The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-04-02

we shall take the tram. All the cars here are
carriages, except the one containing the bag
gage and that is the luggage van" A freight
train is called a goods train" The track
is the Tine" and the switches points.
The station agent is always the station master
Before getting aboard we must book that is,
buy our tickets and matter of fact, we
shall not go aboard" at all, but shall be re
quested by the guard conductor) to take our
Seats The engineer is the ''driver, and the
fireman the 'stOker,' Let us remember more
over, that are making a journey by
railway, not by railroad And now, having
equipped them with the proper English phrases,
will leave your readers to make the journey
in their imaginatons. They will be all right, no
doubt until they near their destination and pull
up at the ticket platform. There, however,
surprise will await them-a new experience en-
tirely; for instead of the stand and deliver de
mand for tickets, to which they have been ac-
customed at home, they will be met by pleas
ant-looking individual who will say tickets,
please, and who, having received the chips will
even stoop so low as to utter polite thank
YOU
But must tell you now of the English use of
the words gentleman" and lady" These terms
have technical meaning here. being used to
designate people of Independent means. They
have, to be sure, the other meaning also; but
this is the sense in which they come most fire.
quently under ones notice. If a man has money,
be his character what it may, he is a gentleman,
and woman of position, irrespective of personal
worth, is lady | have known men at the bar
Oh Jle ponce courts TO De gaZetteu III Lne papers
as gentlemen To those accustomed to apply
these terms only to persons whose qualities and
manners deserving of such honorable
distinction, this practice seems very strange;
and equally strange to English people are our
practices in this matter
| am constantly hearing the complaint against
America that there is no "society" there. What
is meant by this is that we have CASTE no
aristocracy-nO set of people who claim peculiar
virtue, and are accorded the highest rank, be-
thew here
as the degrading necessity of STOPPING to honest
toll. To several such complainerG have had
the supreme satisfaction of replying No, thank
God, we have no such society as that" ApropOs
of this subject, capital story was told at VOL
northampton the other day by a lecturer who was
holding forth on True Greatness" The story
(which your readers may have heard before, but
which is well worth repeating) runs thus An
English aristocrat on visit to America, in talk
ing with an American lady, said Every fine
cities New York and Chicago, by jove but you
haven't any gentwy "Gentwy, said the LADY,
what are they oh people who don't do any
work, you know" why yes, replied the arch
Americaness I'VE have people of that sort but
we don't call them gentwy,' we call them
tramps."
The English exclamation for 'Indeedl" is
"Really!' or ooh, 1 say' 'Bugger," which DO
one would think it any particular harm to use in
America is one of the lowest "cuss" words over
here. In another class of EXPLANATIONS l OBJ
serve that the practice prevails of emphasizing
bllo NcIO liSledu Vi using duJeCllN6 VI
Thus the people here say, THAT is nice" or
THAT is pity" whereas we should say, THAT
is very nice" or 'That was great pity" | OBJ
serve, too that words considered vulgar amongst
us are used here, without any thought of i'm
propriety, by both sexes and in all kinds of com
pany. young lady will speak of her leg as
freely as of hands or feet They are not so pru-
dish over here, but it does not follow from this
that they are less pure minded Any revolt
from long-estabshed custom in the direction of
American fastidiousness, such as is feebly made
once in a while, only exposes the would be re
former to scorn, and sometimes threatens even
more serious consequences. The following, which
illustrates this, is part of the report of assault
case clipped from a paper that reached me by
mail this very day. l have repeatedly heard
this word used in ordinary conversation. and at
first greatly shocked: "The girl stated that
the defendant struck her with his fist upon her
body and knocked her insensible Mr. Boughy,
the magistrate. sought information as to the 10
cality of the blow, eventually asking whether it
was upon the belly. The last word caused many
persons to laugh, and selecting one of the latter,
whose smiles lasted longer than other peoples,
the magistrate told him he ought to be ashamed
of himself. The word was correct it was a
scrptlual word, and in laughing at it the man
laughed at his own ignorance. The learned
magistrate hesitated about having the individual
referred to expelled from court, but at length,
after strongly warning him to restrain his mirth,
permitted him to remain H., T.