2 3 6 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
EDITORIAL WANDERINGS. 
ALGIERS, GENOA AND NORTH ITALY. 
Leaving Gibraltar in the afternoon of Monday the 
natural thing is to ask how soon Algiers will be sighted. 
The passage between these two points was pleasant al¬ 
though there was still enough roll to make it interesting 
for the susceptible. Wednesday morning found us in sight 
of Algiers and those who cared to land did so in the afternoon. 
One of the things which marked the arrival of the steamer 
was the hearty greeting.accorded by swarms of Algerian 
fruit venders who surrounded 
us and vociferously offered 
oranges, figs, dates and flowers 
tastefully packed in attrac¬ 
tive net sacks or fiber baskets 
to the passengers (mostly 
second class and steerage) 
who remained on board. The 
prices were low and the fruit 
of fair quality. 
The city of Algiers is an in¬ 
teresting mixture of ancient, 
oriental and modern Euro¬ 
pean architecture. In the 
fine quays, excellent store¬ 
houses and places of business 
near the shipping, one sees 
splendid examples of the build¬ 
ings of to-day. In the old part 
of the town you are plunged 
into the oriental and mediae¬ 
val. The narrow paved streets 
with their numerous connect¬ 
ing arches are interesting and 
characteristic. The westerner 
is apt to laugh at these tiny 
alleyways which serve as 
streets but after all there are 
reasons for building close and 
making narrow streets. Towns 
compactly built in this 
fashion could be protected 
and defended with compara¬ 
tive ease. Then again the 
closeness of the buildings furnished a maximum of shade, 
a most important point during the hot days of summer. As 
a rule the nights are cool in-this somewhat arid region—for 
Algiers may be looked upon as the gateway of the western 
tourist to the great interior desert. 
^ In Algiers one finds a cosmopolitan people. Here one 
first meets the picturesque Arab, the Moor, the Turk, in 
addition to frequent examples of the wandering tribes of the 
desert. One hears French, Spanish, Italian, English and 
of course Arabic spoken in the public places. Here the 
native women of society always appear fully veiled in 
public places. Algerian’ houses are provided with roof- 
gardens and there the women may doff their filmy coverings. 
The heavily laden donkey often blocks the narrow street 
and, as in Spain and Italy, is indispensible for transporta¬ 
tion in mountainous parts. The traveller—speaking in 
guide book phrases—may linger in the environs of Algiers 
many days with pleasure and profit. The passing steamer 
stops a few hours—one gets a taste and an appetite for more. 
The next point of the Alexandria bound steamer is 
Genoa about 36 hours from Algiers. Italy has at least 
two large commercial cities, Milan and Genoa. The latter 
has the distinction as every school boy knows of being the 
birth place of Columbus. The harbor is large and safe, 
the shipping extensive and the commercial interests im¬ 
portant. Two cruisers were 
in course of construction at 
the time of our arrival. As 
indicated in an earlier letter 
our plan—though not defin¬ 
itely outlined, was to go on to 
Alexandria and see a bit of 
Egypt during the winter 
months. Unfortunately this 
plan was quite upset by the in¬ 
considerate illness of the writ¬ 
er who persisted in sticking to 
his berth—though not from 
seasickness,—when he wanted 
to be careering round the decks 
with the other young folks! 
His family, backed by the 
doctor, thought it well to land 
him at Genoa and search for 
a physician who specialized 
in his form of malady. This 
was done with the result that 
after a few days recuperation 
in a comfortable English- 
. Italian Hotel he was again, 
with the aid of his family'and 
good friend the doctor, trans¬ 
ported to Lausanne, Switzer¬ 
land where he provided satis¬ 
factory carving material for 
a very excellent surgeon. 
Enough of personalities, how¬ 
ever Genoa has fine old palaces 
with their curios and pictures. 
Its astonishing what an industrouslot these Italian painters 
were in days gone by) sculpture and ornaments/ Genoa 
too has an exceedingly handsome and elaborate cemetery 
—quite the finest planting ground of the kind in the country. 
The young lady and the doctor thought it magnificent. 
The Madame says she was not interested in cemeteries at 
the time although one member of the party did act as 
though he might be a candidate for a “corner lot.” 
The traveller may choose between two routes in travelling 
from Genoa to Lausanne, Switzerland. Both are so called 
tunnel routes for he must somehow cross the interior Alps 
before he emerges alongside Lake (Leman) Geneva. Both 
routes are famous as feats of railway engineering. The 
older is the St. Gothard tunnel route while the other is 
known as the Simplon line which carries one through the 
A wide street in Algiers 
