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feet. The clock in the gallery over the main entrance was a gift of the Boston school children in 1850, the old janitor was among those who had helped to get it. He said that in 100 years from 1850 the names would be taken out from within the clock and a celebration held. He also said he was planning to participate in the jubilee.

     ¹⁹ I reserved Saturday afternoon for a visit to Norumbega Park. Early In the afternoon with a group of friends from West Sommerville we took the car at Park Street Station for the ride to the park. The car line took us through Copley Square and a part of Brookline. We soon passed beyond the more congested part of the city and followed a beautiful curving thoroughfare over an undulating region until we ascended a long hill rising high above the valley of the Charles river. Many beautiful residences, rich in their surroundings and having a grand outlook to the east and north, lined the roadway. We passed near Newton and Wabau, and through a part of Auburndale reaching the park after a long delightful ride.

     ¹⁹ Norumbega Park does not contain the remaining evidences of the Norsemen's visit and hence the historical interest its name would convey is lacking; these remnants being marked by the Norumbega tower nearer Boston. It occupies a beautiful wooded tract of land on the shores of a small lake, which affords abundant room and ideal conditions for canoeing and boating of all kinds. All of the appointments of a pleasure park were in evidence. A menagerie of no mean proportions contained a number of rare animals of special interest. Its chief pleasure to me, however, was that it gave an opportunity to get away from the great throbbing city into the sylvan shade of the picturesque New England hills and rest after a week of most strenuous sightseeing.

     ¹⁹ The trip across Boston harbor to Nantasket Beach was most pleasant. We left Rowe's Wharf about ten o'clock in the morning. Everything was animation and life. Excursionists crowded the boat and after a brief period of jostling we secured a good position on the bow. From this point of vantage we had an excellent view of the passing panorama. Pleasure boats, tugs, barges and large sea-going vessels were plowing the waves. Now we passed a revenue cutter at anchor, here a large sail boat, there a lighthouse. Thus for an hour, under the trained batteries of the harbor's fortifications, we wended our way to the wharf on the harbor-side of a narrow neck of land, Nantasket.

     ¹⁹ This stretch of land is dotted with beautiful summer residences of people, who come to spend their leisure hours in the balmy sea breezes. The fashionable dress is the bathing suit and the chief occupation basking in the sunshine or braving the surging surf.

     ¹⁹ We went at once to the bath house and in a few moments, were getting as much as possible of the pleasure of a surf bath. The beach, a long sickle shaped stretch of sand was clean and fresh. The water was clear and cool, and comparatively quiet; much pleasanter than Revere Beach which we had visited earlier in the week. The view of the ocean from this point was grand. Boston Light to the north and a rocky point of land to the southeast only, broke the smooth outline of the vast waters before us, save where the sails of a ship or the, smoke of a steamer specked the horizon.

     ¹⁹ As if by magic the sands were thronging with people in a few minutes. When we arrived a few hundred could be counted, now they must be counted by the thousands; and so great was the demand for suits that the would-be bathers formed great lines waiting their turn After an hour in the water, we spent some time inspecting the public buildings on the point. The ride back to Boston brought ever changing scenes thus fixing on our memories another delightful event of the memorable trip.

     ³ Wellesley College, perhaps the most famous of New England's colleges for women, is situated about fifteen miles west of Boston. The college, named in honor of Samuel Welles, owner of the estate in 1750, was founded in 1871 by Hon. Henry F. Durant and wife, is non-sectarian and has a faculty and officers consisting entirely of unmarried women. The college grounds, containing about 300 acres, slope gently down to beautiful Lake Wahan, named for the Indian chief who was Eliot's first convert. On this lake the annual water sports take place, for the Wellesley girls are noted oarswomen. The principal buildings are College Hall, Art Hall, Music Hall, a fine Library building, the gift of Andrew Carnegie, but conspicuous in that it does not bear his name on the exterior, and four handsomely furnished dormitories. Our trip to Wellesley was by car from Lexington, through Waltham, where the famous watch factories are located, to Newton, and thence through the beautiful Wellesley Hills to Wellesley Gate. Returning to Boston we rode for some distance down Commonwealth avenue, where wealthy Bostonians are erecting handsome new residences and where farther in are seen groups of fine modern apartment houses.

     ²⁰ After five days In Boston, forty-eight of the Nebraska party left at 1 o'clock p. m., Friday, July 8, by rail, for Providence, R. I., arriving there at 4 p. m., where we were entertained most royally for four hours,

     This short stop was not scheduled in our itinerary, but was an unexpected pleasure, arranged for by our untiring and devoted leader, Superintendent Bishop.

     We were met at the Union Station by John L. Alger, President of the Rhode Island Normal School and were escorted, bag and baggage, to their beautiful buildings, where we were at once refreshed by genuine lemonade and ice tea.

     ⁵ Our hosts and hostesses on this occasion were President and Mrs. Alger, Mr. and Mrs. Balcomb (former Nebraskans, at present Instructors in the Rhode Island State Normal), and State Superintendent Ranger.

     ⁵ We were first escorted to the State Capitol, a beautiful structure built of white "Georgia Marble," 333 feet long, 180 feet wide, at a cost of $3,000,000. The commissioners appointed to carry out the work served without pay, and at the completion of their task had the pleasure of returning to the State Treasury $30,000 after all expenses were paid. Nebraskans take notice! The dome of the state house is of marble, the second marble dome built in the world, and the first in the United States.

     Along the spacious corridors are the portraits of the early colonial governors, while along the marble stairways are paintings of historical scenes and portraits of noted men.

     We were then shown through the House of Representatives, the tapestries on the walls of which cost $10,000. In the House retiring room were the portraits of the Ex-Speakers, also a fine portrait of the present Speaker, Mr. Burchard, who helped pass the teachers' pension law. In Rhode Island the teachers have to serve thirty-five years before they are eligible to the pension. The state has already retired seventy-nine teachers in the past two years.

     We were also shown the original charter of Rhode Island, dated 1663. Under this charter Rhode Island lived as a colony and as a state until the middle of the eighteenth century.

     We then entered the Louis XVI room. It is a large room beautifully furnished in dark red, at a cost of $80,000. Stanford White had much to do with the furnishing of this room.

     In the Senate Chamber we saw the thirteen seals of the thirteen original colonies. We were then shown through the spacious and well lighted apartments of the State Superintendent, Mr. Ranger.

     From the Capitol we were taken in a special car to Brown University. On the way we crossed the Providence River, ever which is built the widest bridge in the world. We then went up College Hill, where the car had to be pushed and pulled by engines, whose special duty it is to take cars up the hill. On the top of this hill is Brown University with Pembroke College (for girls) some blocks away. It was interesting for us to hear that former Chancellor Andrews of Nebraska University was "the most popular president Brown' ever had."

     ⁵ The buildings occupying the center of the campus were used as a barracks during the Revolutionary war. At the time of the war the College was closed as all its students enlisted in the army. Brown College was chartered 1764, its first class graduating in 1769. In one of the buildings Washington received his degree in 1790, and Hamilton in 1792. We all walked up its well worn steps where Washington had trod.

     ⁵ Brown has conferred two degrees upon women, the first was upon the first woman who presided at a session of the N. E. A. In Madison, Wisconsin, the second was upon Julia Ward Howe.

     ⁵ We were then escorted through Brown Library by Mrs. Alger and Mrs. Balcomb. As it was past closing hours, we were indebted to the kindness of the librarian for keeping the building open an hour later for our inspection. The Library contains 20,000 volumes relating to the history of North and South America. Among its choicest relics are, a book used by Columbus containing marginal notes written by him, and a letter written by Columbus. It was published in Rome 1492 and contains news of the discovery of America. There is also Champlain's diary, a picture of the first buffalo printed in the United States, and a manuscript letter of Roger Williams to Gov. Winthrop.

     In one room was a collection of the first New England primers, the first Euclid ever printed, the sermons of Cotton Mather and books printed by the monks. In the Spanish room were books on the early voyages of Columbus, and on the conquest of Mexico.

     ⁵ We were then shown through the Ann Mary Brown Memorial. This Is a white stone building used as a mausoleum and also as a museum, the relics of which were collected by Ann Mary Drown and her husband, General Hawkins. It contains one of the most complete collections of the books printed by the first European presses from 1450 to 1500, many of them adorned with woodcuts. It has also the first title page printed, books used by Columbus, the first geometrical figure, the first dictionary printed in 1474, also the first concordance. There are many illuminated books, some with the original bindings from the monasteries.

      In connection with the museum is an art gallery containing many original paintings by the old masters. One is a painting of Bloody Mary by Sir Antonio Moro, painted 1558 after she had begun to lose her beauty. This is the only portrait which shows the evil looks of the real Mary.

     In the rear of the building is the Ann Mary Brown Hawkins vault. On her tomb is written the following inscription

      "Like some fair flower entombed in night, its beauty shedding everlasting light." Gen. Hawkins evolved the idea of building this monument to the memory of his wife after her death in 1903. He gave the deed to it to prominent men of Providence and placed an endowment there to maintain it. Written on the tomb which Gen. Hawkins has prepared for himself Is the inscription--

     In unconditional honesty, in the power and practice of truth, the influence of noble aspirations, and the love of the beautiful." In the family room are portraits of Ann Mary Brown and of Gen. Hawkins. This room also contains household relics, playthings, dresses and jewels of the family. Roger Williams' Church.

     ⁵ On our way back to the Normal we passed the Old Roger Williams Church, built in 1638. It was dedicated to the worship of God, and to hold Brown commencements in. The bells in the steeple hung In the Bedford Jail, London, when John Bunyan was writing his Pilgrim's Progress. These bells ring at sunrise, noon and sunset. On holidays they ring an hour at each of these times.

     ⁵ Returning to the Normal we were served with a delightful luncheon after which we made a tour of the Normal School building. This is a large four-story building set about one-half mile back from the road. It is approached by beautiful lawns, drives and gardens laid out at a great cost. The flowers and shrubs have been so arranged that many are in bloom during commencement week. One corner of the grounds has been set aside for the children's garden. Here flourished many kinds of vegetables, 'flowers and shrubs. The school has an attendance of six hundred, one hundred graduating in the last class. Sixty-four thousand dollars is annually spent in maintaining the school.

     We were much surprised to find that this great Institution had never had a summer school term, though it has been fighting for it for years. This year, money was appropriated for this work, but was used for other purposes.

     In addition to the regular rooms the main building is equipped with an art room, sowing room: gymnasium, physics, cooking, geography, geology, zoology and botany, and laboratories. A large library opens into the study room. One great convenience of this school is that each teacher has a private office neatly furnished in oak. In the basement is the locker room, each student having a separate locker.

     ⁶ Most of the party took the car back to the Normal, but some of us who liked to walk went with Mr. Balcomb, passing by many in-

teresting spots. The home of the founder of the Corless Engine; the house in the cellar of which is the spring where Roger Williams landed first on the Waunausukett river; the home of Roger Williams afterward occupied by Governor Dorr. There is a round stone in the orchard back of Roger William's home, where he was first buried; when they took up his remains, they found the roots of the apple tree at the head of his grave, to have struck down for nourishment through his head, then running along the spinal cord, branching out at the arms, and, growing on down through the limbs, even turning up at the toes. The question now is: 'Who ate Roger Williams?" We also had a sightly view of the city and the surrounding hill of Connecticut, from Mr. Balcomb's back veranda. We reached the State Normal in good season for a most delicious lunch, having plenty of time left too, because of the nicety of the arrangements, to take a thorough survey of the Normal, a splendidly equipped building in every detail, the only drawback being the lamentable fact that it enrolled only one boy.

     As it was now time to take the boat, we were escorted to the wharf by our kind host and hostesses. After we had boarded the steamer "Plymouth" we gave three cheers for Providence, for the State Superintendent and the President of the Normal. The true spirit of brotherly kindness which we found in the little state of Rhode Island makes it one of the greatest states in the Union. We now look back upon this afternoon as one of the most delightful experiences of our trip. The boat left the wharf at 8 p. m., (July 8th,) That night we learned for the first time the meaning of an ocean voyage. Quite a few were seasick, and others felt a certain dizziness about the head which bordered very near on seasickness.

     ¹⁸ We went by steamer from Providence to New York and some of us native Nebraskans, not being sea-faring people, did not particularly enjoy it. One of the party who had a terrible case of seasickness was complaining next morning of her room-mate who laughed at her. Some one said, "Why didn't you throw her out of the room?" Whereupon she promptly answered, "I was too busy throwing out other things."

     ¹³ We boarded a steamer at the Battery at 12 o'clock noon, and went to Bedloe's Island In New York harbor. It was but a half-hour's ride.

     ¹³ The statue was given to the United States by the French in 1886. It is placed in the harbor that all incoming and outgoing sailors and others can see. The statue is a bronze figure of a woman with her right arm extended holding a torch. In order that one may

have an idea of the size, I will give a few dimensions. It is 151 feet high from base to torch, but 303 feet from foundation of pedestal to 'torch. Forty persons can stand in the head, and the torch will hold 12 people.

     ¹³ One can take an elevator or walk to the base of the statue, then walk to the head and torch. There are 154 steps in the statue from the pedestal to the head, and the ladders leading up through the extended right arm to the torch has 54 rounds. One can get an excellent view of the harbor and city from the top of the statue.

     ¹³ After spending an hour or more we returned to New York on a ferry-boat.

     ¹³ Nearly half the people on board were seasick. The boat had not rocked so hard for seven years, a night watchman said. It was either on account of an approaching storm or one that had passed. It was nearly 5 o'clock before I was on deck again and we were near land. The water was delightfully cool and refreshing. We passed through "Hell Gate" up the river to New York City underneath four bridges, the last one being The famous Brooklyn Bridge.

     ¹³ After reaching the wharf we walked a short distance, boarded street cars and rode several miles to Broadway and 36th street. While on our way we saw a very nice looking team of mules drawing a street car. This looked very much like home to some of the Nebraska City folks.

     ¹³ While Mr. Bishop made the arrangements for our rooms, a reporter of the "Evening Telegram" came to Mr. King, and asked him all about our party, and after being fully prepared to make a "writeup" of the Nebraska Teachers he came again with a photographer, who took our pictures several times.

     ¹³ We all took rooms at the Marlborough Hotel.

     ¹² Coney Island is a popular resort situated at the southwestern end of Long Island, and is historically famous as being the landing place of Henry Hudson in 1609. All kinds, of amusements can be found bore and large crowds of New York and Brooklyn people go there. We wont there on Saturday evening. Near the landing place was a restaurant built out over the ocean where they served mostly sea foods. We went here for our supper and after that walked out to the platform's edge to watch the waves as they dashed and splashed against the barriers. Since It was then high tide, the water was sometimes thrown over, sprinkling all who happened to be near. After walking around for two hours we returned by steamer to the city feeling well repaid for our trip to the famous amusement island, and glad that we did not have to stay there always.

     ¹⁰ On Sunday morning we took the trip up the Hudson as far as Poughkeepsie. There we passed underneath the high Poughkeepsie

bridge and then turned back, arriving in New York about six o'clock in. the evening.

     ¹⁰ The scenery is grand, the banks of the river are covered with trees. Often we could see houses high on the hills with the United States flag floating above. Also, could see beautiful, large mansions of New York millionaires.

     Shortly, on leaving the wharf, we passed the "Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument," and steamed 'along the noted "Riverside Drive" which lines the bank and at whose extremity "Grant's Tomb" stands out prominently. Farther up the river we passed "Ft. Washington," "Yonkers," the renowned "Terrytown" and "Sing Sing prison." Soon "West Point" came into view, then "King's Ferry," "Stony Point," the majestic "Palisades" and even the flight of an airship at "Pallsades Amusement Park."

     ¹³ On Monday morning, July 11, we first went to some of the big stores, then to Central Park. Saw a great many animals, commonly found in all parks. At noon we went to the Park lunch room to get dinner. The waiter put the tables together making one long one where we all were served at once.

     ¹³ After lunch we started to go home. It being so far to go around the paths, Mr. Bishop got a permit from the police to go across the grass. Before we had gone very far another policeman called "Halt!" Some girls who had lingered in the rear stopped and called to Mr. Bishop. When they could not make him hear, the policeman let them go. He watched us pretty closely and told us to take the street,--but we didn't.

     ¹³ Central Park contains 843 acres and has seats for 40,000 people. A number of lakes are near the centre where one can go boatriding. An Egyptian Obelisk or "Cleopatra's Needle," as it is called, is near one end. This is just as it is was brought from Egypt. It is very high and also quite large at the base. We went home after wandering a while in the park, and at 4 o'clock took an auto trip around the city.

     ¹⁰ On this trip we saw the homes of Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Gould, Vanderbilts, Mrs. Russell Sage and Chas. Schwab. These homes are big buildings, but have no trees or grass about them. Some of the homes have small lawns and trees.

     ¹⁰ Passed the New York Times Building and the Fiat Iron Building, which is named from its peculiar shape. It has twenty-two stories and two below ground.

     ¹⁰ Passing along the Riverside Driveway, which follows the Hud-

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© 2003 for the NEGenWeb Project by Ted & Carole Miller