USA > Maine > First Maine bugle, 1893 (history of 1st Maine Cavalry) > Part 12
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talking over the service and the years that have passed since then, with all their vicissitudes, I was pleased to hear him say that he had never seen the time when he " was sorry he enlisted." I had the pleasure of making him a present of one of our reg- imental badges, and I don't think he has anything which he is more proud of. He had never seen one before, and was as pleased with its make-up and its looks as he was to have it for his own. Then I was glad that I had thought to put it in my valise before leaving home. But I had to bid him good bye, all too soon. This visit, this meeting with my old comrade, was one of the brightest spots in the whole trip. I sincerely hope and trust that I may meet him again and again before the final muster-out.
VISITING OLD FRIENDS, ETC.
We visited the United States Mint, while here, and were very pleasantly surprised to find that we not only did not have to ask permission and go through much red tape to get in, but that the officials in charge knew what we wished as soon as they saw us, and straightway made the most complete and pleasant arrangements for showing us all through the establishment and explaining everything we saw. Here we saw how gold money is made -- from the rough gold, right from the mines, to the finished ten dollar coin. And it was a fascinating operation, be sure. But the kindness and cordiality with which we were treated added much to the enjoyment of the visit. Here the miner may take his gold ore to-day, and to-morrow go and get its full worth in gold coin. I did want one of those ten dollar pieces before it was milled or stamped, though. They were pretty.
I had the pleasure of meeting some friends from home, and from my old home in Maine. There was Joseph H. Litchfield, before mentioned --- an old schoolmate in Lewiston. "Joe," as we always knew him, is at the head of a large tailoring estab- lishment, with a specialty of military goods, and is one of the Railroad Commissioners of the State. He was as jolly as ever, and does not look much older, only that his hair is quite gray.
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I spoke to him about this, and he replied, with one of his old- time looks, " Well, if you had been Railroad Commissioner of the State of California, as I have, you would be gray." Then we met friends from home who had lived in that State for only a short time, and some who were there on a visit, so we did not get lonesome, at all, or have very much of a far from home feeling. We had letters of introduction from persons we knew to persons we did not know, and spent some time-wasted some time, would be better-in trying to look them up. When we found one we were pleased with our reception, and pleased with their efforts to give us pleasure. But the greater number of them we did not find. In one instance we looked long and rode miles to find a family, just because a friend at home seemed so anxious to hear from them. We found their residence, but they were not at home. On our return I was somewhat amused, on telling my friend that I did not see any of the family but learned that they were all well, to have my friend reply, with a grieved tone, " I wish you had seen them-I would like to know how they feel toward us, now." This was the first I knew that I was going out there in the capacity of mediator. But the time was not entirely thrown away, as it was impossible to ride anywhere in San Francisco and not see enough of interest along the route to compensate for the time. Everything interested me in San Francisco, and the longer I remained there the stronger this feeling grew. I would have liked to remain there six months to look about, and I would like to live there. One thing surprised me there-the cheapuess of everything in the line of food. At first-class restaurants the prices were so low as to cause surprise to all eastern people-much lower than even third-class restaurants in New England, and the food was of excellent quality and goodly quantity. But they "don't split a nickel in this country." As an instance of this may be mentioned the Examiner. The price of this paper, single copy, is a nickel, and yet they deliver it to subscribers in the city for fifteen cents per week. A call at the office of the Adjutant General of the Department of California, Grand Army of the Republic, gave me a pleasant hour, during which I had the
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gratification of hearing good reports of Comrades John S. French, Evans S. Pillsbury, John F. Wharff, Horace Wilson, and others of our regiment, all residents of the Golden State. I also heard good reports of all the comrades from the good old State of Maine.
CHINATOWN.
Did we go to Chinatown? Oh, yes. Ask Ed. Everybody, gentlemen and ladies, who go to San Francisco, go to China- town, and the majority of them "go through Chinatown." This is one of the most interesting features of the city. Take Chinatown out of San Francisco, and much more than half of the interest in the city would be gone. Chinatown is the one place where a gentleman can accompany a lady shopping and not become weary of waiting for her, or impatient with the shopping propensities which are generally attributed to the ladies. There is so much to see and so much to interest him, that he forgets to notice the flight of time. For, verily, the Chinaman behind the counter in Chinatown, San Francisco, is an exceedingly interesting study. He is a smart, active, cour- teous, successful salesman-better in all ways than many sales- men in the eastern States. I am aware that this is a broad statement, but I believe it from my experience and the experi- ence of others of the Essex party. Ed and I went down there several times on shopping expeditions, and every time came away with many purchases, and with increased admiration for the business abilities and courtesy of the heathen Chinee. Only in one store did we find anything but courteous greetings and a disposition to show us anything in the store, and in this instance we left as quickly as we could, with a feeling of grati- tude that we got out at all. The Chinese mean business, and they attend to business in a manner from which many salesmen in this part of the country may well learn a lesson. For instance, in the first store which we entered, I made a dozen or more purchases, and more than half of them were articles which I could not see on the counters or shelves, and would not have seen at all if the polite and active celestial salesman had not "sized me up," seen the kind of goods for which I was looking,
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and taken pains to show me many things not in sight. And we had this experience often, while others spoke of the same thing. If a party of ladies and gentlemen went into a store, and one of the ladies asked to see some embroidery, the clerk was not easy until he had shown her not merely one or two sample .. but piles of goods, and as handsome goods in that line as can be found anywhere. And so with other lines of goods. They pay particular attention to the wants of the customers, and seem to understand by intuition, founded on long experience. what will attract the attention of purchasers so strongly as to reach their pocket books. Always with a smile that is " child- like and bland," maybe, but it gives one a feeling that he is welcome, at least. In one store, after we had made several purchases, the clerk showed me something which I did not care for, the price of which was seventy-five cents. In a spirit of fun, I offered him fifty cents for it. With a grieved expression, he replied, shaking his head very like an American, " Oh, no; can't do that: if I was going to do that way, I would put on a big price in the first place, alle same Mellican man." The joke was so good that the Chinaman and the American joined in a hearty laugh. We found them with a good understanding of the English language, and a good idea of humor, and found it almost impossible not to get laughing and joking with them in every store into which we went. In one store, after making some purchases, I said, " I suppose after we are gone, you will all have a good laugh at these fool Mellican man." " Oh, no;" he replied, " that would be mean to treat customers that way." but the smile which accompanied this remark was hardly assur- ing. Another time I said, " I have been buying pretty freely, you ought to make me a present, now." "I will," he replied, and he gravely handed me a business card of the firm, saying " Come again." For the gratification of my curiosity, I asked one heathen to give me a bill of some goods which I had pur- chased. He willingly assented, and withdrew to the desk. In a remarkably short space of time he reappeared, and gave me a bill, made out in both English and in Chinese. I asked him to read the Chinese for me, which he did, but I was unable to
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THE COUNTRY FOR WHICH YOU FOUGHT. 29
tell whether he was reading from the Chinese characters or the English-he certainly read it the same. But the English was as well written as many New England clerks could write, and the spelling was correct. And yet he is a heathen. I have that bill now, hanging up in the office, as a pleasant reminder of Chinatown experience. At another time, after making sev- eral purchases, I asked the clerk to reckon up the amount by the aid of a little frame containing rows of round disks running on parallel wires, such as I had seen in several places. Quicker than thought he moved those little disks about, and in an instant, almost, gave me the total amount. It was done more quickly than I could even set the figures down, much less add them up. Surprised, I asked him to reckon it again. He complied, as quickly as before. After much labor, compared with his ready reckoning, I found that he was correct. Then I asked him to show me how it was done. He complied, but did it so rapidly that I could not understand the mode of operation, even after he had shown me two or three times. And yet he is a heathen. These are but a few of the amusing experiences Ed and I had in the stores of Chinatown. We visited many of them, some of then several times. There are no stores in the country with finer goods in their lines than these in San Franciscan China- town. We made very many purchases-so many that we often asked ourselves what we wanted this or that for, and could give no really good reason, but bought it just the same. We did not leave a store without wishing we had purchased some par- ticular thing which we did not think we really wanted, and very often this feeling was so strong that on the next visit we pur- chased this particular thing. So Ed and I have the pleasantest recollections of our visits to the stores in Chinatown, San Fran- cisco.
ANOTHER VIEW OF CHINATOWN.
But there is another view to take of Chinatown, and we took that view also. Accompanied by Charley and Ernest Wilson, with a Chinese shopmate of theirs for a guide, we went through that famous and interesting locality one evening, and with Loyal Webster, a policeman to whom we had a letter of intro-
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duction, we went through there another evening. So we saw considerable of Chinatown which is not to be seen by the light of the sun. We went into opium dens, and saw the celestials " hit the pipe " in the true Oriental fashion, by contributing ten cents with which to purchase the stupefying drug. This was not a pleasant sight to witness, nor were the surroundings agree- able but it was part of the experience, and we were there for expe- riences. We saw a celestial with the most villainous looking face I ever saw on a human being or even in any picture drawn from a depraved imagination, lying back on a wooden bench, asleep under the influence of opium, and with a look of thor- ough, entire, happiness on his repulsive features. We wont into gambling dens, and saw them at their play, noisy and shouting, excited and well nigh wild as the game went on, but all too busy to pay any attention, or even notice the presence of the " Mellican man." Yet the coolest Chinamen there were the players themselves -- the lookers-on were the ones who were excited. We went into boarding and tenement houses until we were ready to join in the cry, "The Chinese must go." We had formed a very good opinion of the Chinese of San Fran- cisco, from our dealings with the shop-keepers, but we lost a portion of it while in their quarters and their resorts. You will remember, comrades, how we thanked our stars while in front of Petersburg, that we did not have to burrow in the ground as did our comrades of the infantry. That seemed to us to be a terrible thing. Vet, in Chinatown, San Francisco, we went into tenement or boarding houses where there were two, three, or even four stories, underground. But this doesn't half tell the story. Into these underground habitations, the Chinamen were packed almost as close as sardines in a box. Arranged around a sort of corridor in the centre, were little holes, scarcely so large as the cells in an ordinary police station or State prison, in which the Chinamen lived-lived, did I say? well, slept. In the centre of this small corridor was a pillar or post, around which were hung the cooking utensils of the boarders, or ten- ants. Could an unlimited supply of fresh air be pumped into those dwellings, it would be impossible, almost, for an American
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citizen to live there, but no fresh air ever enters them except by some mistake. We were perfectly willing to leave those, even before taking a good look around. We went through an alley which has been given some horrid name which I have forgotten, but it was appropriate, for the reason that many and many a morning have dead Chinamen been found there, murdered by the " high-binders," and we emerged from the alley with a feel- ing of relief that can hardly be expressed in words. We went into the Chinese theatre, but fortunately there was no perform- ance at that time, and we were mercifully spared that infliction, though perhaps a few moments of it might be something to remember as an experience. We went into two Joss houses- one of them being the new one, which is the finest in this country, and stood amazed at the elaborate, massive, wonderful decorations -- barbaric to be sure, yet wonderful and compelling one to gaze upon them long and carefully. There was carved work in gilt, and hammered brass work beyond description, beyond imagination, almost. We gazed upon the Joss with mingled feelings but with no irreverence -- the surroundings for- bade that -- and wondered at the creed of the Chinese, that could worship an image like that-an image that required fire burning in front of it all the time to keep off the evil spirits, and food and drink before it all the time so that when it got hungry it could partake of the spiritual portion of the food, leaving it in substance and form the same as before the Joss had feasted. It
is the custom for visitors to the Joss houses to purchase a pack- age of sandal punk as a sort of peace offering or to pay for the privilege of the visit. At the second one, having already offered propitiation at the other, we declined to do so, where- upon a big eyed famished-looking celestial gave us such a glance of horrified pity as would have made almost any one superstitious and forced him to return and make the purchase to ward off any such dire punishment as shone in the eyes of this horrified Chinaman. But we came to no harm. We went into the restaurant-a building of many floors, with each floor more elaborately decorated with carving in gilt and hammered work, and more richly furnished than the one next below it.
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There was a regular advance in tone and splendor as one ascended the stairs, and we were told the prices arose with the stairs. We ate nothing there. We could not. Perhaps we made a mistake in that we did not drink a cup of tea but some- how we did not want it, although we knew that no people can make tea like the Chinese. Perhaps that was why we did not desire to try it. But enough of Chinatown. I am not inclined to discuss the Chinese question-not at all-I am merely trying to give you something of an idea of what we saw there.
GOOD BYE TO SAN FRANCISCO.
Our stay in San Francisco was all too short, but we must away. On the afternoon of Wednesday, June Ist, we started for River- side, having bade good bye to Mrs. Wilson and her two sons, with many good wishes and many thanks for kindnesses which we shall long remember. One gentleman whom I intended to sec there I did not see, much to my regret. This was Anthony Hamilton, whom I had met before, and very much wished to meet again. But a misunderstanding on my part as to the time of a little gathering of friends with him among them, and a blunder on the part of some one else as to his place of business deprived me of that privilege. I was very sorry, but the fate: were against me, that time. We bade good bye to San Fran- cisco with a feeling that we would like to settle down and remain there. The ride to Riverside was a ride of more than five hun- dred miles, over the Southern Pacific Railroad, and though we had been over a large portion of the route before, we so timed our start as to this time ride over in the day time the portion which before we rode over in the night. So it was really a new ride, and an interesting one. Any ride in California is an inter- esting one. We had the privilege of passing through the famous " loop " in the day time, and viewing its wonders; of riding through hills and around hills with remarkable rapidity ; of riding through a desert country for miles and then suddenly, without warning, riding into a beautiful country-a perfect gar- den-in short we enjoyed all the variety which a ride in this wonderful State affords.
(To be continued.)
TWENTY-EIGHT HUNDRED MILE BICYCLE RIDE. 33
A Twenty-eight Hundred Mile Bicycle Ride.
THROUGH HOLLAND, UP THE RHINE, OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF SWITZERLAND AND DOWN THROUGH GERMANY.
RY JONATHAN P. CILLEY, JR.
In just about a month, since a wearer of Princeton's " orange and black " greeted two Bowdoin boys, bronzed with a twelve days' voyage, at the dock of the Netherland American Steam- ship Company, at Rotterdam, Holland has been "done " and the same could have been said of Belgium, had not the first day's experience over the horrible roads of the latter country " done" one of the college cyclists instead; the Rhine has been critically viewed, the hills of the Black Forest scaled, and three.side trips made to Triers then to Worms, and finally to Strassburg. As soon as the hearty, " How are you, old man?" had been exchanged all around, and the experience of two weeks' wheeling in England compared with the fortunes of the other two members of the party, who had been plowing the Atlantic for nearly the same length of time, severely testing the abilities of the cooks on board the steamer, as she slowly but very steadily plodded along, but finding nothing whatever con- nected with the passage worthy of the adjective monotonous ; the wheels were gotten out, geared up, and losing hardly a moment of our precious time, the twenty-eight hundred mile- trip on wheels was begun at the steamer's side. The first objective point, however, as it was about five A. M., was a hotel and breakfast.
Before all the superfluous baggage could be disposed of, the absolute necessities reduced to the contents of a small grip on each wheel, and a valise sent ahead, and a hasty glimpse of the busy little city taken, the afternoon was nearly spent. About five P. M., however, the true start was made, Delfthaven and
FIRST MAINE BUGLE.
the spot where the Pilgrim Fathers started, then Delft, with the scene of the tragic assassination of William the Silent, and then the Haag, being the route for the day. Baggage was strapped to the wheels and final adjustments made in the presence of an interested and fast increasing crowd, in front of the Victoria hotel, until the excitement bade fair to become so great that for fear of police interference with our start on the charge of block- ing the streets or disturbing the peace, we hastened on. It was new business finding our way out of a strange city, until we became used to it, so that we could rather enjoy the notoriety, the presence of a crowd of jabbering men, women and children who couldn't understand a word either of our English or our German, and who therefore, until we learned to compound our worst English and German with a gutteral sound to every con- sonant which alone seemed enough to make it absolutely unin- telligible, could give us no information as to the road we desired to find. The result was that we had a little trouble in getting along, and it was not strange that we missed the way two or three times that first evening.
Finally a policeman got over the idea which seemed stub- bornly fixed in his mind that we wanted to find the docks from which the emigrants sailed, namely, the ones we had left that morning, and we managed to see the windmill that at present marks the spot where the Pilgrim Fathers embarked. A few sign posts which would direct the modern pilgrim to the spot, and a fitting memorial tablet or monument at that place are certainly much needed. If there is anything of the sort there now it is so inconspicuous that two separate parties of Ameri- cans were unable to find it that day.
Having done our duty as successors to the fair inheritance which the Puritans left to us we had another problem to find the road to Delft. By riding nearly back to Rotterdam we did it, and at the same time passed the beautiful suburbs of the city, where its wealthy merchants have their semi-country residences. Each is surrounded by a hedge and a dyke, with a drawbridge ; each has the sign conspicuously placed by the bridge " Verbo- den toeingang" and each had that thrifty, well-kept air and
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A TWENTY-EIGHT HUNDRED MILE BICYCLE RIDE. 35
neatness about it that characterizes everything in lolland save the water in the canals. With a strong head wind we made but slow progress, over the brick or " clinker " paved road, which when old is about as bad as cobblestones, toward Delft. Opposite the old church, in what is at present a " gymnasium " or grammar school, we saw the staircase on which William the Silent fell by the pistol shot of an assassin. The guide book says the bullet mark is yet visible. We saw several holes in the old ceiling that might be called bullet holes and so were satisfied without an exhaustive search. Our visit was so quickly and quietly made that it failed to attract the usual crowd, and we thought we should get off unobserved. But it did not fail to have its accident. Just as we had descended the stair and were entering the inclosed court leading to the street a fine old gentleman came out and apparently offered to show us the tablet in the wall at which we had just been looking. We shook our heads and as he followed us one of the party put a small piece of money into his hand thinking he might have hurried out to show us around and take us to the museum in the room above, which we did not have time to see. Much to our amusement, just as we were reaching the street the money came bounding along the pavement after us, followed by what seemed an excla- mation of disgust. It was almost the only time we had a tip of any sort refused.
On to the Haag we found a foot-path beside the road, which. avoided the pavement and made our ride more pleasant. Quaint wind mills, farm houses and summer residences, the lumbering canal boats, for the road was along a canal the entire way, and queer costumes, combined with the fact that it was our first day ashore after nearly two weeks of blue water, made the day's impressions very vivid, and no one of the party will ever forget them. At the Haag another experience with the ability of a Dutch city to collect an enormous crowd on the smallest provo- cation awaited us. Just in front of our hotel we met a gentle- man, the Hon. George C. Stetson of Washington, and his son, a Harvard student, who had been fellow passengers with us on the voyage, and of course were greeted very cordially by them. .
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The simple act of dismounting there to greet them proved of so much interest to the inhabitants of the staid Dutch capital. that Mr. Stetson's family, who were in the hotel, and all the employes came rushing out to see what could have caused such a mob to collect. It was most assuredly a warm reception, and in our tired and dusty condition we were relieved when the pro- prietor bundled our wheels and ourselves out of sight. After the riding and excitement of the day our enjoyment of the first night ashore can well be imagined.
The forenoon of the second day ashore was spent in visiting the galleries, where we saw Rembrandt's famous " Lesson in Anatomy " and Paul Potter's " Bull." The former was of great interest to Lincoln, the medical member of our party. Then we went to the Palace, council chambers, and the interesting old inquisitorial prison with its horrible instruments of torture. Many of them were in place just where they had been last used. In two of the cells of the prison were hideous drawings, made, we were told, by the DeWitts with their own blood during their stay there.
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