The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1883-08-03

VIEWS OF THE KsTHETE OF HIS WAN
DERINGs IN AMERICA

DERINGs IN AMERICA
The London News thus reports the
lecture delivered by Mr.. Oscar Wilde,
called "1mpressions of America ~
Stating that he had very little useful
information TO give, he described his
first experience of the interviewer, 'thc
literary pirate of the States, who
sprang on board in the midst of a storm
off New York, and asked his opinion of
America Nothaving seen it, he found
it easy to give an unbiased opinion.
which was very favorable as far as il
went. Now it was more difficult The
first thing that struck him on landing
was The prosperity of the people and
the absence of rags. He saw millions
of chimney pot hats in all their dread.
ful proportions, but no rags. The
second thing was that every one seem
ed to be in hurry, and this made him
think it could no: be country of great
romance, for romance was difficult
where it was a vital necessity to catch
train. The beautiful he found,
where the Americans had last striyen
for it, in their great bridges and their
perfectly beautiful use of the electric
light. The travelling, when one got
into Pullman's car, was the perfection
of luxury, but had no more privacy
than if one sat in an arm chair at the
Hamilton street corner of Piccadally.
Boys run up and down selling ltera-
ture, good and bad, and everything
one could eat or not eat, but what har-
rowed his feelings most acutely was to
see pirated copy of his own poems
selling for ten cents. He explained to
the boy that he got no profit out of
this edition of his work. but the boy
said he got some, and seemed to think
that settled the question. He had
never been called Stranger but had
received the title of Captain and Col
onel,' the latter in Texas, but he had
been very much distressed by being
called Professor Niagara, like Allan
tic Ocean. was extremely disappointing
principally, believed, because it was
ordinary seen under conditions extreme
ly unfair. In order TO appreciate its
splendor and strength it was necessary
to go under the fall itself in a suit Of
yellow sealskin, so ugly that he should
never have consented to wear it but
that he was informed that similar
dress had been worn by the great ar
tist Nine. Sarah Barnhardi. Uaugh-
ter.)
"Of America itself the most beauti-
full part was the West, and California
most of all ; and the most depressing
the alkali plains through which he
travelled for days, stopping occasionally
at small stations, where, what by some
curious process of reasoning was called
a meal, was served. Here he met the
Indians, who were very picturesque
and charming so long as they wore
their own clothes, and very ugly when
they put on European dress. Their
language struck him as resembling
German metaphysics very fine as long
as it was not understood. Iaughter),
When it was interrupted he generally
found it to convey a request for half a
dollar or some tobacco. One of the
great features of America was the ad
vertiser, who defaced the most beauti-
full parts of the Rocky Mountains with
his adyertisements-generally of some
horrible medicine. The names of Amer
ican towns, where they were French
or Spanish, were often beautiful, but
the English names were very ugly. lie
was asked to lecture on art at Griggs
vile, but he refused unless they con.
sentcd to change the name of the town
which they declined to do. How dread
ful it would have been if he had found
ed a Griggsville school of art American
children did not seem to be numerous
and were not as healthy or as Joyous a,
England, but very precocious, They
grow up, some of them, into girls who
were the prettest deposits in the world
Each American girl seemed to be an
oasis of picturesque unreasonableness
in desert of common sense, able tc
talk on any subject-whether she knew
anything of it or not, with lovely hand.
and feet, and the prettiest boots in the
world. There were nc idle men
Every man had something to do
and very few took any interest in poll
tics, One career they went into exten
sively was Journalism, for the first thin,
a baby did in America when he wa
able to read and write was to start
newspaper. 1t seemed strange to Eng
lish people their intrusion into privat
life. He was asked by an Intervene
at Chicago for some details of his pri
vate life, but he told him he had no
got one--it was stopped at the Custor
House in New YORK. Their humo
was, he thought, sort of philosophy
and one thing he admired about tn
American journalist was that he coul
write about the price of wool withou
referring to Jason and the Golde
Fleece. The lecturer also referred t
the distinguished actors of America, am
concluded with some remark on Ameri
can art"