Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-05-06
American Cities, Poople and
Newspapers.

The American cities have hardly
anything to please a trained or nat
ural sense Of beauty. They have build
ings that cost a great deal of money
and produce certain effect-build-
ings, shall / say, such as our Midland
Station at st. Panceras, but nothing
such as Somerset House or Whitehall.
One architect Of genius they had
Richardson. l had the pleasure to
know him; he is dead, alas! Much
of his work was injured by the con-
ditions under which he was obliged
to execute it; l can remember but
one building, and that OF no great
importance, where he seems to have
had his own way, to be fully
himself; but that is, indeed, excellent.
In general, where the Americans sue
ceed best in their architecture-in that
part 80 indicative and educative OF a
peoples sense for besuty-is in the
fashion OF their villa cottages in wood.
These are often original and at the
same time very pleasing; but they
are pretty and coquettish, not beauti-
full. OF the really beautiful in the
other arts and in literature, very little
has been produced there as yet. /
asked a German portrait painter,
whom / found painting and prosper
ing in America, how he liked the
country. "How can an artist like it I"
was his answer. The American art
lists live chiefly in Europe; all Amer
leans of cultivation and wealth visit
Europe more and more constantly.
The mere nomenclature of the coun-
try acts upon a cultivated person like
the incesant pricking of pins. What
people in whom the sense for beauty
and fitness was quick could have in
vented, or could tolerate, the hideous
names ending in vile, the Briggs
villes, Higginsvilles, Jacksonvilles,
rife from Maine to Florida; the jum-
BILE of unnatural and inappropri-
ate names everywhere? On the line
from Albany to Buffalo you have, in
one part, half the names in the classi-
cal dictionary to designate the stations; !;
it is said that the folly is due to sur
veyor who, when the country was laid
out happened to possess classical
dictionary; but people with any art
ist sense would have put down that
surveyor. The American meekly re-
tains his names; and, indeed, his
strange Marcellus or Syracuse is, per-
haps, not much worse than their con-
genital Briggsville.
Soon after arriving in Boston l
grabbed Boston newspaper and
came upon column headed "Tick-
ings." BY tickings we are to under
stand news conveyed through the
tickings of the telegraph. The first
clicking" was Matthew Arnold is
sixty-two years old"-an age, must
just say in passing, which / had not
then reached. The second clicking"
was, Wales says Mary is darling;"
the meaning being that the
Prince of Wales expressed great
admiration for Miss Mary An
derson. This was at Boston, the
American Athens. l proceeded to
Chicago. An evening paper was
given me soon after l arrived:
opened it and found under large
type heading: 1--WE Have Seen Him
Arrive" the following picture of N.Y.
self: "He has harsh features, SUI
percilious manners, parts his hair
down the middle, wears single eye
glass and ill-ftting Clothes" Not
withstanding this rather unfavorable
introduction, / was most kindly and
Hospitality received at Chicago.
From Matthew Arnold's article in
Nineteenth Century for April.