The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1888-10-27
FROM A GERMAN POINT OF VIEW
rol,t.n... .rs.A.n..Ba,, Compared With r.s.i.

Politsness efgohnns. BAH Compared with Yahke'
Manners
Berlin Gazette: The American
gentleman Of high social position is
as rule, thoroughly polite and con
siderate in his manners. An English
gentleman Of the same class is infn
itely ruder when he wants to be, al
though no one can be more elegant
when the humor suits him. An Eng
lishman considers that whatever be
does is right; the fact that he does il
makes Il right.
Americans are modest in this mat
ter: and are willing to govern them.
selves by certain rules Of polite SO.
eiety: Englishmen draw lines, and
except every other nationality to re.
spect them. For example, I Heard
an Englishman say the other day
that he told the landlord of the hotel
at which he was stopping that he
would leave the place if certain
common fellow, who happened to be
among the boardeis, continued to
come to the table in his shirt sleeves
don't wonder thai the Englishman
was indignant, and / am quite sure
that the man who pulled off his coat
when he sat down to the
table was uncompronisihgly
vulgar; Bit this same En-
glishman pulled off his own coat and
sat down in a chair on the front
piazza of the hotel. When some one
remarked to him that he did not
seem to appreciate the difference be-
tween tweedledum and tweedledee,
he seemed much astonished, for he
thought the difference was strongly
marked.
In England, he said, a gentleman
would sit in his own front yard in
his shirt sleeves, but as soon as he
went inside the house he would put
his coat on. Now an American
gentleman might go around his
house in his shirt sleeves, but he cer-
tainly would not be seen outside the
door in such undress: But l think
there is d difference even in the mat
ter of shirt sleeves. I do not mind
seeing man on his piazza, or on his
own lawn, in his shirt sleeves; but /
think there is nothing in the world
uglier than to see a man with his
waistcoat On, but without a coat,
unless it be without O waistcoat if he
wears suspenders.
If he does not wear suspenders the
costume is rather picturesque, par
ticularly if he wears a silk scarf about
his waist, a costume that is becom-
ing quite popular in New York dur
ing the summer. Ifyou will go down
to Wall street you will see every var
iety of silk scarfs around the waists
of youthful brokers. Those who
don't wear scarfs wear wide belts,
some of them six or seven inches in
width. The belt or the scarf adds a
finish to the ugliest part of a mans,
and makes it look almost like an
Oriental costume.
But to return to the Englishman's
manners. I have heard anecdotes
that it would seem almost impossible
to believe, illustrative of the rudeness
of the English gentlefolk. l have
never been able to make up my mind
whether this rudeness ofspeech comes
from an intention to be rude or
merely from plain speakingl 1 heard
foreigner, not an Englishman, say
at lady's table that he would take
some more of the soup because he
knew that it was good, and he did
not know whether the din
ner that followed would be;
when he had a good thing he
wanted to make sure oft. His wife
expostulated with him in a playful
way, but he replied Indignantly that
he was not a hypocrite, that he was
simply honest. l sometimes think
that this is the motive that impels
some English people to say the I'M
pleasant things that they areso fond
of saying.
And yet when an Englishman says
a rude thing he does not say it with
the brutality of an American. 1t is
never accompanied with profanity.
Indeed, profanity is a popularity of
the American climate. l heard an
Englishman say not long ago that
the reason he liked to be associated
with certain man in business, al
though that man was not prompt in
paying him his salary, was that he
alw avs spoke to him as a gentleman
and never swore at him. Another
man, who offered him a better posi-
ton, he hesitated to go with, because
he peppered his conversation with
oaths. Not that the Englishman was
such a tenderfoot, but he did not like
such rough language. He said that
it irritated him to have a man say
to him, even though he meant to be
perfectly amiable. "Where the -
have you been all this timer" 1t
was form of greeting, which, while
intended to be cordial, was unpleas-
ant. He did not deny that English
men swore, but he said he never
heard oaths among the same class.
of Englishmen as were used by
Americans of the same class.
Ofcourse, you do not expect to
hear woman use profane express
ions, but an English woman will not
use any of the violent words that
even an American lady has in her
vocabulary. You may offend an
English woman to the last point of
her endurance, but she will only be
"vexed," or under unusually strong
emotion, Every vexed." notice
that the young Americans whose
lives are devoted to initiating En-
glish manners are soft spoken, and
their great aim seems to be self-sup-
preston. They consider it bad form
to show any emotion at all, either of