Miriam McFate Travel Journal - 1926

Wed, Oct 27, 1926

This morning Jack took Clarence and I out to see the city and we seen a most wonderful sight. First we took the street car down to the heart of the city. I wouldn’t dare say how many cars and busses this city operates, but it is surely an enormous number. The street car company alone employees 5, motormen and conductors. We got off the St. car and went into Woolworths ten cent store. And such a variety, I never did see. One wonders where so many things come from and how they can get so many different things in one store. This store has four floors, each floor loaded with .10 cent articles. You only have to stay a few minutes to get an idea of how these kinds of stores are patronized. We left this store and went on to one of the larger department stores. Here we got our first ride on a moving stairways, one going up and one going down. If you wanted to go up, all you had to do was step on and stand perfectly still and up you would go. All one did was be in readiness to take a step or two right at the top of landing so you wouldn’t lose your balance. These have steps just like ordinary stair ways only not such a straight steep step. This gives the party ahead a chance to step up to let the person behind have chance to step on. This is an ideal rest for weary shoppers. We went up three floors then we took an elevator. Have been in these before so this was no thrill. We went from here to the Railway Exchange building. This is next to the tallest building in St. Louis. The Bell Telephone is considered the tallest. We took the elevator and up we went 21 stories. That took us up to the top story. But still this didn’t quite satisfy us so we payed .25 cents a piece for a ticket to go to the roof. This entrance took us out on to the next roof, then we climbed two flights of stairs. Oh! my how the wind did blow. Had to hold to our hats to keep them from blowing away. This put us up away and the city. We could see for miles and miles in all directions. This was well worth the price, and a sight will never forget. We could see the old Mississippi winding its way thro two cities. St. Louis Illinois on the other side of the river is a large city all its own. When we looked out over the city, people and automobiles looked like miniature’ toys. We could see cars passing over the bridges between the two cities, and it surely made one think of a busy ant hill. If one has ever stopped to watch these busy little fellows, you have an idea of how thinks looked to us from this point. We came back to the elevator, and down we came. These elevators are mostly run by negroe girls. I’m afraid this kind of job would make me seasick, but suppose a person would get used to it. We spent all forenoon bumming around looking at the sights. Got back in time for dinner. After dinner Mr. Carnes took the children and us out to Forest Park. This is one of the largest parks in the state.

They have a large zoo here too. The kiddies all enjoyed seeing the animals especially the bears. Had four different kinds. Nature itself could have produced no better home for these animals. These pits were built in the side of a hill, just like a place in the wilderness where bears would habitate. Large openings in the rock lead back into their dens. Each den of bears had a stream of running water. They seemed perfectly contented. We saw most every kind of birds there was. Had a house built purposely for these. This is a beautiful park with some of the loveliest drives we ever had an opportunity to drive over. This park consists of 1500 acres. This was the park in which the worlds exposition was held in 1902. We spent most of the afternoon here, and have enjoyed this day. Went visiting in the evening over to Kesters. These are the people who were with Jack and Essie when they visited with us this summer. Went to bed late.