I Believe That They Were Annoyed That I Should See Such A
Specimen Of An Hotel In Their Country, And They Decided, That, As I Could
Not Possibly Remain There For The Night, I Should Go On To Detroit Alone,
As They Were Detained At Chicago On Business.
Though I certainly felt
rather out of my element in this place, I was not at all sorry for the
opportunity, thus accidentally given me, of seeing something of American
society in its lowest grade.
We went down to dinner, and only the fact of not having tasted food for
many hours could have made me touch it in such a room. We were in a long
apartment, with one table down the middle, with plates laid for one
hundred people. Every seat was occupied, these seats being benches of
somewhat uncouth workmanship. The floor had recently been washed, and
emitted a damp fetid odour. At one side was a large fireplace, where, in
spite of the heat of the day, sundry manipulations were going on, coming
under the general name of cookery. At the end of the room was a long
leaden trough or sink, where three greasy scullery-boys without shoes,
were perpetually engaged in washing plates, which they wiped upon their
aprons. The plates, however, were not washed, only superficially rinsed.
There were four brigand-looking waiters with prodigious beards and
moustachios.
There was no great variety at table. There were eight boiled legs of
mutton, nearly raw; six antiquated fowls, whose legs were of the
consistence of guitar-strings; baked pork with "onion fixings," the meat
swimming in grease; and for vegetables, yams, corn-cobs, and squash. A cup
of stewed tea, sweetened with molasses, stood by each plate, and no
fermented liquor of any description was consumed by the company. There
were no carving-knives, so each person hacked the joints with his own,
and some of those present carved them dexterously with bowie-knives taken
out of their belts. Neither were there salt-spoons, so everybody dipped
his greasy knife into the little pewter pot containing salt. Dinner began,
and after satisfying my own hunger with the least objectionable dish,
namely "pork with onion fixings," I had leisure to look round me.
Every quarter of the globe had contributed to swell that motley array,
even China. Motives of interest or adventure had drawn them all together
to this extraordinary outpost of civilisation, and soon would disperse
them among lands where civilisation is unknown.
As far as I could judge, we were the only representatives of England.
There were Scots, for Scots are always to be found where there is any hope
of honest gain - there were Irish emigrants, speaking with a rich brogue -
French traders from St. Louis - Mexicans from Santa Fe - Californians
fitting out, and Californians coming home with fortunes made - keen-eyed
speculators from New England - packmen from Canada - "Prairie-men,"
trappers, hunters, and adventurers of all descriptions. Many of these wore
bowie-knives or pistols in their belts. The costumes were very varied and
picturesque. Two Bloomers in very poor green habiliments sat opposite to
me, and did not appear to attract any attention, though Bloomerism is
happily defunct in the States.
There had been three duels at Chicago in the morning, and one of the
duellists, a swarthy, dark-browed villain, sat next but one to me. The
quarrel originated in a gambling-house, and this Mexican's opponent was
mortally wounded, and there he sat, with the guilt of human blood upon his
hands, describing to his vis-à-vis the way in which he had taken aim at
his adversary, and no one seemed to think anything about it. From what I
heard, I fear duelling must have become very common in the West, and no
wonder, from the number of lawless spirits who congregate where they can
be comparatively unfettered.
The second course consisted exclusively of pumpkin-pies; but when the
waiters changed the plates, their way of cleaning the knives and forks was
so peculiarly disgusting, that I did not attempt to eat anything. But I
must remark that in this motley assembly there was nothing of coarseness,
and not a word of bad language - indeed, nothing which could offend the
most fastidious ears. I must in this respect bear very favourable
testimony to the Americans; for, in the course of my somewhat extensive
travels in the United States, and mixing as I did very frequently with the
lower classes, I never heard any of that language which so frequently
offends the ear in England. [Footnote: I must not be misunderstood here.
Profane language is only too notoriously common in the States, but custom,
which in America is frequently stronger than law, totally prohibits its
use before ladies.]
I suppose that there is no country in the world where the presence of a
lady is such a restraint upon manners and conversation. A female, whatever
her age or rank may be, is invariably treated with deferential respect;
and if this deference may occasionally trespass upon the limits of
absurdity, or if the extinct chivalry of the past ages of Europe meets
with a partial revival upon the shores of America, this extreme is vastly
preferable to the brusquerie, if not incivility, which ladies, as I have
heard, too often meet with in England.
The apparently temperate habits in the United States form another very
pleasing feature to dwell upon. It is to be feared that there is a
considerable amount of drunkenness among the English, Irish, and Germans,
who form a large portion of the American population; but the temperate,
tea-drinking, water-drinking habits of the native Americans are most
remarkable. In fact, I only saw one intoxicated person in the States, and
he was a Scotch fiddler. At the hotels, even when sitting down to dinner
in a room with four hundred persons, I never on any occasion saw more than
two bottles of wine on the table, and I know from experience that in many
private dwelling-houses there is no fermented liquor at all.
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