" He Said, "I Ain't Old Enough To Know How Old I
Are." And His Genuine Simplicity Delighted Me.
We are now passing through cultivated lands, farms, and estates, and
these continue right on to New York.
At Greers was a very large
collection of cotton. At Spartanville are large cotton mills, such as
one sees in Lancashire. The next day (December 24th), we notice ice on
the ponds. We cross the Potomac River, and near Washington, sight the
Capitol - or, as we should say in England, the Houses of Parliament.
Washington City is the political capital of the United States. Its size
is about 4-1/2 miles by 2-1/2 miles. The Capitol is described by the
Americans as the most magnificent public edifice in the world. It is 352
feet long and 121 feet deep, with two wings each 238 by 140 feet. Its
entire length is 751 feet 4 inches, and it covers an area of more than
3-1/2 acres. It is of costly construction, and stands in grounds of
about 50 acres.
We proceed, and stop at Baltimore, cross the Bush and Gunpowder Rivers,
again come near the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers, various smaller
rivers, and run on until we reach New York. On arrival, I immediately
went to the Cunard office and secured my berth in the "Servia." The next
morning (Christmas Day), it was very cold, and snowing. I had a fire lit
in my bed-room, and there wrote the article which appeared in the
January Land Roll. In the afternoon I walked in the Central Park, but
it was so bitterly cold, I was satisfied with less than two hours of
exercise, and returned to the hotel to dinner, and finished up the day
writing in my bed-room till midnight. The Central Park, in genial
weather, would be an attractive resort. I observed large natural rocks,
lawns, wide promenades, seats, lakes, menageries, swings, and various
such like attractions for juveniles, overground and underground roads - a
kind of "Rotten Row," &c., but being so cold scarcely a person was to be
seen.
On December 26th, New York was deep in snow. I visited a few shops for
some necessaries, and went on board the "Servia" during the afternoon,
thinking that I might have difficulty in getting a cabman to drive to
the docks after dark if the snow drifted deeply. New York City is the
metropolis of the United States. In 1880 its population was 1,206,590.
Its site was discovered in 1524. It was in 1609 that Hudson, an
Englishman, ascended the river which was named after him. In 1614 some
Dutchmen settled there. In 1648 its population was 1,000, and in 1700 it
had increased to 6,000. In 1684 it was captured by the Duke of York, and
was henceforth called "New York." In 1711 a slave market was established
in Wall Street.
On December 27th, about 5 o'clock in the morning, we began to clear out
of the dock, and in a few hours were again on the broad Atlantic.
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