Visions of America: Public Representations of the United States Circulating in India from 1870-1900Main MenuVisions of AmericaRepresentations of America in India from 1880-1910IntroductionProject VisionIndian Newspaper ArticlesTimelineTags and TrendsTour content by major themesRadial VisualizationGrid VisualizationAdam Heidebrink-Brunodda1366ced630ae12c01119b6003cad348b8379cMareesa Miles07f5b1d62871cea403a104a2f291b405512e6016
Lecturing in America
12017-04-21T13:13:32-04:00Adam Heidebrink-Brunodda1366ced630ae12c01119b6003cad348b8379c823plain2017-04-28T12:16:37-04:00Mareesa Miles07f5b1d62871cea403a104a2f291b405512e6016The Rev. J.G. Wood, M.A., F.L.S., writes in the Leisure Hour: --"I now have to describe another phase of a lecturer's experience in America. In our little island, railway travel is only a business of a few hours, the distances being comparatively short and the pace quick. But in so enormous a country as the United States the lecturer has so traversed vast distances, and the exceedingly slow pace of an American train adds greatly to the length of the journey. So, as happened to myself, the lecturer has sometimes to make up his mind to spend several consecutive days in the cars, to eat, drink, and sleep in them, and occupy his time as he best can. The cars, indeed, must be his home for a time, just as was the steamer in which he crossed the Atlantic. Necessarily it is a very cramped and inconvenient home, but the Americans have done their best to alleviate its drawbacks by the invention of the restaurant car and the sleeping car, popularly called the "Sleeper." The restaurant car is only attached the long distance trains, and is generally attached at night, or rather in the small hours of the morning. How, within the very limited space of a railway car, the steward contrives to produce such a multitude of dishes for so many passengers I can hardly imagine. Still less can I imagine how he can afford to charge such moderate prices in a country where the cost of living is at least one-third more than in England. You find in your time-table a notice that dining-cars are attached to certain trains, and in addition handbills are distributed throughout the cars. You give notice to the conductor that you will take breakfast or dinner, as the case may be, and a seat will be reserved for you. On an early winter's morning the effect of stepping into a dining-car is startling. Most probably the hour will be an early one--say half-past five or six. You have only just completed the very limited toilet permitted by the exigencies of the sleeping-car and scarcely understand the feeling of dressing without a preliminary bath. You have had to traverse several cars in darkness visible, trying to disturb the inmates as little as possible, and in each case you have had to force your way over the dark platforms that connect the cars, running the risk of losing your hat in the wind, and often having to face snow or rain driving in your face and half blinding you. You open a door, and in a few steps find yourself in a miniature palace, brilliantly lighted, and glittering with burnished metal, mirrors, and decorative painting. A courteous steward conducts you to your seat, and hands you the menu for the day. Here is the bill of fare for January 11th, 1885. Fruits, tea, coffee, iced milk, and chocolate. French loaf, brown bread, corn (i.e. maize) bread. Toast, dry, buttered, or dipped in cream. Oatmeal porridge and cream. Hot rolls. (The "cream" in question is unskimmed milk, the world "milk" signifying "sky-blue," as we call it.) Fish, several kinds. Tender-loin steak, with or without mushrooms. Lamb chops. Chicken, ham, sirloin steak. Bacon, cold ham. Corned beef, tongue. Oysters, raw, scalloped, stewed, or fried. Omelettes of any sort. Eggs, boiled, scrambled, or fried. Potatoes in any way. Fish-balls. Calf's liver and bacon. Sauces, pickles, etc. Olives, Jelly. For this very comprehensive meal the charge is only seventy-five cents, or about three shillings! One point which struck me greatly was the extraordinary discrepancy between the prices of meals as served in the dining-cars or in hotels on the American system, and the same meals if each item is separately served. Take for example, a breakfast such as has been described, the charge for which is 3s. of English money. The Americans are enormous breakfast-eaters. Here is a meal which was taken by my neighbour at table, and for which he paid 3s. He had two oranges, two cups of tea, a plate of porridge, a plate of blue-fish, a "tender-loin" steak with mushrooms, three eggs, four baked potatoes, rolls and butter, any amount of celery, and a plate of griddle-cakes and maple syrup.