The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-11-17
rne Danbury Man on Sc. Andrews
Country.

10 SrTg GREEN, Rochester, \. l.
The Danbury Man on ~. Ahafe""
Country.
Hr. BAILEY, in his last letter, has the ioi.
7oninr on the habits Of the Engiisn:
There is an accompaniment to each meal
c,h;ch strikes stranger most forcibly. 1t IS
fssrir way Of saying grace. They are the
snddenest people in this respect that l ever
saw. and baye way OF firing on the'r grati-
t,,de which is most startling. The text Is
something like this: "For what we are
aho,,t 10 receive make US truly thankful" !;
and this. by some families, is slid in most
uneypectetilv, and 1t has come so rapidly
and so abruptly that | have occasionally
missed il entirely, hearing only the Word
g about" preceded and followed by suo.
fued whistling, there being no abatement
in the work of the table at the time tending
TO make the impression the less distinct.
The giving OF thanks, where 1t Is the custom
at the end of the meal, has frequently cut OIL
n mouthful Of food, so swift and unostenta-
tious has been its coming; and the CONVEX
sa.ion and happy laughter flowed along with
scarcely q break in its current, and those
who were to finish did so, and everybody
felt contented and looked edited.
This is quite in contrast to our New Eng
land fashion Of doing grace. have sat un-
der grace which froze the gravy, lrretrleY-
ably damaged the mutton, and lmbued the
greater part Of the guests With the goomleSt
forebodings. in which the African and the
South Sea islanders were looked after and
secured beyond harm and all political ca
halls were taken under the fifth rib, com
pletely dumb!ounded, and their evil machl-
nations scattered TO the four winds OF heR-
ven. II was fine performance and good
thing for humanity at large, but it made the
dinner look sick.
The English are as uuostcntatious in their
names as in other things. John Is the COM
mon male and Jane is the popular female
coonomen. l begin TO thlnktnat nearly all
the female servants are called "Jane."
am not sure there is not an act OF Parlla-
ment to that effect. The term servant" IS
used in q broader sense than in our country.
The employ Is of Il company are called ser
wants" whether they are ut the head or 1901
of the list. Imagine an American railway
ticket.sellcr called 4 servant. But 1t is too
dreadful to think of, and, fortunately, no one
would dare do it.
We exceed the English in building cars,
but they completely distance US IN wearing
an eye.glass. It is not double glass, under
stand. but single disc, with silver or
gold rim. and secured with cord about the
neck, from which it bangles when not in
use. 1t Is worn only by the English eX-
Uuisite, and he generally dons it as he asks
q question, or on entering room where
there is anv body TO see him. Sometimes it
is suddenly put up without any apparent
proyocatiOn. | imagine that it is worms.
THE wearer has baggy costume, parts his
hair in the middle, and has in bis face an
expression of mild idiocy, which is much
strengthened by the glass.
He wears it in the depression just be-
tween the bridge of the nose and the brow
of the eye. He places it there without any
effort, and holds it by slight depression OF
the brow. He could carry it more easily
under his arm, but he prefers wearing it as
I describe, where it rides as calmly and
peacefully as babe on its mothers breast,
or q wet dog on a clean oil-cloth.
Initiative Americans vainly strive to cap.
ture the fashion. There was one young
man from Marlboro, Mass, stopping in
London last summer, who devoted three
whole months, but in vain, to make an eye
glass stay in his eye. | could always tell
when lie failed by hearing him howl, and
swear, and kick the furniture. At the end
of the three months he went. home, as both
his time and money were exhausted. When
his room was cleaned two full quarts of
damaged eyeglasses were gathered up.
Although the English chew but little to.
bacco, they consume great quantities OF the
weed in smoking and snuffing. have seen
number of young people addicted to the lat
ter habit. don't care who snuffs il he will
only keep away from my yictuals. In many
of the old-fashioned English inns snuff
boxes or suuft.horns are to be found in the
from which the guest helps
himself without charge. The same inns
keep stock of long-stemmed clay pipes on
hand for the use Of patrons. Clay pipes are
in such favor here that some of them are
dignified with an amber mouth.piece.
it is marvellous the amount of soda-water
which is consumed here. But it is nearly
all bottled. have seen less tha1sa half
dozen soda-water fountains in the past sum-
mer. / don't suppose they can afford the ice
TO run them, The soda-Water comes in bot
ties as we have it, but it is plain soda, as de-
void of flayoring as q billiard ball is devoid of
whskers. It's used largely with spirits and
as head.easer in the morning after seeing
few friends; but it is not popular as berer-
age by itself. 1t makes nice companion for
brandy, but alone its society is hardly worth
looking after.
Yon see no cakes Of ice on the sidewalk
here, and l can readily imagine that an
American city street In the morning must
ill an Englishman with surprise. An Ameri-
can misses the great variety of vegetables,
meats, and breads, served up at his home no.
tel, and the equal variety of mixed drink
dealt out at his home bar, but / think he
misses ice more than all these. feel safe
in asserting that seven.eightbs Of the bar
rooms, and full that proportion of the ho-
tells, are not regularly supplied with ice; and
I have yet to see the restaurant with single
pitcher of ice-water. And of the two coun-
tries, England stands more in need of ice
than we do, as its drinking-water is generally