Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-01-04
The American in England.

The American in England feels for
a long time ike a fish out of the wa
ter. He hears his mother tongue spo-
ken around him, yet does not under
stand all that Is said, the accent being
disslmllar to his own, and the names
of many articles used by both nations
totally different. He wants TO shop,
but nobody can tell him where the
right store is for pantalOons he is
brought drawers, as the latter are call
ed the former in England. He asks
for 'unmentionables, pants, last
ly "breeehes, " and Is highly delighted
with his knowledge of his own tongue,
which he had begun TO doubt when
they couldn't understand him.
The pleasure IS mutual. HurTying
away, the shopkeeper soon returns
with a pair of knee -breeches. worn
Onlp by jockeys and fOotmen. In des-
pair. our eOuntrymen stretches forth
his 'limb" (leg), insinuating that he
wants a covering for it, and at length
manages to obtain pair Of trousers.
In his search for suspenders he is
still more beWildered, for he is told
that he may probably get them at the
stcheesem0Rger' fruIterer's or IRON
mOueers, Just 0pposVfe-they them
selves don't keep the article" In
blank astonishment he thrust his cane
into the show-window, and lifting
down pair, asks with some warmth
and indignation,
What do you call these things p
''0h them's what you mean, sir !
W by ace call them braces" "
Does the American in England want
a vest ? He cannot buy it until he
calls it a WaistcOat, nor an undershirt
unless he calls thar a vest.
1T may not be out of place to recall,
as exemplifying the difference of small
lcustOms in America and England, that
on the preliminary trial of Muller in
New York. two or three years ago,
Matthews, the cabman, was asked if
his head was measured for the hat
which played so important a part in
this cause celebre. No, " he replied,
they don't measure eds, but ats, In
England. "
They try on ready-made hats till one
fits, and the measure of the head is
ia ken from 1t and not often from the
old hat which the buyer wears.
Socks are called half hose many
l1nglishmen wear stockings and, like
the ladies, garter above the knee.
That soft, fuzzy muslin known to us as
canton flannel is, in England named
swan S down, butsWan's down is not
canton flannel. 1t is ludicrOus to see
a sign with shirt tailor on It, for
tailors with US never make shirts, but
only coats, etc. ANY shoe coming
above the ankle they call boot when
it reaches the calf it is a ''hessiau
Shoes below the ankle are high lows,
"bluchers. Caters do not mean a
lady's boot, but those old-fashioned
leggings which we're drawn over the
leg when gentlemen wore knee -hreech-
es and silk stockings 0vershoes are
| 'galoshes.
The English call bureau a chest
of drawers, because in olden times
travellers to India used a species of
trunk containing a set of drawers to
hold clothing arrived at their Jour
ney's endI the trunk made a bureau
and writing-desk all In one. Though
this oid=fashfoned piece of furniture
is seldom seen now, the name is still
Retained bureau" would suggest to
to the British mind an Office for the
transaction of business.
Needing a crystal for his watch the
a american cousin would have to en-
iquire for glass, q tumbIer would
4 be brought him, and if this were what
/ he really wanted and asked for ''tum-
bier" he would be misunderstood TO
mean a street acrobat an aL fresc0
gymnast.
A waiter is called a tray, and the
] French word trait, is pronounced the
same-tray-W without sounding the f.
nal {, as we do. A dumb waiter is not
with them a sliding closet, but a cir
! cular wlTat-not, to receive plates that
have been used at lunch, a repast from
which the majority Of servants are ex-
cused in a large English household.
/ A waiter is an unfortunate English
/ ''he, Whc attends in hotels, travels,
etc. The private waiter IS distinguish
/ ed as the 'man-servant."
A pitcher is always a jug a CRATE is
called a stove, though our stove is
l hardly known in England, nor are
I blowers, but their desirabilifv is so
evident that girls In England will Of
+ ten put a newspaper before the CRATE
4 to make the fire burn fast but the air
/ soon sucks it into the stove at the risk
/ of setting the chimney on fire. More
\ often, however, the ,maid-servanti
puts a poker over the Goals as a subsfi-
tute for our blower, and leaves it there
firmly believing that if there were not
a spark of fire the magic poker would
soon charm the coal up into a blaze
There are no people equal to the
English IN the singular talent for max
ing fires which invariably 60 out. They
put few sticks of kiDdling-wood
/ (they call it "fire-wood') and piece
of paper under some old cinders and a
few Jumps of coal, and thrust in the
poker but as they carefully exclude
the air, the fire. cannot burn, in spite
of the potency of the poker.
England is justlyscelebrated for her
many home comforts, but she is sadly
deficient in the manner of heating
houses. The CRATES are set so far back
into the old-fashioned freplaces that
that nearly all the heat goes up the
4 wide, open chimney. In most Of the
4 London dwellings the TaBge-it hardly
deserves the name-is so iBcommodi-
Gus, and the kitchens are so dark, that
on foggy days, even while the gas is
burning, they are obliged to cook hold
ing bit of lighted paper or the end Of
a candle in the hand. A pleasant re-
hection while eating, that of the char
red ends Of paper IN the food, or the
dFippiHgs of a candle Often too,
JUST do INC uluu0A Ar q J. OQb 40 @EG bdhGu
off the range, a sudden slide Of SCOT
4 takes place, and, lodging in tho viands
4 spoils them altogether.
n Dried apples they call Norwich
4 pippins, " and eorned beef, salt beef
.. IF an American wants ice cream, he
must ask for cream ice. A vendar OF
fruits and vegetables Is q fruiterer and
green grocer.
All English people do not misuse
the letter ieno matter how well-in-
formed or well-behaved an individual
may be, the moment he misplaees an 1
Z they know that his education in early
! life has been neglected, and therefore
q he must Be excluded from the barrow
& charmed circle of refined society. En-.
{ glish lower classes invariably misuse
the b and so DO the children of tht
] rich in infancy, because the child't
nurse is from the unedueated masses
/ and the child learns from its nurse
thus the offspring Of the wealthy anC
5 cultivated do drop their his to ludic
= rous degree until careful instruction a