The Portland daily press., 1873-10-16
,ERMS $500 PER ANNUMIN ADVANCE.

WI ON SHOULD not have taken for an Amed.
can py MS manner, voice, or pronupc;,tioy
But when We were with an Encl;sh 's'..,.
bright, slender lady VINO might we'll h.ys
been thought Bostonian, remarked OF Soma
thing that 'it must be worth hundred AZ
lars" The American, hearing the word
''doliars, instantly replied what, are Won an
American ?' ''No," replied the lady, ''but as
you were thought it best TO put it in dol
lars.' The gentleman was quite astonished.
as he had in no way disclosed his nationality
and fancied it unrecognized. 1t the case of
the newly-arrived American the difficulty Of
explaining this phenomenon is, of course,
not great. The American physique is gener-
ally different from the English, the accent
very different-the Americans usually giving
an upward infection at the end of sentence
when the English give a downward one.
Inc English voice is more fiat. more mo-
notonous, and usually in lower tone. But
cannot help thinking that the difference is
generally permanent because il is more radi-
cal, and blends with both the American char
acter and with the circumstances amid which
he is necessarily placed in foreign land. As
To these circumstances they must give him q
certain feeling OF helplessness in the presence
OF hote-keeper or shop-keeper. He will
meet their demand without surprise, not
knowing The standard of prices. When an
Englishman would at least grumble at the
stated price, or perhaps walk out Indignantly,
the American discloses his ignorance, and
thereby his nationality, by continued affabil-
ity, even if he does not purchase. But still
more, there are in the American certain traits
which are unconscious and habitual. For one
thing, his sense of equality appears at every
moment, and that, in region of snobs and
an atmosphere of servilitles, constitutes a
very important distinction. Every English
shOpkeeper is servile, and meets his customer
WOulI X ms 10
pect to be treated as gentleman or an equal,
and The American who speaks to him respect
fu'ly excites momentary surprise. Again,
the English people always come directly to
the point. No word ever passes between buy
er and seller except such as is needed for the
dry purposes of commercial barter. But the
Americans-the ladies pai aiticularly-will con-
verse pleasantly with clerks and shop girls, as
ii the latter were human beings.
How TO SELL PATENT GAS BURNERS
''Sirv' said tall, thin man, clad in a worn,
very shining garb, suddenly appearing in the
room Il have ventured TO call to lay before
you one of the most astonishing inventions Of
modern times" They all begin in some such
impressive way as that. "a gas burner,
sir.' was busy arranging Some papers in a
corner, and having both hands full, with a
the moment quite at bis mercy. Pc baps,
sir, yon are aware that in the case OF every
kind OF burner but this show you, gas gives
a most noxious efiuvinm, having a peculiar
ly ruinous effect upon the eyesght." BY
this time hal emptied my bands and mouth
and was advancing upon him. Fixing bis
ewes upon mine, he started back in Distress
/ ful horror. 'Heayen help US, sir,' he ex-
claimed, ''ho,o you hare suffered already!
Your sight, sir, would not last six months
| longer. This must not be-"
Before could say word or raise finger
to stop him, he rapidly gded past me TO the
table on which the lamp stood. With nim-
bleness which rooted me to the spot in ap-
! prehenson, he whipped off The shade, then
| the old burner; in moment the lamp was
ruin. ''It is a mercy of Providence, sir,
| that happened TO CALL"
''Stopf' called. ''Replace everything as
| it was, Instantly"
| 1.-The number of cases Of premature blind
ness" he calmly proceeded, ''that / have
had the qualification of preventing makes my
| labor most pleasant one"
! Thinking he might be deaf, bawled; 'T
| don't want your burner; won't have it;
take it off, for he was lightly twiriing the
\ new one in its place.
! '.There, sir, you will feel thankful to me as
long as you live! The only thing that troub-
les me in the matter is, know / am running
| the spectacle makers"
'sDo you hear?" asked. 81 shall not pay
| you for it."
I He struck a very effective attitude. "Pay-
msntl of what consequence is that? could
not remove that inestmabe burner for any
amount of money, when the alternative is
the ruin of your valuable eyesight. For, sir,
your eyes are worth many burners. make
you present of it willingly. 1 am poor
man, under heavy travelling expenses, and
have family IN want" He sighed. But
duty shall be done. The price is three-pence-
halEpenny, or three shillings a dozen.
know you viii regret this momentary harsh
| ness in The long years to come, when you are
| enjoying the fruits of that burner. But that
| is not my affair, though 1 am sorry to think
| of it. Good morning, sir. II at any time,
no matter how long an interval, by some in
| conceivable accident anything should become
out of order in 1t. you will find the name of
the manufacturers stamped on the side. Be
good enough to drop a line to their well
known house at Glasgow, and man will in
stantly be sent to attend to it,
was beaten. This offer to send a man
from Scotland into the heart of England,
after the lapse of years, to put gratuitousiy
bestowed hree-pence-halfpenny gas burner
to rights was too much for me. had to
1 make a uaJrchase -ChGJnbers' Journal,