The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1884-12-03
HAIL COLUMBIA!
The Gracious Compliments of an
English Actor. f....
Rigness OF the Country and Push OF
the PeOpIe-SurPristngly Large
Cities ana wonderful
d Bridges. iiiW uHI


William Terriss in St Stephens Review.l
You have asked me to give my impressions
OF the states, and, so far as I can, gladly
accede to your request. Naturally re-
garded the inhabitants through the actors
spectacles, and il my lens did not play me
false, consider that Americans are as q
play going race fonder. far fondsr, of all
that pertains to the drama than we are over
here, They are quicker at catching points.
There is an earnest spontaneity about their
applause which spells REAL in big capitals,
and that actor must have sluggish liver in
deed who is not stirred to something like re-
ciprocity when an American audience "risesH
at him a f7EH v f1u3"
.Ifound the American race one of the most
hospitable and free hearted sections of the
worlds teeming millions l have ever met,
and as have explored good many sections
OF our planet during the last twenty years, /
am able to draw contrasts from experience.
They are wnrm-hesrted and inpulsive, and ]
can conceive of no finer pleasure excursion
for an actor-at leAst a juvenile actor-than
q short playing tour from New York to San
Francisco. The broad, burly arms OF
Americas Bohemians are held out, and
! there are hand-grips and pleasant
greetings from jolly good, albeit
rough Humans" you have never met
Z before, but who mean all they say. This
large class OF society eagerly welcomes you,
makes much Of you, and, what is better than
all else, you feel that it is not the honizing
sentiment which is -Rctuating your host but
the wish to make fellow feel at home three
thousand odd miles away from his own
2 hearthstons. Personally, / take this oppcr-
tunity, late in the day though it be, of ex.
pressing my sense of gratitude to the whole
American public for the manner in which
fhav iUad nd br,a 7 Shan
accused of doing it in any other spirit than
that of sincerity. Ir GIe.- Jt.1r
As one travels through the states the inn
mensity OF the country impresses. In Great
Britain, the run from Aberdeen to Euston
makes one begin to feel that the right little
tight little island is bit of a miSnomer after
all, and that the "little" is an adjective that
could with safety be omitted, but in the
states the distances are appalling OF course
one knows the actual linear measurement in
miles and furlongs between New York and
Chicago, but try the journey, and the feel,
ing OF space begins to grow on one until the
mind can occupy itself with little else
Every man should love his native land and
feel proud of it, but the American does moro,
he revels in the vastness of his; and no One
who has traversed it can, wonder at the
boastfulnesS which sometimes makes a full
blooded Yankee believe that the world be-
gins at Manhattan and ends at the port OF
Monterey. passed through a great many
large towns whose names are never or seldom
heard of over here, yet whose dimensions
from the railway suggested places as large
as Bristol, Leicester or Nottingham; and
this is point which l defy any average
Englishman to miss noting with surprise.
Again, the confidence of the American in
himself 'snd his country, but particularly in
himself. is a feature which is bound to at
tract the most unobservant mind. slight
incident which 1 noticed repeatedly will
serve to illustrate my meaning. ! saw lad
of about 12 or IA complacently driving a
high-spirited animal along the public high
way at quite fourteen miles an hour. with
all the sangfroid of WAGNER jogging
along a Kentish turnpike at three In Eng
land such furious driving is confined TO
butcher boys In London and suburban
thoroughfares, when the policeman is con
venienGly absent In the states it seems
the rule. The engineering feats, again,
are something astounding 10 witness.
One is absolutely lost in wonderment when
conte. nplating the Brooklyn bridge, those
gigantic structures thrown across the MiSSis-
sippi at st. Louis, the truly marvellous
bridges across Niagara and the monster
hotels everywhere, which surpass the hugest
caravansaries of fairydom. We think
good zeal OF hlcnmOnQ ana w mOSOr parks
at least debut after seeing several lovely
specimens of Yankee parks lone of which /
thought OF exploring and walking through,
until found it was ninety-five miles in cir
cuniferencel Windsor and Richmond suffer
considerably, though their trees and glades
have yet to be beaten out west fo4,a~t 4
Yhe go-ahead characteristics of the nation
speak out in every city, street and sidewalk.
Nothing is old--all new all fresh-delight
fully fresh-like spring. Can put the case
more forciblyl Everything they do is great;
their chief trait-a trait admire, like all
people who possess but little of it-energy
Their perseverance, is a national character
istic, one of their strongest points, and they
are proud of it. The dogged pertinacity that
one hundred years ago gained them their in
dependence and which again two decades
since stamped out the blot Of their ,escutch-
con Of liberty at the cost of warfare which
for duration and obstinacy recalls the Punic
campaigns of classic lore, is as rampant as
ever. 1t is that very perseverance which
will one day make them one Of the greatest,
IL not the greatest, power in the world. Il
really think must have borrowed some of
their perseverance, to have written SO length
ily.l may add that, finally, shall not rest
satisfied till have once again visited my
friends in the dear new world. stt lA@lA