Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-12-24
OSCAR WILDE ON AMERICA.
"A Few Extracts From the Lecture he
Delivering to his COuntrymen.

](~OtefS -FtSN ltW6S. Dec. =.
Oscar Wilde, in the course of a lecture
delivered last night in the Gaiety Theatre
said that if he were asked what most
struck him on first landing he would say
1t was this, that if the Americans were
not the most well-dressed people in the
W0rld-and he was afraid they were not
still they were the most comfortably
dressed. There were no rags to be
seen anywhere. No American ever saun-
ters or strolls, or even walks-walkins
was one of the fine arts unknown in
America. They are always rushing in a
hurry to catch trains, and the fact of their
always being in a hurry would make
people here think they were not a roman
tic race. Really romantic people were
never in time for anything, and did not
care whether they caught their trains or
not. Hear, hear. But in America
catching trains was national amuse-
ment. Their romance was different from
ours. 1t was not the romance OF Shakes
peare-it was the romance of commerce.
Of course, when one went to America
he was brought to see Niagara. Every
young American when married went and
spent part OF his honeymoon at Niagara,
and be thought the great waterfall must
prove the first disappointment IN Ameri-
can married life. Laughter Niagara
was disappointing, whether it was that
the surroundings were so abominably
vulgar, got up like a tea-garden, filled
with melancholy tourists, all trying to
get up that feeling of enthusiasm which
the guide-books assured them they might
have without any extra charge
Laughter he did not know. In
order to stand underneath the
waterfall to prevent ones getting
drenched he had to wear suit of yellow
oilskins of the most unbecoming texture,
almost as bad as that terriblelmackintosh.
which he hoped none of his audience ever
thought of wearing. Laughter. One OF
the most charming women of modern
times, Nine. Bernhardt, had, however.
got photographed in it-with Niagara as a
sort of unpretentious background.
California, the LOWEST part of America.
was beautiful as the Riviera in spring.
There, and there only, did he see a really
artistic clty-not San Francisco. with its
steep streets and glaring white houses.
but the city built by the Chinese, who
come over either to build railways or dig
in the mines. These were looked on as
very common people, aad a great many
bricks were thrown at them laughter
but they came from a race so artistic,
race educated in such traditions OF
beauty, that they built for themselves a
beautiful city, with narrow winding
sLTeeIs llt with painted paper lanterns.
Whatever they did was beautiful, and
whatever beautiful thing they had they
used.
American children seemed to be pale
and precocious, and that might be owing
to the fact that the only national game O.
America was the game of euchre, which
could hardly, if industriously practiced
tend to create and develop fine or manly
physique. These children, however, grew
up into very charming people, the Ameri
can girl being one Of the most charming
despots that it would be thought possible
to lind living in a country with free re
publican institutions. She was often Q
most delightful oasis Of unreasonableness
in the desert of common sense. The only
well dressed men in America were the
miners. The men in America had very
little childhood; they left school at IA
had two or three successful bankruptcies
by the time they were 90, and at 81 were
mi