An Autumn Holiday in the United States and Canada

Front matter

I AN AUTUMN HOLIDAY IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. AN AUTUMN HOLIDAY IN THE UNITED STATES AND CyINADA. BY THE REV. JOHN KIRKWOOD, TROON. 3£t>(nburslb: ANDREW ELLIOT, n Princes Street. MDCCCLXXXVII, TO %. §. ty&mmonli, (Esq., [ieW York, WHOSE KINDNESS CONTRIBUTED LARGELY TO THE ENJOYMENT OF THE AUTUMN HOLIDAY, G3bfs IMume IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. P R E F A C E . To those who seek to spend a holiday beyond our own shores, the Continent of Europe has hitherto had the chief attractions. Its Norwegian Fiords, its glorious Alps, its ancient cities, and the calm retreats on the blue Mediterranean, are deserved favourites. But the American Continent has claims peculiarly its own. It is not without its grand and varied scenery ; and its history, if modern, is marvellous, not in the records and wars of princes, but in the signs of the progress of a great people.

It has, indeed, here and there, footprints of the past — marks of earnest and successful struggles for liberty— but the present sons of the soil are constantly achieving conquests by the ploughshare, the mining pick, and the mechanic's hammer, whose traces may be found everywhere. They are famous for valuable discoveries and inventions, and important schemes for social and religious advancement. They are already rich in the memory of illustrious men, and have among the living many of the excellent of the earth. The colonization of their vast territories excels, in extent and romantic interest, any in the history of the world. The immigrants are from all nations, yet the prevailing influence and welding power are those of our own race, language, and religion. In their institutions we may see the fruits — often the riper fruits — of our own earlier civilization.

In the great body of the people we find proofs of genuine regard for the mother country, which we ought cordially to reciprocate, not looking with jealousy, but with pride, on the progress

Preface

. and attainments of our kith and kin. And among them we may discover friends of former clays, or be introduced to those, hitherto strangers, who give us the warmest of welcomes. The dreaded Atlantic, which lies between, is the great barrier in the way of many. But if it has its drawbacks, it has also its advantages. If it sometimes destroys our physical comfort and equilibrium, it brings complete isolation and rest from the cares of the outer world, and is, generally, in the highest degree, health-giving. Every convenience, ancl even luxury, may be enjoyed in crossing ; the time occupied furnishes a sufficient specimen of an ocean voyage without its tedium ; while the facilities for speedy and comfortable travelling are, on the other side, unsurpassed. Surely all this may well lend a charm to a holiday in America not exceeded by any European one, and give to the record of it a special interest to readers at home.

The field is familiar to many ; and not a few who have gone there have brought back their sheaves with them. But abundant gleanings are always left, and each visitor may gather and bring back something more, if not something altogether new, which may be scattered, perhaps on fresh and receptive soil, as a return for the seeds our sons originally received from ourselves. At all events, it was with this hope that I was induced to write a series of papers in the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, on my recent tour in the United States and Canada, and have again been persuaded to reproduce, them in a more per manent, and, I trust, a more improved form in the following pages. CONTENTS. a

Chapter I

\'. NEW YORK — WORK AND WAYS. — Harper's Printing Establishment- Hotels— Arrangement of Streets— Broadway and its Business— Fifth Avenue- Elevated Railroad— Battery-park— Central-park— Grave of General Grant. Pp. ia-os.

CHAPTER V. SHORT EXCURSIONS.

— Coney Island— Colossal Elephant— Colossal Advertisements-Brooklyn ; its Churches, its Park, its Bridge— The Hudson— We.t Point. PP- 5™»-

CHAPTER VI. TO THE CITY OF PENN.

— Newark— Orange— Princeton— Philadelphia. Pp. C'J-Sa..

CHAPTER VII. TO NIAGARA.

— The Katskill Mountains -Railway Kitchen and other conveniences and inconveniences-Mohawk Valley-Origin of Mormonism-Buffalo -Froude and the Falls-Niagara River-Niagara Village-Clearances— The c Pp. 8C-100. Scene. r

CHAPTER VIII. TO MONTREAL.

— Gait— Hamilton-Ontario— Toronto— The St. Lawrence- Thousand Islands-Victoria Bridge-The Ice Bridge-Canadian Cottage-The Mountain. "' CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IX. TO QUEBEC.

— Lachine Rapids— Indians— Night on the St. Lawrence— Morning glory— Point Levi— Cape Diamond— Chamber of Representatives— Plains of Abraham- Wolfe's Cove-Old Town— French Canadians. Pp- 119-138.

CHAPTER X. TO BOSTON.

— Sabbath at Montreal— Back Woods— Lake Champlain— Albany Capitol and Park— Springfield— Boston— Bunker's Hill— Harvard University— Poets. PP- 139-158.

CHAPTER XI. ACROSS THE ALLEGHVNIES.

— PrivateCar— Harrisburg— Altoona— Under. ground Railway — Colt Shoe — Mountain House — Pittsburg — Natural Gas. Pp. 109-176.

CHAPTER XII. TO CHICAGO.

— Indianapolis— Lake Michigan — The City — Church Conference — Fire-proof Buildings — The Great Fire— Dynamite Scare — Natural and Spiritual Light. Pp. 177-189.

CHAPTER XIII. TO THE MISSISSIPPI.

— Pacific Hotel— The Prairie- Schools -Milwaukee- Dawn on the Mississippi— Dangers — Minnesota — Minneapolis — Minnehaha — Falls of St. Anthony. Pp. 190-207.

CHAPTER XIV. TO KANSAS CITY.

— St. Paul— Plymouth Church— Navigation of Mississippi — Touch of Arctic Frost— State of Iowa — Missouri — Growth of Kansas City — Its Coloured People. Pp, 208-22/,.

CHAPTER XV. FROM THE WEST.

— St. Louis— Meeting of the Waters— Springfield of the West— Our own Line— Hammond Village— Testing Ride— Pittsburg Again— Portrait of Dr. Taylor. ppr 225-21a0.

CHAPTER XVI. WASHINGTON.

— The Susquehanna— First View of the City— The Monument— The White House— The President— The War Reproduced— The Capitol— Culture of the Coloured People. p™ 2U1-255.

CHAPTER XVII. HOMEWARD.

— Baltimore-Jersey Ferry by Night-Prayer Meeting-Banquet at Union League Club-The Parting-Gloomy Skies-The Gale-The Calm-The Welcome Home. j, f ,-,. ,~ ,

CHAPTER I.

Œfye Vo^aqc. T was blowing great guns when we reached Liverpool, on AVednesday the 8th September, 1886, to sail on the following afternoon for New York, by the s.s. Bepublic. All the way from the North the valleys had echoed the roar of the blast, and the tall trees bent before it like willow wands. The rain fell in torrents, and streams, usually unnoticed, dashed by our side as foaming cataracts. Everything wore a wintry aspect when we found shelter for the night under the hospitable roof of a relative of our friend Dr. Taylor, of Broadway Tabernacle, who was to be our fellow-voyager and our host in the New AA'orld. At the landing-stage, and on board the tender which was to take us to our ship, we had many cordial greetings from members of the doctor's former congregation in Liverpool, most of whom we had met in the days of his pastorate there.

We were also delighted to find one or two connected with our own neighbourhood, who happened to be in the city and sought us out. It was a pleasant parting, furnishing the opportunity of renewing old friendships, and was accompanied with introductions to officers and passengers, with whom new ties were to be formed. The gloomy skies were forgotten, and we were full of hope and joy. The beginning of the voyage was not smooth. AVe were rocked all night, but not to infants' slumbers. Few were found on the deck, when, with the morning, we looked on the shores of old Ireland. What had been going on in the several state-rooms we partially heard, and may be imagined. There was a short respite, however, in the quiet waters of Queenstown Bay — a name familiar to those connected with the sea as the place where vessels call for orders on returning home ; and as the only port touched in going on or returning from such a voyage as ours.

Nearly all on board revived, charmed with the scenery, and welcoming the tender as it came alongside with news, not only the latest, but the last we would receive for fully a week. We had here a proof of Irish enterprise, and the desire to push an honest trade, in the vendors of lace, staffs, deck-chairs, fruits, etc., who literally pushed their wares from the paddle-box of the tender to our deck. One earnest old woman, who could not find a place on the paddle-box, showed her ingenuity by having a line fixed to our bulwarks, and thereby hoisting her basket INCIDENTS AT QUEENSTOWN. 11 on board for our inspection. As it was understood that we would be delayed here for three or four hours, a few of the passengers went on shore, and took a run to Cork by rail. AA'hether they embraced the opportunity also of kissing the Blarney Stone we did not learn ; but they had ample time to do so, and some thought there were signs afterwards that this had not been neglected.

AA'e received the mails at Queenstown, the bags on this occasion being specially numerous — about 600 — as the previous steamer, which should have taken a portion of them, had been disabled. These we watched with interest as one by one they were counted, and tossed, by no means tenderly, into our hold. They were addressed to all parts of America, from New York to California ; and also to Australia and New Zealand. Some time ago, at Dover, we noticed the mails for the Antipodes put on board to go Eastward, and here were those intended to reach the same destination by going Westward. How extremes meet ! How small, too, the world must be when we can salute our kindred at the extremities of the empire by stretching our hands both to the right and to the left, as if embracing the whole sphere in our arms !

And, surely, if one arm goes out from Dover, it is only proper that the other should go out from Queenstown. This, besides keeping Ireland near our heart, has obvious practical advantages which she may justly claim as due to her position, being nearer America than any other part of the British Isles. The changes lately made by our Post Office authorities, depriving Ireland in part of a privilege she has so long enjoyed, though to some extent afterwards recalled, are not unnaturally a new source of grievance which it would have been well to have avoided, and which it would be well not to carry further than the public interests absolutely demand. The beauty of Queenstown Bay, surrounded by bold head-lands, and green hills dotted with white cabins, or clothed with wood, while the town itself rises in terraces on the more distant heights, made one quite fall in love with the Emerald Isle.

And this impression was not effaced as we left the bay, and sailed along the south-western shore, discovering little villages nestling among the hills, with the iron bound coast broken into beautiful, or wild and fan tastic forms, by the relentless ocean. Our attention here was arrested by a little rocky island, from which an old castle seemed to rise in calm defiance. An artist might well sketch it as a picturesque example of the round-tower period. AA'e were told, however, that both castle and rock are one — a natural forma tion, and an impregnable barrier against the billows. \Arould that our Irish friends were thus connected with the Eternal Rock ! How safe would be their position, and how easily might their wrongs be then set right ! AVe lingered on the deck, after the darkness had set in, and watched, with mingled feelings, the last SABBA TH AT SEA. 13 light-house, as it disappeared in the distance, or dipped beneath the horizon.

Softly, my little fellow voyager and I, in a quiet corner, hymned the words, "Star of peace gleam on the billow," and other songs of the sea, with a depth of meaning they never had before, and with calm sweet trust. How cheering it was to believe that we had not set out on a dark and shoreless ocean, but that the new world, though as yet unknown to us, was as certainly on the other side, as the old and familiar was on this ! So may it be when we leave that shore to which no voyager returns ! And now we were on the bosom of the broad Atlantic ; not so gentle as we could have wished, and whose heaving brought many a sigh. There was a sad display of empty seats at breakfast, and a yet sadder at dinner. The " souls " of many " abhorred all manner of meat;" and I confess that, on a certain occasion, I was one of them.

Sabbath, our third day at sea, was the beginning of comparative peace. Dr. Taylor preached to a fair representation of passengers who could venture to the saloon, while I undertook a similar duty in the steerage. Neither was con ducted without difficulty, as one had to steady both body and mind at the same time. But there was a reward in the interest taken in the services, and, we trust, in something better. Gradually, day by day, the skies brightened, and the sea settled, till "the blue above and the blue below" seemed to vie with each other to obtain our admiration. AVe entered the Gulf Stream, and the temperature rose rapidly. The deck became a scene of life and joy, seldom interrupted afterwards by any change of weather. Ladies and gentlemen lounged in their deck-chairs, basking in the sun, or, under the shadow of an awning, reading, writing, chatting, or gazing silently, in vacant abstraction, on the glittering sea.

Some, with evident relish, were sipping their chicken soup or beaf-tea, handed round the saloon deck between breakfast and luncheon, to mitigate the craving which the other four meals seemed unable to satisfy. A child careered along with skip ping ropes ; others, of larger growth, seeking to renew their youth by also trying their feet. The young men attempted cricket, ingeniously providing against the lack of space by fixing their ball with a string to a spar. Both elder and younger took to a kind of curling, using wooden stones ; or to a kind of quoits, using rings of rope, which they sought to put on a wooden pin. Familiarity grew, and the young ladies were sometimes induced to join the young gentlemen in these games, or to walk with them in a brotherly and sisterly spirit ! The sights without were few, but yet sufficient to break the monotony of the boundless expanse.

There might be seen, occasionally, a lonely Mother-Cary's chicken flitting swallow-like over the wave ; a few por poises chasing us, and, in their zeal, springing entirely SIGHTS AND SOUNDS. 15 out of the water ; a shoal of whales, causing spray like the splash of a cannon ball, some lifting their huge backs, and displaying their tails, within gun-shot, to the great delight of the passengers ; or, general interest was excited by one or two homeward-bound vessels coming so close as not only to receive a salute by the dipping of our ensigns but by the waving of our handkerchiefs. It was a fine sight to meet a sailing ship, with every inch of canvass stretched, moving slowly, but majestically, with more dignity, if less defiant of the elements, than the Servia, which, in full steam, had just crossed us.

There were also various sounds, which broke the "silence of the sea." There were the half-hour watch bells, the larger responding to the smaller, telling each other and us of passing time ; the boatswain's whistle, calling his men around him to some special work ; the sailors' song, enabling them to give a strong pull, a long pull, and a pull altogether; the "All's well," echoing through the stillness of the night, and soothing us to peaceful slumber ; and the gong, rousing the sleepers, or inviting the hungry to welcome supplies. But there was another sound, widely contrasted with these, that of the horrid steam fog-horn, startling us with its sudden yell and deep hollow groan. This was par ticularly eerie at night, suggesting the possibility of no very pleasant encounters ; and too frequent, for our com fort, off the banks of Newfoundland.

An anxious passen ger, who imagined that the expression 'off the banks' implied a nearness to some shore, asked the captain, to whom he had previously been somewhat troublesome, if we were far from land. " Less than a mile," was the curt reply. Astonishment and alarm were immediately manifest. " Yes," responded the captain, " but it's down there," pointing to the bottom of the sea. "Off the banks " we were, in reality, about two hundred miles from land, though the depth might not be more than seventy or eighty fathoms. It was interesting, when the fog dis appeared and the sun shone out, to see several fishing boats carrying on their craft, and, with furled sails, rolling on the smooth swell of the ocean. AA'e noticed two small rowing boats, far from their parent vessels, looking like lost wanderers, forgetful of poor Richard's words : — " Vessels large may venture more, But little boats should keep near shore."

After sunset we often paced the deck, admiring the ever-varied waving sheen which was cast by the moon on the silver sea. The evenings, however, were gene rally spent in the saloon, where at times all conscious ness of motion seemed to cease, with the exception of the slight tremor produced by the screw ; so that we could scarcely imagine we were not in a spacious and well-provisioned hotel on shore. Here we found every possible comfort, and numerous sources of instruction and recreation. Draught-boards were often in use, earnest and lively conversations engaged in, books read, little groups propounding and solving puzzles, or the piano was THE OREGON'S WRECK. 17 played, with sometimes a sweet voice, or blended voices, warbling over all. AA'e had also a concert, advertised by little volunteers appearing as sandwich men, announcing that the performance would be by " black albinoes, admission free, children half price."

It was thus that our gallant ship, with the days and nights glided swiftly on, till we began to look out for the land. A\re w-ere apprised of our position daily at noon, when latitude and longitude, with distance run, were laid down on a little chart fixed on the companion way. The chart was an object of great interest, and its coming contents a subject of earnest speculation, followed by congratulations or condolence as the speed exceeded or came short of our calculations. A sad sight was witnessed after our position was marked for the last time, and while we were yet a long way from land. The top masts of a vessel, with the spars still clinging to them, were seen rising twenty or thirty feet out of the water. These belonged to the ill-fated Oregon, one of the most magnificent of the Cunard Liners, which lay, as yet unbroken, in the depths beneath.

She sunk here, on the night of the 14th March, 1886, when those on board were suddenly aroused from their slumbers by her striking into a vessel, declared to have been unseen at the moment, and never discovered afterwards. There had been barely time to take to the boats, in which hundreds floated helplessly, and apparently hopelessly, in the gloom. Fortunately the sea was calm, and, with the morning, all were picked up by a passing vessel. AVe sailed so near the wreck that we could distinguish the ropes hanging uselessly which had so lately bound the rigging firmly together. The spot was guarded by a lightship, but withal it was not very safe. As we looked at these sad top-masts, like the fingers of one drowned which alone had reached the surface, lifted up in vain for help, a silent thought fulness crept over the passengers, thus reminded of the perils of the deep ; and, we trust, feeling grateful to Him who had so marvellously provided deliverance on that terrible night, and had, not less wonderfully, preserved us hitherto from all accident.

Shortly after passing the wreck of the Oregon, we were cheered by several visitors from land — butterflies of various hues, driven or enticed, from their fragrant moorings, far to sea, and clinging to our bare boards for refuge. Some were easily caught, and we could not refrain from securing one or two as curiosities in the circumstances ; but others, the brightest and strongest of wing, escaped, doubtless to perish more miserably on the wave. Our last sun at sea was now sinking in the horizon. It was directly a-head, and some of us hastened to the prow, which seemed as if it were about to cut into the glowing orb. AA7e gazed, shading our eyes, like Columbus, " Who push'd his prows into the setting sun," in the hope of seeing the New AVorld beyond. It was THE WELCOME. 19 dark, however, before we were gratified ; and, like the great discoverer, it was by the lights on the shore we knew that land was there.

These lights consisted of the brilliant lamps, electric and otherwise, from the spacious hotels and terraces of Coney Island — the great watering-place of New York — which gradually opened up to us like a string of pearls. They seemed long to linger in view, with apparently little change of position, as we rounded Sandy Hook — the Scotchman whom an American brother says he always sees first on returning home, and last on leaving it. At length we drop anchor in the bay, at the mouth of the broad and beautiful harbour of New York. This bay furnishes at once a direct connection with, and a partial protection from the Ocean. The City, though only a few miles distant, is yet unseen. One or two local steamers are anchored near us, whose windows, all aglow with variously-coloured lights, seem, in the still waters, "to float double, ship and shadow."

A small boat had approached, and hails us out of the darkness, when we distinguish the voices, though not the forms, of sons of mine host. They had taken a long journey through the city, and a long pull through the sea, that, with the earliest opportunity, they might cheer us with good news from their home, and learn if all was well with us on board. Their merry voices break for a little the stillness, but gradually die in the distance, as they hasten to relieve and gladden anxious friends. Custom House and Quarantine regulations forbid that we should land with them. Looking forward, however, with perfect confidence to the welcome immediately before us, we patiently wait for the breaking of the day. And thus ended our voyage, on the 18th of Sept., eight days after the last land was left, and nine after we had left Liverpool.

It had not been without a little roughness in the beginning, but how blessed throughout, and how peaceful in its close ! May it be so with the great voyage of life ! And may we find, on " death's dark night," bright lights and familiar voices from the Better AArorld, turning its gloom into gladness, and see the day about to dawn when we shall enter " through the gates into the City !"

Chapter II

Hero J)ork anb its (Cfyurcfyes. ITH the dawn of the Sabbath, the land we had so earnestly looked for opened upon us. Fit day for the first time to gaze on a New AA'orld, and tread its shores ! A slight mist, from the early heat, hung on the calm waters, and partially veiled the prospect. But this only added to the charm, giving scope for the imagination to magnify the beauties of the scene, and picture it with fairer forms than its own. All things seemed to enjoy the day of rest ; and even our good ship steamed gently and noiselessly along, as if it, too, had respect for the hallowed morn, and was reluctant to break the stillness. Passing through the Narrows — the gates of the city, powerfully guarded by Fort Richmond and Fort Hamil ton — the broad harbour of New York was discovered. It seemed somewhat to resemble that of Queenstown in form, but evidently excelled it in space, and presented a striking contrast in signs of an overflowing population and commercial industry.

Directly in front of us was the city itself, rising on a tongue of land where the Hudson and East Rivers meet. The Produce Exchange, the AA'ashington Buildings, and the graceful spire of Trinity Church, stood out most prominently as nearest us and in themselves most lofty, while a vast wilder ness of houses crowded thickly behind. To the right was Brooklyn, attracting our attention chiefly by the famous Bridge which joins it to New York, spanning the East River (at that point nearly half-a-mile broad), but also extending into a portion of both cities, so that the entire length of the bridge is fully a mile and a-half. Its lofty towers, toward their bases, were lost in the mist, but, as they rose above the river, they were clearly relieved on the sky ; while the great iron cables supporting the ways, and the ways themselves, seemed, from our distance, as gossamer threads, and the whole as if suspended in mid-air.

To the left was Jersey City, with the heights behind, separated from New York by the Hudson ; here at its mouth about a mile broad, and merged in the great harbour, or rather chiefly instrumental in making it. Towering up toward the Jersey side, about half a mile from it, and fully a mile and a-half from the New York and Brooklyn sides, is the famous Statue of Liberty ; the gift of the French, but chiefly paid for by the Ameri cans. It stands on a massive pedestal built on a little island called Bedloe's, and is certainly the most promi- STATUE OF LIBERTY. 23 nent object in the whole harbour, conspicuous not only on entering, but from all directions. It is a colossal female figure, holding in one hand a tablet with the date 4th July, 1776, affixed to it — the day of the Declaration of Independence — and in the other a torch raised aloft with strained arm.

The torch is 350 feet above the sea ; higher than our loftiest spires, and about as high as is the golden cross of St. Paul's above the marble pavement. AA^hen we saw the figure first, the head had yet to be put on (neither Monarchy nor Republic can do without that), and its place was indicated by bars of iron or brass, through which the light of day appeared. Now that it is complete, as we afterwards saw it, the best brains of the country may enter, and a score of senators hold a council within its brazen skull ; or they may look through those wondrous eyes on the commerce coming from all nations, and see their own wealthiest and most populous cities lying at their feet. The Statue of Liberty may not add anything to the pleasing effect produced on entering this picturesque bay, but it at least furnishes a most striking feature.

And, although most gigantic, it is not out of proportion to a harbour which embraces a body of water about two miles in diameter, with two broad rivers stretching far inland, to the north and east, along which innumerable wharves and docks are ranged. I may here remark, that the part of the Hudson included in the harbour furnishes thirteen miles of wharfage, that of the Harlem river fully two miles; and the East river furnishes upwards of nine miles; each wharf capable of receiving vessels of the greatest tonnage. The entire harbour, within the Narrows, contains fully a hundred and fifteen square miles of water, completely land-locked, yet in safe and im mediate communication with the ocean at all sea sons, and where nearly all the fleets of the world might find a convenient anchorage. As we approach the wharf of the AA'hite Star Line, of which our good ship the Bepublic is one, we distinguish on it the family whose home we sought, waving us the welcome, which soon we receive in a warm grasp, and afterwards under their hospitable roof.

Before leaving the wharf, however, our honesty, and submission to tariff law, had to be tested by a searching examination at the Custom House. This was a much more severe and trying ordeal than I had anticipated. Everything we possessed had to be turned up and turned out. But nothing objectionable was found among us, and we were allowed to pass, after much time and patience had been exhausted. How well to be able, and know that we are able, to stand such a test as that, and another vastly more momentous that is yet before us all ! We were in excellent time for the morning services in Broadway Tabernacle, and engaged in them with as much comfort as if we had come from a refreshing sleep in our own home ; and we trust with special profit, BROADWAY TA BERN A CLE. 25 " Praising the Lord for His goodness."

Dr Taylor did not preach on this occasion, as it was uncertain when he might return, and other arrangements had been made. AA'e sat, therefore, together in the pew on this my first Sabbath in America, as we sat together in the pulpit on my last. Broadway Tabernacle is a very handsome structure, with massive tower and lofty pointed roof. Its main front is toward the street which gives it its name, just at the point where it intersects the Sixth Avenue at an acute angle ; making a fine open space, the breadth of the two streets. It extends also a good way into 34th Street, where are commodious halls for Sabbath Schools, prayer meetings, etc. The advantages of its situation, however, and its external beauty, are somewhat marred by the nearness of the elevated railway. The interior has a remarkably pleasing, as well as an imposing effect, with spacious area and galleries and lofty ceiling.