Part 1

_ANNOUNCEMENTS._

ESTABLISHED 1850.

INMAN LINE.

UNITED STATES AND ROYAL MAIL STEAMERS

CITY OF PARIS, 10,500 Tons. CITY OF NEW YORK, 10,500 “ CITY OF BERLIN, 5,491 Tons. CITY OF CHICAGO, 6,000 “ CITY OF CHESTER, 4,770 Tons.

New York, Queenstown AND Liverpool.

FIRST CABIN PASSAGE from $60 to $650,

ACCORDING TO STEAMER AND LOCATION OF ACCOMMODATIONS.

NOTE.--Round Trip Tickets issued at reduced rates, and the return portion can, if desired, be used by =RED STAR LINE= from Antwerp to New York or Philadelphia.

INTERNATIONAL NAVIGATION CO.,

General Agents,

6 BOWLING GREEN, NEW YORK.

* * * * *

SIMPSON’S

(LIMITED)

DIVAN TAVERN,

103 STRAND,

Opposite Exeter Hall,--LONDON.

The premier Restaurant in the Strand, established upwards of fifty years, which still retains its supremacy for being the house to get the best English Dinner in London at a moderate price. There is also a magnificent Ladies’ Dining Room where ladies can dine in the same style and cost as gentlemen do in the room down stairs. Private rooms for large or small parties.

Noted for Soups, Fish, Entrees and Joints. Saddles of Mutton specially cooked to perfection from 12.30 to 8.30 p.m. Originator of professed Carvers to attend on each customer at separate tables. Matured wines and spirits. The largest stock of any tavern in the kingdom.

E. W. CATHIE, MANAGING DIRECTOR.

* * * * *

LONDON & NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY

THE OLD ROUTE IN THE OLD COUNTRY. THE TOURISTS’ FAVORITE.

IRISH AND SCOTCH ROYAL MAIL ROUTE.

SHORTEST AND QUICKEST FROM

=LIVERPOOL= (Lime Street Station) to =LONDON= (Euston Station). under FOUR AND A-HALF HOURS =to GLASGOW= (Central Station), in FIVE AND THREE-QUARTER HOURS.

=QUEENSTOWN to LONDON via Dublin and Holyhead=, in SIXTEEN HOURS AND TEN MINUTES.

* * * * *

=Baggage Checked Through from New York to London.=

=At LIVERPOOL, Family Omnibuses= from Landing Stage, and =Special Trains= from Alexandra Dock to Lime Street Station and Hotel.

=NORTH WESTERN HOTEL, Lime Street Station, Liverpool=, the best and largest--the hotel for Americans.

=SPECIAL TRAINS from Liverpool to London= when requisite to make close connection with steamers arriving from America.

=Elegant Vestibule Drawing-Room Cars without extra charge.= Compartments with lavatories, and private saloon and family carriages for parties without extra charge.

=Sleeping Cars= with Compartments and brass Beds, 5s. per berth in addition to first-class fares.

=DINING CARS= on principal trains and “American Specials.”

=Luncheon Baskets= at the principal Stations.

=In LONDON, Family Omnibuses= can be obtained, at the =Euston Hotel= (at the Station), noted for its =Cellar= and its French =Cuisine=, will be found most comfortable.

=THE LONDON AND NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY= has =NOT= abolished Second Class Carriages; passengers to whom economy is an object, but who do not wish to travel Third Class, can combine comfort with economy by traveling Second Class by this line. First and Second Class on all trains. Third Class Carriages on all trains except the =Irish Mails= to and from Dublin.

The Company’s Agents, =Mr. W. STIRLING, at Queenstown=, and =Mr. FRED. W. THOMPSON, at Liverpool=, meet the American Steamers on arrival, and secure omnibuses, seats, saloon carriages, rooms at hotel, and give general information.

=THROUGH TICKETS to London, Glasgow, Paris=, and principal stations in =England=, =Scotland=, =Ireland=, =Wales=, and Continent of Europe.

=TICKETS=, Time Tables and information as to travel and hotels can be obtained from the Company’s Agent, =Mr. D. BATTERSBY, 184 St. James St., Montreal=, and

=Mr. C. A. BARATTONI=, Gen’l Agent for the U. S. and Canada, =852 Broadway=, near Union Square, =New York=.

* * * * *

=G. P. NEELE=, Superintendent of the Line. =London=, Euston Station.

=E. MICHEL=, Foreign Traffic Superintendent.

G. FINDLAY, Gen’l Manager.

* * * * *

HOTEL WINDSOR,

VICTORIA STREET,

Westminster, LONDON, S.W.

Convenient and central location; European or American system; the only hotel in London with Turkish and other baths; elevators; electrically lighted throughout, day and night.

J. R. CLEAVE & CO., PROPRIETORS.

ABROAD AND AT HOME

PRACTICAL HINTS FOR TOURISTS

BY

MORRIS PHILLIPS

EDITOR OF

THE HOME JOURNAL

NEW YORK

NEW YORK BRENTANO’S PARIS WASHINGTON CHICAGO LONDON

COPYRIGHT 1891, BY MORRIS PHILLIPS

THE ART PRESS, DEMPSEY & CARROLL, 36 EAST 14TH STREET, NEW YORK.

TO THE MEMORY OF

GEORGE W. HOWS,

MY FAITHFUL FELLOW-WORKER AND DEAR FRIEND OF MANY YEARS, THIS VOLUME OF SKETCHES IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED.

“_Travel is the great source of true wisdom._” --BEACONSFIELD.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Preface, by the Hon. A. OAKEY HALL, 5

GREAT BRITAIN.

London on Wheels, 9

London Hotels, 24

A Few Boarding Houses, 47

Where to Lunch in London, and Where Not to Lunch, 49

Railway Travelling in England, 59

An Hour with Spurgeon, 67

The Crypt of St. Paul’s, 71

The Queen’s Mews, 74

A Question of Hats, 77

London Oddities, 79

Poverty and Charity in England, 85

Where is Charing Cross? 88

Margate, 89

Two Brighton Hotels, 97

A Visit to Bleak House, 100

Takin’ Notes in Edinboro’ Town, 105

The Burns Monument, 112

Rt. Rev. the Moderator, James MacGregor, D.D., 116

Crossing the Channel, 123

PARIS.

Paris Hotels, 124

Pensions of the First Class, 134

The Restaurants of Paris, 137

The Anglo-American Banking Co., 146

Au Bon Marché, 147

THE UNITED STATES.

GEORGIA--

The De Soto, Savannah, 149

Thomasville, 155

A New Southern Resort, 165

FLORIDA--

A Cuban City (Key West), 171

St. Augustine, 180

About Tampa, 185

CALIFORNIA--

Monterey, 190

San Diego and Coronado, 199

Santa Cruz, 213

Redondo Beach, 221

Pasadena, 225

Los Angeles, 231

The California Hotel, San Francisco, 235

Salt Lake City, 239

The Auditorium Hotel, Chicago, 243

Max O’Rell on American Hotels, 249

PREFACE.

A continuous residence in London of eight years has satisfied me that precisely such a book, so far as it relates to that city, which my friend and once junior legal associate now presents is popularly needed.

That in such respect it will be vitally interesting, even to readers who have never been tourists thither, “goes without saying.” Moreover, there are in these pages views, comments and sights of the “abroad” and “at home” additionally valuable; therefore I gladly accept his invitation to prepare a short preface to this volume of an American M. P. in the Parliament of Letters.

He first broached his idea of papers about London at a capital luncheon, when meeting together there we discussed with palates, forks and wine glasses a tempting _menu_ during the summer of 1890, as guests of Host Vogel, of the new Albermarle Hotel in Piccadilly, at the top of the historic St. James’s street.

We then and there drank success to the M. P. idea, and I doubt not, that every reader of this volume will be disposed to heartily duplicate that toast at his first dinner which shall follow its perusal.

When a tourist first arrives in London, beneath the inviting shadow of the Northwestern Railway station hotel, that is flanked by two smaller inns and its centre pierced by several taverns, or direct from Southampton at the Waterloo station, within rifle shot of which a score of hotels invite his luggage and his wearied frame, that tourist’s earliest question will be, which hospitable _caravanserai_ shall I patronize?

His second question will concern his vehicular desires for transportation by cab, ’bus or railway. Other queries will suggest themselves regarding the “How,” the “Where,” the “Which” and the “Why” of his new London surroundings.

With this volume on shipboard _en route_: or in railway carriage _in transitu_, the tourist will already possess answers in his mind to those queries or similar ones respecting Edinburgh or Glasgow; and will not be at the mercy of chance or of confusing porters, or of contestant “cabbies,” or of the shady sharpers who throng railway platforms.

Once well housed in any of the places herein mentioned, and once understanding, by the aid of the ensuing pages, how to get about in the vast metropolis--wherein one may ride sixteen miles from extreme north to a suburban south, and fourteen miles from west to east without quitting paved and lighted streets, or the continuity of habitations--a traveler’s eyes and ears will be all the Mentors he will require.

Of so-called guide books (of which class this is not), there are in London and elsewhere abroad confusing scores, but the average tourist ought to shun guide-books as he would a Bradshaw, unless he loves charades, puzzles and conundrums.

Every mother knows that when her infant obtains his footing, the child will walk confidently. This volume serves to give the person who arrives in London or Edinburgh and kindred cities an instant footing. In the parlance of the race course, it is the “starter.”

On arrival, the first thing to do is to demand and learn the points of compass; because all enquiries about the “Where” in London hinge on those.

The papers by M. P. about cabs and omnibuses will be found as valuable as they are piquant. He tells of certain trips (and tips) on top of a ’bus; he vividly describes how the best way for exploring London is to ride in its every direction on the tops of omnibuses--devoting days to the task, or rather pleasure--and when, as street after street is passed, reading their names, which are always sign-affixed to the turn--a convenience even for residents which, in late years, is strangely unknown in New York City. Thereby locality and prominent buildings and often-referred-to neighborhoods become fixed in an observer’s mind for future uses of memory.

I learned to know London “like a book”--as common phrase goes: and, I therefore fully appreciate how much this book will serve to teach new tourists how to begin to learn London; how much it will revive pleasant memories in former tourists; how greatly it will instruct intending tourists; how pleasantly it will amuse those who may not expect to practically patronize the hotels; how well it will instruct as to London’s vehicles and the wonders of the English city, which is practically seventeen centuries older than New York.

But there are other sides and hues to this prismatic volume. Not only is it inviting to Americans who wish to know about the “across-the-ocean-ferry,” but it will be attractive to the countrymen of the M. P. who may travel or who would like to travel Westward, “where the star of Empire takes its way.” And also to the foreign tourist who may for only one week reside, _in transitu_ to the States, upon the floating greyhoundish hotels which we call steamships.

Marvelous as London is to the American tourist, the wonders, the hotels, the coasts, and the traveling--especially toward the Pacific ocean--are equally marvelous to English M. P.’s and foreign ladies and gentlemen of fortune or leisure who seek transcontinental scenes and comforts.

Merely “turning the leaves,” a phrase happily used as a heading for book notices by the author of “Kissing the Rod” in his _World_ newspaper of London, will at once show any buyer of this volume what I have implied.

A. OAKEY HALL.

LOTOS CLUB, January 21, 1892.

LONDON ON WHEELS.

ABOVE GROUND, ON THE GROUND, AND UNDER GROUND.

THE UNDER-GROUND LINES.

How the five millions of people in London “get about” to their daily avocations and homes is a mystery to those who have not made the subject a study. So I have gathered some information which will throw a little light on it.

Let me start out with the statement that besides the ten large terminal stations, like the Euston Square and the Midland, both in Euston Road, there are four hundred and thirty railway stations within the metropolis, and the under-ground lines alone carry annually one hundred and twenty-five millions of passengers. The underground roads have been in existence for more than a quarter of a century, and are found to answer the purpose admirably of relieving the over-ground traffic. They are convenient, cheap and comparatively quick; but decidedly unpleasant, if not positively unhealthy.

They now form a network of rails under the surface, and they have been a success from the first. They are a great engineering triumph, and may be said to have marked a new epoch in the history of London. The act permitting the tunneling was passed in 1853. Mr. John Fowler conducted the herculean labor, and underneath the streets of the busiest of cities, down where the soil was honeycombed with other works--gas pipes, water mains, drains and sewers--a railway line, costing upwards of one hundred and fifty thousand pounds per mile, was constructed almost without the knowledge of those above. For three years--from the spring of 1860 to the beginning of 1863--two thousand men, two hundred horses and fifty-eight engines were employed. When completed another difficulty presented itself, but was overcome by Mr. Fowler, who invented a locomotive which could be worked in the open air like an ordinary engine, but which, while in the tunnel, emits neither steam nor smoke, being so constructed as to be able to condense the one and consume the other.

And yet, after a long ride in the under-ground, you always emerge with a headache.

Of course the cars have to be lighted artificially, and they had not learned to use the electric light in them when I last was in London in October, 1891. Gas is a poor substitute in such a place. You are forced to read your newspaper in a dim light, and the gas consumes much of the oxygen which gets into the tunnel from the stations, and from openings en route, which are made for the purpose.

Yet you do not get about as quickly in the underground as you would imagine. To avoid obstructions, and for mechanical reasons, the road takes a circuitous route and you frequently must ride a long way around to go a comparatively short distance.

Millions of Londoners, who go direct from home to business, seldom get into an under-ground train. There are many over-ground lines built on brick arches which go to the suburbs, where rents are low; for every Englishman must have his own house, no matter how small, which he regards as his “castle.” These trains are quick and cheap, and you are blessed with ample light and good air--at least as good as you can get in foggy, smoky London.

On all roads, whether on trunk lines, on local, overground or underground lines, there are first, second and third-class cars, or “carriages,” as they call them. Even some omnibuses that ply from the trunk line stations also have compartments for different classes; your Englishman is very particular with whom he rides.

Occasionally you meet with unpleasant companions in third-class carriages of local or suburban lines, but on through trains, say between Liverpool and London, the third-class carriages are comfortable, and the travelers of a respectable class.

There is a great difference in the rates, and on a long journey it is worth consideration. First-class fare is almost double that of third-class. Second-class is neither one thing nor the other, and on some lines it has been abolished.

It is an old saying that only princes, Americans and fools travel first-class. I don’t care under which head they place me, so long as they place me in a first-class “carriage.” That it is more comfortable is incontrovertible, if you’ll pardon such a big word. I say this in the face of what John Stuart Mill said, that the only reason he rode third-class was because there was no fourth.

ELECTRIC LINES UNDER GROUND.

The _Forum_ last summer printed a very good description from the pen of Simon Sterne, of the new electric under-ground railway in London, and the Sunday _Sun_ last autumn had an elaborate article on the subject, which, with illustrations, occupied nearly a whole page.

It is a quick and convenient means of locomotion, and to accomplish it was a work of wonderful engineering skill for which the inventor, Mr. Peter Greathead, cannot be praised too highly; but the riding is by no means pleasant.

In a lift large enough to accommodate fifty passengers, you descend a distance of eighty feet below the surface--part of the road running beneath the bed of the river Thames. The cars are small and fairly well lighted, but they have an unpleasant vibration, and although the air is not noticeably impure, there is an uncanny feeling with the knowledge that you are burrowing, as it were, in the bowels of the earth.

The road, probably an experimental one, is only three miles long, extending south from “the monument” in the city. It has not, thus far, proved a success pecuniarily, the cost of construction being so great, although no land was purchased except for the stations.

HANSOMS AND FOUR-WHEELERS.

Street cars are not needed in the city. Nearly all London streets are in as good condition for driving as our Central Park roads. There are eight thousand hansoms, four thousand four-wheelers, and two thousand omnibuses, so that you are not obliged to walk on account of the absence of cars. The four-wheeled cabs, or “growlers,” as they term them, are dilapidated, uncomfortable vehicles, which lack new springs, and are dirty both inside and out. The horses and the drivers are old and superannuated; they have all seen better days in private carriages or hansom cabs. You never take a four-wheeler if you are alone, or if the party consists of only two persons. You must engage one if you have a trunk, but if you are going to catch a train or boat you had better allow a half hour’s margin.

The London cab service is the best and cheapest in the world. I say this, notwithstanding that I remember hiring a cab in Key West, in the Gulf of Mexico, for a dime. But such cabs and such horses! The rate in a hansom is sixpence per mile for one or two persons, no fare less than one shilling (twenty-five cents); by the hour, two-and-six (sixty-two cents).

HOW THEY DRIVE.

England is the only place I know of where they drive to the left. English drivers say that by sitting on the right and driving to the left, they can better watch the hubs of approaching wheels, and thus prevent collisions. A cabbie’s attention is given entirely to the roadway; pedestrians must look out for themselves or be run over. That is why so many of the London police are engaged solely in attending to street traffic. Yet with all their vigilance, more accidents occur in London, proportionately, than elsewhere. London drivers are polite and very civil to each other. If an obstruction appears in front of a horse, or if for any reason he is obliged suddenly to slow up, the driver will immediately notify the driver in the rear by holding out horizontally his left arm; and this sign is passed down from one driver to another, until the very end of the line of blocked vehicles is reached.

People who have not visited London for several years, will find cabs greatly improved. There is a new, patent hansom. In these you are saved the trouble of opening and closing the doors; this is done by the driver by touching a lever on the top of the vehicle. The new style of cab has thick rubber tires, which add considerably to ease and comfort in riding. So little noise does the vehicle make in going over London’s smooth-paved streets, that these cabs are provided with bells to warn pedestrians of their approach. The interior fittings include a holder for lighted cigars, a box of matches, a small, bevelled mirror on either side of the cab, and a swinging rubber bulb attached to a rubber tube with a whistle at the end. You lightly press the bulb, and in this way whistle to Cabbie on top, who hears the summons above the roar of the streets, and responds by opening his trap door in the roof to receive instructions.

The law does not permit the drivers of these well-appointed and rather luxurious vehicles to charge more than do the drivers of the ordinary cabs; but as the new hansoms cost the drivers more to hire, and as they are so much superior to the old style, you do not begrudge paying a trifle extra. The drivers pay for these improved hansoms sixteen shillings (four dollars) per day, except during “the season,” when the owners exact a guinea per day, about five dollars.

The speed with which the London cabs are driven is something alarming--alarming to a stranger. In New York a cab driver has some little regard for the lives and limbs of pedestrians; in Paris the horses are so poor and skeleton-like, and go so slow, that pedestrians have no fear whatever; but in London you must look out wholly for yourself; Cabbie will certainly not look out for you. If he is engaged by the course, he only has his destination in mind. London cab horses are the best horses in the world used for such a purpose. With rubber tires to the wheels, and the wheels going over clean and perfectly smooth roadways, there is nothing to obstruct their speed, and the animals go like the wind. They and their drivers seem to stand in fear of nothing but a policeman, and as London has good laws for regulating vehicles, and as these laws are strictly obeyed, the mere warning look of a policeman is respected and obeyed.