The Morning herald., 1876-02-14
WILMINGTON, FEBRUAR, r4 1915
FOREIGNsJUDGES.

0VWAA
There is strange diversity with writ
ers as to the manners and customs Of the
peoples ofsdifennt. nations 7 1t is not un-
Frequently. the case that English writer
find a fruitful theme for the subject in the
customs Of women in America. But the.
all vary so much that it is difficult to tell
who u fright, unless we can judge b!
some demonstrative fact; some logical
illustration that we shave gained by al
every day insight into the manners anc
customs Of our women When one writer
sees adefection 1 which he considers the In
evitable Of dyspepsia and other msladies'
and tortures which arise from an over in
diligence Of the many social privileges,
another will discover perfections SO grea.
and fattering that the evils cited by the
former are lost by this JUNCTION poured
upon our susceptible hearts, and we are
left in quandary as to which is right ane
which is wrong. -...... a...s.
Every foreigner that comes to America,
whether fresh from college, Nestor o.
journalism, a dabbler in gossipy litera'
ture, and even those who have the ma
jesty Of royalty surrounding them take
their, first Impressions from what they SET
and dhear. They 60 no further they do
not search into the social life of the
American to discover proper basis; d.
not probe deeply into the ms and outs
Of the !. American people to judge
them properly. They do not group'
American life in its different phases, and
treat each separately, but pick upa dis
tinetive class and publish this to the world
in book as the true idea Of our mode ol
living. yo. .as...
For instance, Charles Dickens selected
out the slums Of the Five Points, with ali
Of its low and groyelling peoples as true
representation of American character
Stage representation in English theatri-
Gals frequently gives man in rawhide
boots, sitting upon velvet covered sofa
his heels elevated upon marble toy
table, short clay pipe in his mouth, and
squirting tobacco juice between his teeth
over Brussels carpet as custom in Amer
lea. Sometimes an American is represented
as demanding the butter Of gentleman
from the opposite side Of ,iotel table al
the point of a pistol. To those who are
acquainted with our social customs, this is
equally as absurd as an American writing
of Queen Victoria participating in can
can. TLe,esa Yelvcrtor, an English lady
has been travelling in America, and like
most foreigners who have had the privil
ege Of such pleasure, or displeasure
whichever they may choose to term it, ha
written book. But unlike Dickens ant
others she takes another scope from tha
which they did, and treats Of her own sex
In describing American women in thei
modes Of life, she SAYS : They eat to,
much hot bread; drink too much iced waite
and ask too many questions"
She makes the same mistake that mos
all Of these writer's do: Selects few from
among the whole, and judges them all by
these. Because one family is guilty O
such glaring violation of WHOLESOME
sanitary diet rules, as an over.indulgenc
in hot bread, or because the upper tendon
Of society, gorge themselves with hot mut
fms and buckwheat cakes, smothered il
molasses and butter, it Dies not stand t
reason that all American women enio
the same sumptuous feast, twice or thre
times day. This cannot be judged {
the average American diet, for we have
Dio Lewis, and all physicians preac
against hot bread in too lars
quantities, but we must say TIL
1t is a great temptation, ar
many are not able to restrain then
selves sufficiently in this respect to be pr
dent. And it may be that in the clutch
ofthese Miss Yelverton fell and found Il
data for her work. The same may
said in regard to iced water; and as
American women asking too many que
tions, why that is trait of curiosity tn
all women possess, and that Miss Yelve
ton, we rather suspect, is true to her e.
in.
A PHILADELPHIA paper reports Pre-