JF Ptak Science Books Quick Post
There's plenty of European stuff and wind in this breezy recounting of a life on the road, but when I opened up this stubby pamphlet my eye feel by chance on his American travels, finding Windy Bill in Winnemucca, Nevada (a 550-mile drive north of Las Vegas).
Windy does make some pretty interesting observation on Winnemucca, though:"Saloons are plentiful and all drinks are ten cents straight, with no discount for quantity. A pretty good meal can be had for two bits, but short orders and such things as life preservers, sinkers, or a bit of "mystery" with coffee, are all the same price—two bits. I found no place where I could get anything for less.There was a river or creek at the further end of town wherein I wished to bathe, but the water was so intolerably filthy that I deemed it wise to wait until I found a more suitable place along the route."
Windy takes more than half of the book to move himself from San Francisco to New York City, where he grabs a $27 ticket to Glasgow.
It really is a semi-interesting read, from what I can make of it, a U.S. vagabond vagabonding in Europe, though there are some unnecessary and inexplicably long quotations from Robert Burns that take up 40 pages or so. That said he does record some gems and pearls, like this:
"I drifted along Salt Market Street and then came upon a street which, for want of a better name, was called Sauchiehall Street, in the neighborhood of which I saw a restaurant called the "Workingman's Restaurant," on the side-wall of which was painted in large letters the following bill of fare:
Tea, 2 cents.
Coffee, 2 cents.
Porridge and milk, 2 cents.
Sandwiches, 2 and 4 cents.
Eggs, 2 cents.
Ham and eggs, 16 cents.
Broth, 2 cents.
Pea soup, 2 cents.
Potato soup, 2 cents.
Beefsteak pudding, 4 cents.
Sausage, 2 cents.
Collops, 4 and 6 cents.
Dessert puddings, 2 cents.
Fish suppers, 8 and 12 cents.
Tripe suppers, 8 and 12 cents.Overall though his "European" trip isn't much of one, unless people in the U.K. describe themselves as being "European", which they are not wont to do. Windy Bill crosses the Atlantic and gets to Scotland, but doesn't advance any further east.
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