the Place de la Concord and T Avas looking at the 148 Paris obelisk and wondering how long it took those Egyptian slaves to chisel a butterfly, while Leonard was running a race with the President and his retinue. Leonard beat in the race, and stood still while all the great ones of this Re- public passed in his review. AVhen Leonard raced off to get ahead of the President, I played "pussy wants a corner" with the lamp-posts until I came to the Madeline- It is the style of architecture most to my lik- ing—if one beautiful thing can be more beauti- ful than another. There is so much dignity to the row of great columns that support the roof and seem to protect the walls. The Last Judgment in the architrave is very effective. On the altar is a marble group— four angels bearing to heaven the purified Mary Magdalene, for whom the church is named. It is very beautiful and unique as an altar piece. Above it is a frieze of figures. The interior is lighted by three bulPs eye windows in the roof 149 Foreign riasKlig'Kts giving a sombre, but white light. As I left the church and tried to forget the dozen, yes more— beggars, blind, lame, hungry and possibly one that was lazy for he looked able in every way— in trying to forget them, I wedged into a crowd of men and a few women to see what was of interest. And they were gambling. The proprietor had a little table with the figures from two to twelve on it and a pair of dice— and a fist full of coins, one franc or more in value. Then he and his customers guessed on the dice and the money was placed on the figures. Generally he gathered it in — a number of men would bet at once— but some- times he would pay one of the fellows. Within one block, I passed four of these groups. There was no demostration— just put up your money. Indeed, this is a very quiet holiday, no fire- crackers, but bands are playing at dift\.fent staftds and women are waltzing together in the streets. The buildings are floating blue, white 150 Paris and red flags, and many streets are festooned with colored ropes of paper. Mrs. Lewis, Virginia and I took a long ride this afternoon, after a failure to get in the Louvre because it is a special holiday. We went in a double decked motor and almost circled the city for twelve cents. Last night we took a drive along the Champs Elysees to the theatre, where every woman look- ed really like a fashion plate in coloring, hair, hat, gloves, shoes, stockings— every detail. Enor- mous hats with plumes that swept the should- ers. Mrs. Lewis and I were the only w^^men there without hats— in the whole audience the hats fully eighteen inches in diameter, were kept on. But they were far better to look at than the stage. The play was a vaudeville- much courser than I have ever seen in Chicago or New York; we left. It was a meeting place evidentaly, for the women promenaded alone, showing luxurious gowns with long trains, or 151 Foreig'n Flashlig'Kts chatted with friends. The drive to and from was like fairyland, with a whizzing auto to keep you from quite forgetting the realness of life. We saw an airship make a trip past our din- ing room window yesterday, and today we saw a balloon high in the blue; but no one seemed to be watching them. Yesterday we drove across the bridge of Al- exander III (a work of magnificent art) past art galleries, along the Champs Elysees, past the Napoleon arch of triumph to Versailles. Tne residence of the owner of the two largest storea is the only luxurious home on the way. For- ests flank the house on either side, and gardens, vases and statuary are artistically disposed on the green lawn in front of the large creamy white house. The gardens of Louis XIV are too beauti- ful to describe, with yew trees, fountain and statuary, and too large to enjoy. Even the 152 Paris eye grows weary of the perfectness of it all. The palaces are not to be compared with the Palace in the Woods at The Hague, but are more famil- iar because the very keyholes are saturated .v-ith history. We saw the little door thro' which Louis XVI and Marie Antoniette made their es- cape, while the Swiss guards died at their post. This is not the place of the great massacre, which was at the Tuilleries, where the king and queen did not escape. The brass lock on the chapel door made by hand by Louis XVI, made the king seem more human than before. I had never thought of him as a locksmith- I cannot think of him and his fair wife without sorrow for such vfuef times. And the much bewigged and high heel- ed grandfather was the cause of it all. We went thro' room after room where his portrait has the central place. By his bedside is a pro- file of him, with his scornful, cruel mouth and wicked eye. He called himself God of the Sun, 153 Foreign Flashlights and one portrait so represented him. A unique clock was another proof of his vanity. At the hour, his image on horseback rode out of the center; clouds separated above him and he was crowned by the sun emerging from these clouds. It is all in gold. We look out upon the balcony where the young king and queen and Lafayette tried to appease the people. It all seemed very real— especially when standing beside the very bed upon which those best known in history laid their tired heads and unwearied bodies. I guess that does not apply to all, for the Little Corporal might have been physically weary af- ter so many hours on the field. "Tlis bed is a narrow short one, but large enough, of course. There is a long hall of queer statuary— tall, very slender people of the time of Charle- mange— almost as thin as the Egyptians. But the grounds are the most beautiful. The coach 154 Paris house contains a partial history of France. The sedan chairs of the queens, and the gilt coaches used for Napoleon's ascent into glory —even a special one for his divorce, (which was not so glorious), and another for the christening of the King of Rome. Such mas- sive elegance that eight horses are required to pull them. The drive home brought us past a high plain wall, protecting a yard and house. On the wall was a bust of Victor Hugo. After we reached Paris, we drove by the Eifel Tower- Its height i?; more than I could tl ink. The church steeples look less than half r.s high. It is about one thousand feet. Tuesday. Yesterday was given over to another carriage drive, thro' a park alive with children, to Notre Dame where we saw the queer figures on the doors of Adam and Eve, etc., and the rose win- 155 Foreign FlasKligKts clows that Dante has pictured in his Paradiso- To realize the centuries of history that have echoed around that early land-mark is to know France. Then we went to the Vendome, which, like Trajan's column; it seems to tell only one tale— Napoleon's ambition. We visited his tomb and found the beautiful chapel thronged with people who came from admiration or his- torical interest. The? canopied altar 'is like the one at St. Peter's, but is so much better placed that it is far more beautiful. The light thro' yellow glass falls upon the great twisted columns and gives them a golden glow. Opposite Napoleon's tomb, across a little park, is a monument to Pasteur, whose honest studj'' has saved so many lives. It is a simple statue out in the broad white sunlight, as science must Passing the Eifel Tower to the Trocadero Pal- ace, (which must have suggested Festival Hall hall, are very similar,) we found persons re- hearsing' in the hall and were told that talented t56 P aria men and women donate their efforts at this aud- itorium and the money raised is always used for charity. A hydraulic elevator took us up to the top of the tower, and from the top, we looked upon a statue of Washington and an- other of Franklin, and the Eifel tower just over the way seemed higher than ever. We passed the salon where art exhibits are held and the fame of our countrymen is won —or not, and then came to the obelisk on the Place de la Concord which marks the sad fate of Louis XVI and his beautiful Marie Antoin- ette, and many hundred others. The obelisk was placed there because it had no political significance— perhaps because it keeps those who stop to read, guessing what Rameses was trying to tell. Female statues representing the French cities, are placed in a circle around the obelisk. The city of Strassburg is draped with flowers as the grave might be, and has been since 1870, when it was lost and ceded to Germany. 157 Foreign FlasHligHts Spaking of graves, we visited the tomb of Abelard and Heloise at the Pere la Chaise. There were flowers recently placed at their feet by some one disappointed in love. A beauti- ful monument to all who have gone before has a place in the cemetery. The tomb of President Faure has no pronounced characteristic in this Republican France— much as the people loved him. A memory that will not fade is of the even- ing at the Grand Opera house. All are famil- iar with pictuhes of that magnificent stairway, but the mosaic floors, and the gorgeous ceiling of exquisite mosaic and framed in bronze stat- uary, must be seen to be known; and the opera was as beautiful as its setting. Virginia told us before leaving America that she was going to take us to this most famous hall. Just as if she were not taking us everyplace ? The first act "•^^as the prologue to the opera of Catalana. In the foreground was a thatched roof supported 158 P aris by four posts. In the background, the Jun?:- faii and another snow peak reflected the glow of the setting sun. A man in mountain skins walked over the mountain singing— the twi- light came down, the evening star twinkled and then another, then several, then many peep- ed thro' the deep purple. The man lay on his bed of straw and sang himself to sleep, while the voice he was dreaming of joined, and car- ried on the melody. The curtain fell on this exquisite pastoral. The opera Catalana is laid in the Sierra Madras. The costumes, of course, were Spanish. A village washing scene inter- rupted by the characteristic Spanish dance could not have been prettier. Truly it was a gala night. Leonard and I walked to the Palais D'Orsay to take a peep at Paris at midnight. Even at that hour the taximetres and other carriages were passing as constantly as in the daytime, and the street tables and chairs were ci'owded with people- ]\Iusic was playing every- 159 Foreign FlasKli^Hts where. At one place, it was made by a man I'ubbing tumblers of water, making four tones at one time. He was accompanied by a banjo. This morning we went to the shops— the Louvi-e and the Bon Marche. They did not turn our heads, strange to say. After lunch, Virginia and I strolled thro' the Louvre Musee. That was a joy! Of course, the familiar sub- jects were the greatest pleasure, but the Mar- riage of St. Catherine by Fra Bartholemmeo i? of the richest coloring. The Source and The Sphinx by Domanique are fine. I wondered whether Mr. Van Dyke knew the painting be- fore he wrote his Blue Flower, for there is an exquisite blue flower in the painting, and The Source is to me his choicest writing. More probabty both painting and story are from the Brahmin legend. The Rubens room devoted to the life story of Marie de Medici is a delight- ful way to read history. The pictures illustrate her life from the three Fates spinning the 1 60 Paria widowhood and regency, and departure to threads thro' her courtship and marriage with Henry IV, to the birth of Louis XIII, her Heaven where she joins her husband. We have not yet found the Venus de Milo. It was an endless jaunt thro' rooms full of other Venuses. We found them from every clime and in every graceful attitude. I was sure we would not find her in such company; and at last, after walking thro' all the aristroc- racy of mythology, we found her standing at the end of the corridor, with all the others to do her homage. Yes, she is beautiful— and more; her face is full of goodness— an honest, thought- ful expression that commands your love and admiration. London-July 17, 1907. A pleasant ride thro' northeastern France to Boulogne (a quaint city of forty thousand), a smooth passage across the English channel, a i6i Foreig'n FlasKligHts beautiful trip across the hedge bordered fields from Folkstone, with poppies everywhere, and we were in London. As soon as our faces were washed, we left the hotel, the Holborn Via- duct, climbed to the top of a bus and grinned at ourselves all the way to Piccadilly. It was a queer feeling to be on the top of a high bus and ride along on a level with the restaurant awnings. The horses that pulled us looked sleek and fat and contented, so I tried to think the load couldn't be as heavy as it looked. Eigh- teen passengers could ride on the top and as many inside, so there must be some pulling. Added to this are myriads of soap and food and health signs that so cover the bus that to find the name of it takes a practiced eye. As we rode along, we saw carts of bananas— the first since leaving America. How the banana cart and bycicle boy keeps from being upset is a mystery in these crowded streets; for the buses and cabs form an endless stream. We 162 L.ondon tried for a long time to cross the street and iinally walked between the wheels and under the seat of the driver of a high cab. We have not seen street cars; but have seen sub-stair- ways going to them, I suppose. Similar stair- ways going to the earth below are marked "Lav- atories, certainly a great improvement over the continental method. An interesting novelty about our room is the door bolt, which is opened by touching a but- ton from the bed. This is to admit the maid with the breakfast, I suppose. An old chest of drawers in the room proves to be a writing desk when you touch the button. The ward- robe is half chest of drawers— so nothing is as it seems. The clock does not run by electricity as it did in Paris, and as I have not started it, it points always to half past three. Our wash- stand is of tile illustrating Aesop's fables— the lion and the mouse, the dog and his shad- ow, the fox and the grapes, the fox dines with 163 Foreign FlasHligHts the stork, and so on. The drive this morning took us thro' many, many crowded streets and across the Thames to the Tower of London. The sun was shin- ing and dispelled the gloom associated with it— tho' tablets marked the place of the execu- tion ot Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey. But just there in the open place, the Scotch pipers were playing and we turned our backs on the names of the dead ({ueens to look at the picturesque costume and peculiar instruments of the Scotchman. And we were not the only auditors— two great, black crows gave the music every attention, and a peacock had only his train to distract him as he strolled along. In the Tower, we saw room after room of armour and bayonets— some of gold with fine tracery arranged in design, like the passion flower, or the sun. Wlien we entered the lOom where the king's crown is kept, we roused as 164 hondon from a dream and looked with all our might It is of diamonds with a ruby and sapphu-e set m the front. The sapphire belonged to Ed- ward the Confessor, and the ruby, which is more than an inch the longest diameter, was presented by Peter of Spain. The queen s crown and several others, is in the same enclosure. There is a baptismal font, a wine fountain tankards, innumerable salt jars, jeweled sword mid scepier, all made of gold arranged around the crown. A very id, three room cabin with thatched roof- The grass of the roof is at least fourteen inches thick. The floor is of rough stone. There are three openings an inch or two wide, like slus in the wall, that serve for windows in the room v.'here Robert Burns was born. The next and middle room is the stable with six stalls in it; and beyond is the kitchen with fire-place and crane, and a cupboard bed in the opposite wall. Of course, I had to buy a Tarn O'Shanter in Ayr, and was fortunate in finding one just 187 Foreign FlasKli^Hts across from the ale shop Tarn loved so well. A statue of him and of his jovial friend, Souter Johnnie, was carved by a self taught sculptor. Vv'ho was a friend of Burns, and these two jolly heads adorn the front of the shop where drinks are still sold. A picture of the witch pulling off Meg's leg is painted between them. The places associated with Burns are all kept in beau- tiful condition- Ilis monument is the centre of an exsuisite landscape garden, where all the flowers he loved so well bloom in profusion. In the monument room are the Bible he gave to Highland Mary, and tAvo goblets he gave to Clardinda. As we stood on Brig o'Doon, Ave looked down into a garden where music and peo- ple w^ere enjoying each other— andstrawberries and cream, to boot. In the town, is a statue of Burns with four illustrations of his poems in high relief on the pedestal— Tam O'Shanter and the witch with Meg's tail. The Cotter's Saturday Night, High- i8S land Mary, and a Soldier's Story. On our way back to Glasgow, we decided to leave for Liverpool tomorrow— Sunday. What was our surprise to find that there are no Sun- day trains. Glasgow— Juhj 28, 1907. This is a Presbyterian Sabbath. I am looR- ing into the train shed from this table. Eight lines of coaches have been standing there vM day. Not a person can be seen or heard— There ! I never said anything yet but someone cor- rected me! This time it was a boy emptying garbage out of a wheel-barrow into a hole made by a trap door in the station pavement. But he is gone before I can tell it. We went to the Cathedral this morning. The seats were full of worshipers. The music was rarely beautiful. We had no programs, so I could not learn of the composers; but the Te Deum Laudamus was beautifull arranged and 189 Foreign Flashlights well sung. The collection was received in a velvet bag with a narrow slit in it. In London, they used a box wdth a slit in it. It looks over cautious. The two ministers wore black gowns wdth purple drapery down the back and the preacher had swan's dow^n on his shoulders. He read the banns for Joseph Brown and Harriet Blank— the first reading. The church is Presbyterian, but unlike ours in the Middle West. I could not understand the English, so studied the aarchitecture and col- ored windows. I am glad I had the time for they are sermons. One was an African with a baby on her back, another at the side, and the hand outstretched like a beggar. That is a good missionary window One hymn that was sung seemed especially beautiful, "Be still, my Soul.*' The organist and instrument w^ere in perfect harmony. There was a very well trained chorus choir and the tenor soloist has a rare voice. The choir loft 190 Glasgo"W is in the gallery opposite the pulpit and lecturn. The pews are on all sides of the square where and two ministers sit on each side of the lec- turn. In the afternoon, I walked out to see St. George's square more. The children were play- ing tag around the heels of Queen Victoria's equestrian statue, and in the very shadow of James Watts and Sir Walter Scott. Liverpool— July 30, 1907. A day of rain and sunshine on the train yesterday brought us over beautiful hills and valleys, but passing Tory few farmhouses to this busy city. After wo v/ere comfortably lodged at the Adelphi, we started out to buy a thistle table-cloth as a souvenir of Scotland. That took us into many good stores and a few poor ones —for the thistle is not a common pattern. A sales man answered our querry ''At what hour is the store open in the morning?" with ''Those 191 Foreig'n FlasKli^Kts that 'live in' are here at 8:30. The shop must be scrubbed. It is open for customers at 9:00. I wish I didn't live in" When we inquired further he said he and the other employees eat and sleep in the building. He receives six hun- dred shillings and lis living a year. It seems very little. Scarcely twelve dollars a month. This morning we four, Dmght, Virginia, Leonard and I started off for a day in Chester. And what a satisfactory day it was ! We went thro' the East gate with the Victoria Jubilee clock above it, on down Watergate street to find the oldest house. We thought each one must be it, but were sure of it when we came to the one with *' God's Providence is mine inheri- tance." carved into the great beam that reached across the front of the house. Another house motto is *'The fear of the Lord is the fountain of Life." We walked around the old Roman Wall and exclaimed every step as we looked down upon 192 the beautiful gardens, or read quaint inn signs —one read, "AVe cater to beds," another is the sign of the bear. The river Dee reflects sun- shine as it tumbles thro' the race of the mill. Just beyond it is Eaton Hall— the home of the Duke of Westminster. The cathedral was very satisfying. Roaming around and reading the tablets here and there. It was in so doing, we found the name of Wil- liam Makepeace Thackery and his wife direct- ly in the aisle. We first had passed it by (so modest it is) being so taken with heroic mosaics of Abraham, Moses, David and Elijah. But the best of Chester is the up and down stairs streets. We walked up the downstairs streets, and down the upstairs streets, and the pleasure never grew less. We were all hunt- ing a AVedgewood tea-pot which Virginia want- ed for a souvenir, and found numberless an- tique shops. Leonard artlessly called one sec- ond hand, but the saleswoman said ''Not second 193 Foreign FlasHligHts jiist priced a broken tea-pot, creamer, bowl and four cups and saucers (all mended ware) being packed, having been sold for $75. We found that Wedgewood was not limited to the cameo ware we were familiar with. We saw lots of black, some brown or terra cotta, countless gaily flowered pieces, and at last a few of the blue and Avhite, which all the merchants sadly alluded to as *'only modern." Age is at a premium here. The tea signs tempted us, and twice we stop- ped at quaint places to drink a cup and eat a delicious hot toasted tea cake, and mammoth strawberries with rich yellow cream. August 1 , 1907. Not yet eye weary, the last afternoon was spent in the Walker Museum. Except one room, the paintings are modern. In the entrance groups of statuary are, Jephtha and his daughter, Ruth and Naomi, A Wise and a Foolish virgin, 194 Hoxne'ward and Florizel and Peridta. In the hall above is a most affecting painting— "A Parting." A calf with feet tied together for shipping is being hugged by the little boy who has been his playmate. A Reverie by Dicksee, was Chi- cago in '93. "When did you see your father last?" A flaxen haired lad in blue velvet be- ing quizzed by the peaked capped Cromwellians while his mother holds her breath fearing the innocent child's reply. The most famous paint- ing is by Dante Rossetti— of the poet Dante try- ing to withhold the angel of death from kissing Beatrice. This morning Mrs. Lewis and I took a lone* street car ride out on Croxteth Road to the park. Then we went to buy a bit of English china for a souvenir. I thought a cream jug appropriate, for we have had the most delicious cream since crossing the Channel. I selected one made in Staffordshire— a squatty thing with bright flowers on it. 195 Foreign FlasKlig'Kts S. 8. Cedric— August 2, 1907. We are just off from Queenstown. That is a brief remark, but it means much!— that we are homeward bound. After all the interesting times we have had day after day, it is good to have a home to go to. We shall enjoy it all the more, enriched with the memories of Lucerne and Katrine, the Alhambra and Windsor Cas- tle, the mosque of Cordova and Milan Cathe- dral, the narrow streets of Tangiers and the handsome Princes Street of Edenburgh. The gulls are following us because of the bites thrown into the sea. How graceful they are— whether soaring in the air or swimming on the water (It almost makes one wish to be a real, material angel and a material mermaid!) Soon even these companions will leave us and the sea turned a billions green, and many of us enough, if we have that within us to see it. And now we have left the lands of poppies— (I said that before, when we were in Switzer- 196 Homeward land and have seen poppies every day since.) Now I fear no contradiction. It is a great satis- faction to have the last word. August 3, 1907. It was well I wrote early yesterday— before the sea turned a billions green and many of us turned the same color. Today is smooth and the deck chairs are full. Two flocks of black birds have met us and flown east. A sailor tells us they sleep upon the water, only returning to ,the land at nesting time- A mreless message, posted on the stairway says Queen Wilhemenia assisted at the laying of the corner stone for the Carnegie Peace Conference Rail yesterday. Also that an outbreak in Tangiers resulted in tlie death of one Italian, two Spaniards, and four Frenchmen. August 8, 1907. Ship news has not yet been very startling. The passengers are rather reserved, so we have added to our acquaintance since sailing only 197 Foreign FlasKlig'Kts the three passengers that sit at our table. One of them, who sat alone at the far end, an old Scotch gentleman who is connected with the White Star Line, introduced himself to us this morning in order to thank Virginia for the "many sweet smiles" she had given him during the voyage. He went on to tell her she remind- ed him of his late queen, Victoria, who always had a Avelcoming smile for everyone. When T told Leonard of this, he said he overheard a croup on the Konig Albert saying Virginia had the face of a Madonna— What two tributes could be greater! We have had a very smooth voyage, except for a squall yesterday afternoon. Even that' did not seem much of a storm on this great steamer. The days pass quickly from the mo- ment the maid brings to our beds a pealed orange on a fork in the early morning, untH Ave return to that same soft couch at night. One great time annihilator has been to arrange our 198 Home-ward five hundred postals in the album. That wa% like reviewing the pleasures of the past two months without any of the effect of early ris- ing, eating omelet and carrots, or recalling that old pun about your real estate when each loot is an acre. There is a great interest in the milage of the vessel each day. Especially among groups of passengers — both men and women — who havt. pooled their money and bought a number. The pool goes to the one who buys the number of miles the steamer makes in the next twenty- four hours. It is an intricate system. They form a new pool each day and some men have won in a day, six hundred dollars; more than four times the year's Avages of our shop's sales- man. Neiv York— Sunday, August 11, 1907. The rush has been on since about four o'clock Friday, when to our surprise a sparrow appear- 199 Foreign FlasKli^Hts eel on the uppermost deck. Where did it coijie from 1 When we looked to see, there, far out on our right, were very regular outlines of some- thing, as if they might be Holland trees, or, as Virginia suggested, the basket hooded chaii-s of Scheveningen. From then on, the interest Avas keen for sights of our native land. The ladies donned their showy hats with ear-tick- ling feathers and billowy veils- Ships became so common that I despaired of keeping count after they had numbered thirty. Two of these were our battleships Kentucky and Illinois— what a rousing cheer we gave them! We are floating our own flag now ; for Union Jack came down, and the Stars and Stripes went up as the American pilot climbed up the ladder on the side of the great ship to steer her into harbor. And such a harbor! Gibralter, Naples, Glas- gow, Liverpool— ah, there is but one America ! Naples is beautiful as a dream, the others are so, but New York is the waking reality if en- 200 Home-ward ergy and ability— a galaxy of glittering stars as we came in, in the falling twilight. Tho Goddess of Liberty welcomes the wanderer like a dignified matron, whose home is thrown open to those who choose to accept her hospitality. And well might she be proud to look about her at the floating palaces ablaze with light that glide thro' her spacious hall. And of all that floats, we were by far the greatest. Our battle- ships seemed pygmies as they passed us. But size is not always the most to be desired, surely it would be impossible to make the narrow canal on whose pier we wero to land! Not so! Six little tugs came and poked their noses against our nose until we laced about; and then the six tugs went and poked their noses in the rear, until we gently swung along side the dock. So gently that not a fibre of wood of the ship or of the landing touched as we rounded the cor- ner. Nothing seemed so difficult as that land- ing, the passengers on the steamer were shout- 20 1 Foreign FlasKligKts ing to their friends on the dock: "Are all well at home?" and vice versa, "How are you?" How much that means ! Out we poured with our fifteen pieces of bag- gage—an hour before, we had gone to the din- ing room just long enough to declare to the custom officer our name and address, when we sailed and to what port, how many pieces of baggage we took with us, and how many we brought back, and the valuation of the new goods. An experienced lady told me it was wise to have about eighty dollars' worth. We had our baggage labeled "L" because there were only three passengers of that initial. We thought we were awfully smart, but every- one else did the same thing and "L" was a terrible jam. At last we had our stuff togeth- er and went for an inspector. "You say you have one hundred eighty dollars' worth?" I'm not a mind reader, so I'll have to look in your trunks." "Here's the list, sir." "Well, let's 203 Home^ward see something. Have you anything in the suit case ? " " Yes. There is a muff in there. ' ' "You say you have a new trunk- Have you anything in the old one." "I have things everywhere. The table cloths are on the very bottom. " " Well, well! it's too bad to bother you. I'll bring the appraiser." And he did. They both looked at those five dollar trunks with a sweeping glance and glued labels on saying, "Now you're all done, but the shouting." The only thing they looked at carefully was the Granada picture, which was crated. So a carpenter opened it and nailed it up again. Of course it was easy to see that we have nothing that injures our countries industries. Two hours finished our task and we were driven to the hotel— a hot and tired party. How fine it was to have a swim after being limited to a bowl all summer! To be sure fifty cents would procure a big milk pan for you on the other side, but who wants to bathe in such a 203 Foreign Flashli&'Kts shallow pool? The next indulgence was the shampooer, a Frenchman, who urged a facial massage. I asked him why, for my face is as round as the moon. His answer was : ' ' I would take the sun shine out of it Madam,** which means tan. What a world New York is ! Parisian hats and barbers. Swiss chocolates and Brussels, Venetian and Spanish laces. Dutch cheeses, Italian singers. Irish women sitting on the streets with baskets of their crocheting. Shop windows and newspapers advertising Scotch plaids. And the sermon this morning by the eminent London Evangelist, Dr. G. Campell Morgan. These were all so before we went abroad, but how much more they mean to us now! Yesterday afternoon Ave took a sight seeing motor trip thro' the beautiful part of the city. The man with the megaphone (we didn't see megaphones in Europe) told us as we passed 204 Hoin«-w*rd the homes of the millionaires, whether the money was accumulated by success in soap, oil, medi- cine or patent glove fasteners; or perhaps as in the cases of Richard Mansfield and Julia Mar- lowe, it was made by playing to man's higher nature on the stage. We passed Columia Uni- versity, drove along the road which is said to be like Rotton Row. But the grass is not so green as in England. Then we visited Grant's tomb— (so similiar to Napoleon *s), and finally came along the Riverside drive to Hotel Astor which is home for the time being. A night in Chinatown was the other extreme from the Riverside and out on Fifth Avenue; so disgusting and pitiable ! The Chinamen have American wives who have become Chinese at least to the extent of using opium. In one house, a woman was lying on the bed smokinL' her pipe, containing the little round ball of opium, (like a big pill), which had been pur- pared for her by white men hired for that pur- ses Foreign FlasKligHts pose. We were allowed to walk around the room containing their sacred altar, provided we kept our garments from touching and pol- luting it. Most places of worship have some thrill of goodness in them; but this—! The bowery dance hall is not unlike any other com- mon hall. Three girls were there dancing in turn Avith the fifty men, many of them sailors. What a shame to give up a whole evening 'to something so disagreeable! The ]\Ietropolitan Museum restored our pride in America's metropolis. Of course, it is not the Vatican or the Louvre, but "Rome was not built in a dav. " Home— August 14, 1907. How good it is to be here! The curtains waved a welcome when we were 'way down the road; and the clocks are all ticking a greeting, and fresh flowers in every vase the house af- fords, are on the tables and mantel, and the 206 Horn* 'phone ringing every five minutes to say "So glad you're home safe!" "We did have one narrow escape/' I hear Leonard reply. "Where!" I ask in consternation. "If that automobile had run into us in Paris!" "But it didn't." 207 PERSONEL OF OUR PARTY Mrs. John Combs, South Orange New Jersey. Miss Combs and Master Combs South Orang:e, New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Cook, Wind sor, Conn. Mr. and Mrs. L. M. Cutting, ^Jerseyville, 111. Mr. and Mrs. D. S. Dalbey, Jer seyville, 111. Miss Keene, Fort Scott, Kansas Mr. Kussner, Chicago, 111. Mrs. Ford Lems, Jersej^ville, 111 Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Le^\ds, Al lentown, Penn. Miss Wilcox, California. PERSONEL OF PARTY JOIN- ING US AT NAPLES. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, Pitts- Mr. and Mi^. Ballard, Maiden, Mass. 308 Mr. and Mrs. Blake, Phila- delphia, Pa. Miss Belman, New York City. Miss Carpenter, Providence, R. I. Miss dishing. Providence, R. I. Mrs. Dampman, Reading", Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Dickinson, Spring- field, Mass. Mr. Horn, New York City. Miss Lagiino, Ncav York City. Mrs. Moffatt, New York City. Mr. and Mrs. and Master 'Neil, New York City. Mrs. Porter and the Misses Por- ter, Texas. Mrs. Shafer, Reading, Pa. Mrs. Shaw and daughter,. Cali- fornia.