John H. Becker, a farmer of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, kept this diary, 10 July-22 August 1878, of his visit to the 1878 World's Fair in Paris and travels in Ireland, Scotland, France, and to Switzerland. He describes the steamship, State of Virginia, on which he traveled, and mentions seeing sharks, porpoises, whales, and seagulls. They arrived on the coast of Ireland on 21 July, and Scotland on 22 July. From Glasgow he went to London where he spent several days seeing the city, and arrived in Paris on 25 July. On 26-27 July, he visited the Exposition, and the next day went to a balloon ascension and climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. On 30 July, he went to Strasburg and visited a church to see the "curiosities," the Rhine River, and took a day trip to Basel, Switzerland. He then returned to Paris on 2 August to go back to the Exposition on 3 August, and spent several days visiting churches, looking at art, and going to the theater. By 6 August he was back in London where he went to the British Museum and rode the underground railroad for fun. He continued on to Ireland on 8 August and visited Belfast. While awaiting his ship for home on 10 August, he bathed in the sea twice. During the voyage home, he attended a taffy pulling party. The ship arrived in New York on 20 August but passengers were not allowed to debark until the next day. Becker arrived back home in Lancaster on 22 August. While in each country he commented on the farming--planting and blooming of flax, hay, oats, and potatoes.
