Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1879-06-05
A BRITISH GEOGRAPHY.
Cincinnati Commercial.

Ss->ih &e>> ~ - INV N.-fs s
A stock aaecdc,e told by sAmeri.
can travellers 10 Europe il that
when the London schnoi boy secs
fer the first iims citizen OF. the
United States he lifts his hands in
wsndermeRt and exclaims, sBut be
is not black.
Tho thing may have happened or
not but II easily might occur. The
geographical chart which harg- on
the wall of London school house
has upon IL the picture OF = prancing
brown Indian in full feathers and
war paint and underneath him the
legend, IAN American BY this the
chart maker means TO designate the
ahorigine Of the Western World. itua
the schoolboy naturally takes Ii t.
mean the prescott inhabltant OF the
United Statea.
Grown sons of John Bull might
be expected TO know better but
many of them really seem not to.
A gentleman of this city, who late.
iy visited come relatives in London
found it impossible TO convince
them that bnffAlo and Indians did
not stalk wild on the streets of Gin
natl. A late writer in Lippincotts
Magazine has had the rare privilege
of examining q rev edition of Brit
ish school geography, which consid-
ering that Alexander Mackey, it's
author and maker, is Fellow of
the Royal Geographical Society and
Doctor of Laws, displays even more
magnificent ignorance of America
than that of the Cineinnatian's Lon.
don friends An American was put
to school 10 England and work
called the Elements of Geography
Was given him to study. On the
title page it was stated that the
book belonged to the thirty seventh
thousand which had been printed
and sold. 1t was evidently stan.
dard geography with all that the
name impli es. The preface stated
that the greatest care had been ia.
ken to bring it, in date of informa-
ton, fully NJ TO the present time.
1t gave brief but vivid account of
the great Reb. lion in this country,
closing with the statement: Rich.
mond has been evacuated and Pres
ident Davis has been captured 10
this state f thrilling suspense DR..
Mackey leaves United 5 ace h,s
tory, and for oil bis text book teIis
him, the British school. boy may
well still be wondering what became
Of US. The very latest Information
the youth gets is this:
Many slaves were set tree dur.
ing the late civil war while by q
recent proclamation OF Prsiden Lin
colu liberty has been extended to
the entire remainder
For all the schooIboy knows,
President Lincoln is still
ut the head of Government 10 the
United States yet. More extraor
binary information is dropped ell
along in great chunks in regard TO
other things. By way of omission
no mention whatever is made of
the great Pennsylvania anthracite
coal bed. certainly the most wonder
tul coal deposit thus tar discovered
in the world. Perhaps d.. Alexan-
der Mackey left that out from pa
triotic motives. AIbsnJ, N. Y. is
represented to be very great town
indeed, both as REGARDS 'f,reign
and Inland trade Be-
sides that, its university is the
the principal educational establish
ment in the United States Har-
ward is stated to be the Oldest semi
nary 10 the Union. Now that is in
the nature Of the information. But
worse remains behind. Washington
city with its boarding houses, its
swarms of negro beggars and is
motley crew of 140, 900 inhabi ants,
is set down as the metropolis of the
United States 1t is also the CAPT
tai of the District of Columbia. The
true Briton who sees this country
through the eyes of DIR. Mackeyss
Elements of Geography will hardly
be able to express bis feelings with
bis favorite 'Aw by Jawvel when
he tries to behold in Washington
the mst-opolis of anything except
Confederate Brigadiers. II is that,
certainly. Pittsburgh is a miracu-
lous town fos ship-building. De-
troit is the CREST landing place of
hosts OF emigranls from Europe.
Plainly the member of the Royal
Geographical Society never heard
of New York city or Castle Gar
den. Language fails to depict the
bewildering emotions with which
the born Yankee will read that
the District of Columbia. is ono os
Northeastern States, and that To-
rento, Hamilton, Cleveland and
Chicago are towns on the ST.. Lsw
renee. Portland. Maine, is lifted
up, bodily, and is set over
upon Massachusetts, Bay, while that
classic wafer. 80 dear TO the heart
of slI who rejoice in pedigree from
the Mayfower. is not allowed to be
bay at all. Disgusted Boston must
know that our f. r. q. s. calls Mas
sachusetts Bay q river. Some wild
queries spring up, like startled par.
trIdges. on reading what this learned
geographer Gays OF us Do the 10.
habitsnis of Great Britain really
know no more of the United States
than such book world seem 10 inn
piy.2 II so. a still more frantic ques-
ton arises Are we as scapdslously
az idiotically ignorant in regard to
the true history and geography Of
Great Britain as the people Of that
happy realm are in regard to rs ?
LOOKING FOR PLAcE.-A tramp
opplsod for food az fbo bona. IF q enh