Here, witnessing a magnificent prospect in this lovely solitude, we experienced one of those seasons when the atmosphere is so surcharged with luxury, that every pore of the body becomes an ample gate for sensation to flow in; and one has simply to sit still and to be filled.
Seated near the shore, we delivered ourselves up to the exquisite loveliness around us; and when returning on board the yacht, the impression of the superb panorama tarried with me, even into the realm of Morpheus; so that I rose on the following morning with the remembrance of delicious dreams.
When I came on deck, the air seemed to be sweet with perfumes; the water sparkled brightly, and the blue sky hung cloudless over the placid mirror of Lake Erie.
Thus, favored by the weather, the majestic steam-yacht resumed her voyage.
After the lapse of two hours the harbor of Ashtabula came in sight, and at about 10 o'clock we approached Fair Point. The noon-tide of the summer day was past, as we were made acquainted with the fact, that the rising towers and pinnacles, to be discerned in the distance on our left, pertained to the beautiful "Forest City," next to Cincinnati the largest and most important city in the State of Ohio.
Cleveland is built on both sides of the Cuyahoga River, which is here crossed by several bridges. It is located chiefly on a plain from fifty to 100 feet above the lake, of which a magnificent view is thus obtained.
Leaving East River Street, where our floating home was destined to remain, I undertook an excursion through the greater portion of the city; not solely for the purpose of viewing the regular streets, generally from eighty to 100 feet wide, and lined with maple trees, but with the design to see a friend—Miss Lina Uhl—a teacher in one of the thirty public schools; holding a prominent position as the president of a teachers' association in Cleveland. She is the niece of Mr. C.F. Hild, from Schenectady, N.Y.
Having previously informed her of my intention to visit her native city, I was already expected, and very cordially received at her hospitable home.
After I had spent some very pleasant hours there, my friend accompanied me on my return to the dock. En route she made me acquainted with many points of interest, which are so numerous in the "Forest City." Thus, she called my attention to the charming Euclid Avenue, a street several miles long, considered to be one of the most extensive and picturesque within the limits of the United States. Here Cleveland's aristocracy built their substantial mansions and luxurious villas, encircled by tasty, park-like gardens. Of special interest to the visitor is the monument erected in memory of James Abram Garfield, the twentieth president of the Republic, born in Orange, Ohio, in 1831. Being in office but a short time, he was shot by a disappointed office-seeker, Charles J. Guiteau, in 1881. This sad event, which forms a thrilling incidence in the history of the Union, is comparable with the recent death of Carter Harrison, mayor of Chicago, whose assassination by Prendergast, under similar circumstances, on Saturday, 8.30 P.M., October 28, 1893, created a profound sensation and great excitement.
Monumental Park, near the center of the city, contains ten acres, divided into four squares by the extension of Ontario and Superior Streets. Besides a fountain, and other attractive objects, the park is adorned by a statue of Commodore Perry, erected in 1860 in commemoration of his victory on Lake Erie in 1813. It is of Italian marble, eight feet high, and stands upon a granite pedestal twelve feet in altitude. The most noteworthy buildings are the postoffice, the city hall, the county court house, and the Cleveland medical college. The Union Railway depot, an immense structure of stone near the lake shore, is one of the largest of the kind in the United States.