Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 121, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 May 1911 — WHEN MARK TWAIN WAS A BOY [ARTICLE]

WHEN MARK TWAIN WAS A BOY

Trip of the, "Innocents Abroad’’ Compared With the Cruises That : , Made Today. i . When Mark Twain, in company with about 100 other “innocents,” made his famous cruise abroad, their progress from port to port on this novel, floating hotel, .was followed with interest by the entire country. At present half a dozen great steamers, each carrying from two to five times as'many tourists, are on cruise in different parts of the world. This attractive method of travel has become a fixed Instltutipn. It Is curious to contrast the arrangements of this first cruise of the “Innocents Abroad” with those of today, nearly half a century later. The Quaker City, the side-wheel steamer on which the first cruise was made, carried a few more than 100 passengers and offered only the most essential accommodations. The first Mediterranean cruise cost <1,250 per passenger, with many extras. The advance In safety and luxury of steamers has been marked by a corresponding decrease in the cost of transportation. Today one may encircle the globe for less than one-half the fare paid by the “Innocents,” while a long trip to the Mediterranean, exactly duplicating that of the Quaker City, with a hundred added luxuries, costs only about onefourth as much. Ther are at present four large steamers, on a single line, carrying together 1,400 passengers, cruising in the Mediterranean, South the West Indies. Each of these ships is in daily communlcatlcn by wireless telegraph aid cable with New York, while the dally newspaper, printed aboard, keeps the tourists constantly in touch with the latest news.

Mark '"wain, it will be remembered', grew eloquent in describing the din-ing-room, 50 feet in length, which seated more than 100 passengers, and the melodeon used for concerts and religious services. Today, however, half a thousand tourists can dine together in a palatial cabin/ to the accompaniment of a stringed orchestra and enjoy a cuisine and service equal to that of the best. hotels ashore. Despite the limitations of the Quaker City, the cruise proved the most satisfactory of all methods of travel and foreshadowed the popularity it would enjoy in the future.