AMERICAN MANNERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2719, 25 April 1906, Page 74

AMERICAN MANNERS.

(By Clarence Rook, in Temple Bar.) In every country that I have visited th© - deepest impression left on my mmd — and the most permanent — has been that of the manners of the people. One finds K«mbvandt, Wagner, Paderewski, and Charley's Aunt in every capital, the same from China to Peru. But th© people in the audience differ, at least on the .-surf ace. They do not differ much, below the surface, I think. In my travels about the . Continent of Europe I have seldom fouiid myself far from a good Samaritan. Com; - plaints of one nation against tHe manners' of another have their basis, as & rule, in a misunderstanding. The stranger ~does not know the social language. He says one thing, and the other man thinks something else is implied. For example, I was driving in Moscow with a Russian; officer. The driver of the droschky was sleepy, aftd so was hjs horse,. Leaning

-forward the. officer addressed » the driver as a pig of disgusting habits, born of a . mother 'who .- -At that point -the driver ■whipped' up his horse and turned with a pleased smile to the abusive officer. "It is \eoin&-weJL/no i w, , is, it- not?" he said. ' Tti^'ma^ia#<qutteiwell what the officer meant— ffierel^sit-ipolite request -for a sligJ^^^a^ T lqfj:4)a'ce^ .'lt s™sl Russian 'matfn^s.f Jpub eves -before,! started lor - - { a^li^ral" -irender- \ in^6f^Si^ih = orfetiojiX?roTzlS * &ol>?lBtve-an. ' equivaenfe : :e^e^t ; ?'on^the r We-CY^rk cab ' driver.--/- - ' '--V-^^y* . - ' / : 7 :;-.; , ; «—On> Landing. — My visit "to the JJnilecL States was but a flying one, and comprised less than a month's sojourn. Let that be said u> apology for a criticism based*.on small experi- , ence^-merely the ' record of sudden and doubtless casual impressions. , Warnings 'had been showered" on me, mostly by Americans in London. Warnings of the tortures of the customs house, the supercilious hot el clerk, the policeman who would brain me -with a knobstick if I asked him a question, the man in the street who would shove me into the'gutter^ and go grimly after dollars. Americans, rocked in the suavity of Europe/!ra,th'er. r -'frightened': me. Was I to eneouhfcer\4s!es ,'full;of ruffians, who- would iu«ult- nie-^ anfl f r "pitchYme "from pillar to ■post?" ''jfhereT was, ,in *my mind a lurking 6usp'icim£tha£ar r nation \oi 60^-orisit 70? — millionsiyfjrpeople- cduM^iiot, spend its time in femg'-rude.ieacn.to, each, and^yet prosper7V|ha|.'if^yoja^ald^pi^uV^the social la£giiage|/?. <'■,., "".', I-rlinkeA my^ arm. withthat-'^% v ta^?apTOVtionSa '.cus^oms^ officer, . and^MdPblAt tl^jbesrVanliiiew.efit story at Jnys^mmand/a|ia 'jiafijtlieifirs.frto catch the_ra®EEiqnate3e§jl>, wjthgtnejjamusing cabman.*^T^m6*ttiethoa"*caimc>t be^rccominended - to-.the^ady. .'who was .trying to pass two thousand dollars' worth of Paris frocks on the ground tihat t they only cost two hundred.;'. '-To- -^etijitfe i ofßc,ia.li^as^«isisteiit alraoetV td^e^^ni^-'aiji^l^owci^,' and pluiigw-'",in<^^he>niqipinntiß^itd.> arcana- of her .wjp^c^&e;^ 3fy 'own* officia.!" dismissed nic with^good ■v^ishes 'fqr;^a,y\'enjoyment, an.l scarcely glanced_at theJcontents of my «t earner 'tpisk v ' ■. ";*- „- • " ■ 1 - --I?irst Impressions. — Kaawing the'' value of first impressions -when it is a question of the ethics of the surfacej ,1 spent ray first two daj-s iv New York seaching for a specimen of downright discourtesy. • Ignorant of the social language, obviously British, retaining, it is to be feared, , some remnants of that "doinned superior pose" 'that the" University of Oxford inculcates, I must have been intensely provocative as I dragged the tail of my coat in the hope that someone would tread" on jt. The hotel clerk, of .whom I 'had hopes, did, nojt.iespond to the. challenge. Certainly -~be^ did not grovel before ine — ,'fout then* it gives me no pleasure to see a man. grovelling. He- gave one the precise information for whibh I asked, information that a New York "child of seven would not require, and then stopped. My desperate search for the rude man included the policeman who stood near the Broadway end of Wall street, and instead of knocking me down, h-e rescued me from hm oncoming ' car, turned me round,' and pointed) out the street I wanted. It included many hurried citizens, who absolutely refused discourtesies when I pestered them with inquiries, but rushed from their orbit, dragged me, talking all the time, to the clearest point for explanation, and then rushed back again before waiting for a ""thank you." Once . only in the 24 hours was there the hint of a foot planted on my trailing coat. "Do you sell so-and-so's Scotch whisky?" I asked a bar-tender, naming my own particular brand. The bar-tender folded his hands and glared at me. "What do you suppose I'm here for?" lie replied. "I'm sorry," I exclaimed, "but I haven't been- in the country six hours yet, and — I'm afraid I haven't caught your name." His fat face broadened, lib arms came down to the counter, and he said, "What was it you asked?" He had misunderstood my question. And before I had finished my drink he had sketched his career, given me his omnLon upon various public questionSj and foretold that I should ''make out well enough in this country."