Brevoort House, 5th Avenue, New York,
8th Sept., 1858.

My letter to you of the 3rd instant gave you an account of our voyage,
and of our first impressions of this city. In the afternoon of the 4th,
William went by steamboat to West Point, on the river Hudson, and we
went by railway. This was our first experience of an American Railway,
and it certainly bore no comparison in comfort either to our own, or to
those we have been so familiar with on the Continent. The carriages are
about forty feet long, without any distinction of first and second
classes: the benches, with low backs, carrying each two people, are
arranged along the two sides, with a passage down the middle. The
consequence is, that one may be brought into close contact with people,
who, at home, would be in a third-class carriage. There are two other
serious drawbacks in a long journey; the one being that there is no
rest for the head, and therefore no possible way of sleeping
comfortably; the other, that owing to the long range of windows on
either side, the unhappy traveller may be exposed to a thorough draught,
without any way of escape, unless by closing the window at his side, if
he is fortunate enough to have a seat which places it within his reach.
Another serious objection is the noise, which is so great as to make
conversation most laborious. They are painstaking in their care of the
luggage, for besides pasting on labels, each article has a numbered
check attached to it, a duplicate of which is given to the owner; time
is saved in giving up the tickets, which is done without stoppage, there
being a free passage from one end of the train to the other. This
enables not only ticket-takers, but sellers of newspapers and railway
guides, to pass up and down the carriages; iced water is also offered
gratis.