Chapter 3 of 3 · 2453 words · ~12 min read

Part 3

See the house in the picture. Many cottages in Ireland are like this, of stone or earth with the roof thatched with straw; but a great many have no windows except holes cut in the walls, and the door is so low that one has to stoop to go in. Of course the houses in the cities are different.

Dublin is the principal city and is a very beautiful one, with fine houses and buildings. Exquisite lace, made by the peasant women, comes from there, and a kind of cloth called Irish poplin, made of silk and wool. It rains very often in Ireland, so the grass and foliage are bright green, for which reason the island is sometimes called the Emerald Isle. The Irish people say, “In England it rains all day; in Scotland it rains all night; but in Ireland it rains both day and night.”

[Illustration: _Off for a Holiday in a Jaunting Car, Ireland_

_From Stereograph, Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, New York_]

IN PORTO RICO

Here is a whole family out for a drive in their cart drawn by four bullocks. This “horseless carriage” is in Porto Rico, which means “rich harbour.” Did you know that Columbus discovered the island of Porto Rico? It is called the “land of perpetual June,” because the weather is so fine through the whole year. To be sure, they sometimes have terrible earthquakes and hurricanes; but the people are prepared for these and have cellars or caves to which they go when they see signs of a hurricane coming. They have to take food with them, of course, to last until the storm is over, and sometimes whole villages are destroyed.

Except at these times Porto Rico is a beautiful place; flowers bloom all the year and the fields are full of growing things. A great deal of coffee grows there on large plantations. You know that Porto Rico belongs now to the United States, and every afternoon at sunset in the large cities a band plays “The Star Spangled Banner.” While it is being played the flag is lowered and the men take off their hats. It is an impressive sight.

There are many interesting things to see in the city streets. The men who sell bananas carry them fastened to a pole; the milk-man sometimes carries his large open can of milk on his head; and all of the native people, if they have anything to carry, balance it on their heads, no matter what it is. They are very expert at balancing things in this way.

[Illustration: _A holiday Jaunt in a horseless Carriage, Coamo, Porto Rico_

_From Stereograph, copyright by Underwood & Underwood, New York_]

IN CUBA

Surely this is a queer-looking street-car! Did you ever ride in one like it? Perhaps if we were in Cuba we might take a ride; but if we were in a hurry it would be better to find some other way of travelling. The car seems to be well filled with passengers. I wonder where they are all going! See the boy at the side of the car, with an odd-shaped basket in his hand. Perhaps all these people are going to the tobacco fields, for as you know, a great deal of tobacco is raised in Cuba, and cigars and cigarettes are made in large quantities. Many other things grow there, too. Some plants which belong to tropical or very hot countries grow close beside those found also in colder climates; so there is great variety of plant life.

Some fish with very queer names are found in Cuba: there is the “giant aguja,” a great big fish that sometimes weighs as much as five hundred pounds; the “snoring ronco,” the “galligo,” the “garfish,” and several others with names as funny. Do you know what all these fish look like? I’m sure I don’t, but if they are like their names they must be strange-looking objects.

There are many kinds of animals and insects in Cuba, too; some of the insects are quite troublesome and we should not care to have them come near us. If one is making a collection of insects, Cuba is a good place in which to find different varieties.

[Illustration: _A characteristic Street-car. Rapid Transit in Cuba_

_From Stereograph, Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, New York_]

ORMOND BEACH, FLORIDA

Isn’t this a fine long beach? Can you see how far it stretches? The sand is just as firm and hard as a floor, so the beach is often used to race on. Automobiles have made unusual records here: the sand is so smooth that they can go at great speed over it. Can you imagine how strange these automobiles would look to a child who had never seen one? We sometimes think the carriages of other countries are queer to look at, but if we had never seen an automobile before, perhaps it would look the strangest of all to us. Indeed, just after dark when the lamps are lighted they look like great monsters with shining eyes and open mouths coming towards one. Did you ever notice it?

Wouldn’t you love to have a run along this beach, and to paddle in the water? Perhaps some time you will be in Florida and go to Ormond Beach; perhaps you have already been there. Florida has water on three sides and there are many beaches of course, but the coast is flat and sandy, with reefs and sand bars that go way out into the ocean, so there are not many good harbours for vessels. On the side where the Atlantic is there are very few. Something grows in Florida that you like very much; I wonder if you know what it is? It grows on trees with dark, glossy leaves; it is round and the colour is between a red and yellow. The colour has the same name as the fruit, so I can’t tell you what it is without telling the name of the fruit. Do you know what it is now?

[Illustration: _On the famous Ormond Beach. The record-breaking Automobile Race-Course, Daytona, Florida_

THE OLD CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE

This funny little cart with enormous wheels has stopped in front of the old gate at St. Augustine, in Florida. Would you like to take a ride through the town?

First let us look at the old gate. Hundreds of years ago the city had a wall across one end, and this old gate guarded the entrance. See the sentry boxes where the men on guard used to stay. The door to one of them is right in back of the cart in the picture. Now, if we go through the gate we shall find an interesting old city, quite different from any other in America, for St. Augustine was built by Spanish people many, many years ago; and some of the quaint old houses are still there to remind us of the times before our grandfathers lived. The streets are very narrow and the houses peculiarly built, most of them made of _coquina_, a combination of shells and sand, cut into bricks. At the end of the town near the sea is an old fort, also built with coquina walls, and in going through it we should hear from our guide many strange stories of things that happened long ago. Several times the fort was besieged, but the coquina walls were soft enough so that bullets became embedded in them, and the fort did not receive much injury; but the walls are crumbling now. Another interesting old building is the cathedral with its odd-shaped belfry with four bells in it.

[Illustration: _A Relic of the old Days, at the famous City Gate in the old Spanish Town of St. Augustine, Florida_

IN NORTH CAROLINA

Here is a happy farmer taking his family out for a drive in his big ox-cart. He is very proud of his cart, and of his little farm where he raises vegetables and melons for the market. When he was a little boy his father and mother were slaves on a large plantation, and although they were treated kindly they belonged, like the horses and dogs, to the white people who owned the plantation.

This man is happy to think he is free, and he works hard to keep his family supplied with all they need. See the dear little baby in his mother’s lap. Perhaps when he grows up he will go to one of the schools in North Carolina, where the negroes learn to be good farmers, able to take care of themselves and their families. Perhaps he will be a teacher.

This road looks very sandy, doesn’t it? You know it is in what is called the Sand Belt of North Carolina. All along the eastern part of the state the country is low and flat, much of it sandy, with here and there a swamp; but farther inland it is good farming country with fine soil. North Carolina has a wonderful climate, and it is so warm and pleasant that a bigger variety of plants grow there than in almost any other state. We should like to see peanuts growing, shouldn’t we? They grow in great abundance here.

[Illustration: _Free and happy in his crude Prosperity. Life in the Sand Belt of North Carolina_

_From Stereograph, copyright by Underwood & Underwood, New York_]

AN OX-CART IN SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI

This father is taking his family out too; it is a good large family, isn’t it? All these pickaninnies live in the house we see in the picture, way down in southern Mississippi. Before the Civil War the coloured people in Mississippi were slaves, but now they are free, and many of them live quite happily and contentedly in their little cabins. Numbers of them own small farms and grow cotton and corn, or sometimes sugar-cane, from which syrup and molasses are made.

Mississippi is one of the states where it is warm weather most of the year; the Gulf of Mexico is just south of it, and the breeze across the water is soft and mild. It rains a great deal in the southern part of the state, and there are many rivers, so the land is overflowed very often. Along the Mississippi River in some places banks called levees have been built, to keep the water in its place, but often after a heavy rain there is so much water in the river that the levees are broken, and then great damage is done. If the river did not sometimes carry off houses these overflows would not be so bad, for the water leaves a kind of mud on the fields, which makes things grow faster and better.

There are large numbers of trees in Mississippi: the holly that we use at Christmas time grows there, the fragrant magnolia, the persimmon with its queer puckery fruit, and many other varieties.

[Illustration: _Rapid Transit in Southern Mississippi_

_From Stereograph, copyright by Underwood & Underwood, New York_]

IN CENTRAL PARK

These dear little goats give a great deal of pleasure to children in Central Park, New York City. Would you like to take a drive now and see some of the interesting things in the park? It is such a large place that it would take quite a long time to drive about and see everything.

Where would you like to go first? Why, of course, you want to see the animals, so we will pay a visit to them. What do you like to see--the monkeys? Well, they are funny, with their wrinkled little faces and paws like tiny hands. Do you like to give them peanuts, and then watch their solemn faces while they crack the shells open? We mustn’t stay watching them too long, for there is much in Central Park that we want to see. As we go along we will look at the trees, because here are found all the different kinds that will grow in this climate, and some of them are very beautiful.

There is a very famous “Needle” in Central Park; have you ever seen it? Don’t look astonished, for it is quite different from the needles we are accustomed to seeing. Perhaps you would know it better by its other name, obelisk. It is a very tall shaft of stone with curious inscriptions on it, and it is very, very old. First it stood in Heliopolis, hundreds and hundreds of years ago, then it was moved to Alexandria, Egypt. Several years ago it was given to the United States by the Khedive of Egypt. It is now called “Cleopatra’s Needle.”

[Illustration: _The Goat Carriages, Central Park, New York_

_From Stereograph, Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, New York_]

ON AN OSTRICH FARM

Would you like to try a race with this ostrich? I am afraid you would be beaten, for this is a famous trotter, Oliver W., who has made a record for great speed. It looks strange to see an ostrich harnessed into a racing gig, doesn’t it? But you know they can go very rapidly, and easily run faster than horses. Do you see all the ostriches in the picture on the other side of the fence? This is a farm in Jacksonville, Florida, where ostriches are raised. You know so many people want ostrich plumes that it takes a great many to supply them all, and there are ostrich farms in Florida and California, as well as in Mexico and other countries. The first plumes are cut from the birds when they are about six or seven months old, and then about twice a year until they are very old. Ostriches are queer-looking birds, aren’t they? See Oliver W.’s long neck, and his feet with only two toes, the outside one having no claw. It is wise to keep away from those feet, for ostriches sometimes kick, and very powerfully, too. They are strange birds and do many funny things; so a visit to an ostrich farm is very entertaining. You have heard, haven’t you, how they hide their heads in the sand and think no one can see them? When the Arabs of the desert want to catch a wild ostrich they find it quite easy, for the birds are very apt to run around in circles instead of straight ahead, so the horses soon catch up with them.

[Illustration: _Exercising Oliver W., who has a trotting Record of 2:02. Ostrich Farm, Jacksonville, Florida_