The Dickinson press., 1885-01-03
mPnEss1oNs or AMERICA

mPREssIoNs or AMERICA.
9 III: Z. s : sT..s Sesa sag, .ss A. Asss; sa So e
Visit It Again.
from the St Stephens Review.
You have asked me to give you my
Impressions Of the States, and so far q:
I can I gladly accede to your request.
Naturally I regarded the inhabitants
through the actors spectacles, and if
ny lens did not play me false, I con-
slider the Americans are as a play going
race fonder, far fonder, of all that par
tains to the drama than we are owe,
here. They are quicker at catching act
ing points. There is an earnest spon-
taneity about their applause which
spells HEAL in big capitals; and that
actor must have a sluggish liver indeed
who is not stirred to something like rec
iprocity when all American audience
crises" at him.
I found the American race one of the
most hospitable and free-hearted sec
tons of the worlds teeming millions 1
have ever met, and as I have explored
a good many sections of our planet
during the last twenty years, I am able
to draw contrasts from experience.
They are warm-hearted and impulsive,
and l can conceive of no finer pleasure
excursion for an actor-at least a juv-
emile actor-than a short playing tour
from New York to San Francisco. The
broad, burly arms of Americas Bohem-
ians are held out, and there hand grips
and pleasant greetings from jolly good,
albeit rough, humans" you have never
met before, but who mean all they say.
This large class of society eagerly well
comes you, makes much of you, and
what is better than all else, you feel
that it is not the lionizing sentiment
which is actuating your host, but the
wish to make a fellow feel at home 5000
odd miles away from his own hearth
stone. Personally 1 take this oppor-
tunity, late in the day though it be, of
expressing my gratitude to the whole
American public for the manner in
which they received me, and 1
hope 1 shall not be accused of doing
it in any other spirit than that of sim
certify
And now o word as to the theaters
themselves. They are all around more
perfect playhouses, structurally and
acoustically, then our English ones, and
the general air of comfort about them
is, I take it, n strong reason why the
community of American play-goers is
so numerous.
AS one travels through the States the
immensely of the country impresses.
In Great Britain the run from Aber-
deem to Euston makes one begin to feel
that the right little. tight little island
is a 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 be-
tween New York and Chicago, but
try the journey, and the feeling of
space begins to grow on II until
the mind can occupy itself with lit
tie else. Every nan should love
his native land and feel proud of it,
but the American does more, he revels
in the vastness of his; and no M who
has traversea it can wonder at the
boastfulness which sometimes makes a
full-blooded Yankee believe that Che
world begins ut Manhattan and ends at
the port of Monterey. 1 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 Us large as Bristol,
Leicester, or Nottingham; and this is
point which 1 defy any average Eng
lishman to miss noting with surprise
Again the confidence of the American
in himself and his country but particu.
larly in himself, is q feature which j:
bound to attract the most observant
mind. A slight incident which I no
ticed repeatedly will serve to illustrate
my meaning. 1 saw q lad of about II o.
IA complacently driving a high-spiritet
animal along the public highway a
quite fourteen miles an hour with all the
sang-froidof a WAGNER jogging along
Kentish turnpike at three. In England
such furious driving is confined tt
butcher boys in London and surburbar
thoroughfares when the policeman j
convenientlys1absent. In the States i
seems the rule. The, engineering feats
again, are something astounding to wit
ness. One is absolutely lost in wonder
ment when contemplating the Brooklyl
} bridge, those gigantic structures throw
across the Mississippi at st Louis
the truly marvellous bridges across Nj
agara, and the monster hotels every
where, which surpass the hugest cara
v~ansaries of fairydom. We think
good deal Of Richmond and Windso
, Parks--at least I debut after SEEM
several lovely specimens of Yankc
parks Zone of which Thought ofexplol
ing and walking through, until I foun
. !. it was ninety-tive miles in circumfel
ence). Windsor and Richmond suffe
considerably, though their trees an
glades have yet to be beaten out West.
The go-ahead characteristics of til
nation speak out in every city, street
: and sidewalk. Nothing is old--all new
! all fresh-delightfully fresh-lik
spring. Can I put the case more forci
bly,? Everything they do is great
their chief tralt-a trait I admire, Xix
people who possess but little of 1T
energy. Their perseverance is a NJ
tional characteristic, one of thei
a straightest points, and they are prou
of it. The logged pertinacity that 10
i; years ago gained them their independ
u 80. "a .rl:oL o-o., Ar,o Jo,,1o, ,;,,