, 1889-02-15


Audacity is his stock in trade; tie most pr1-
vate details of your daily life are ut his
mercy, and unless you blow his brains out
which is not lawful in New York state-you
have no means Of getting rid Of aim.
There Is no question too indiScrect for these
enterprising inquisitors; they would have
interviewed St Anthony in his hut
Do not shout victory either because you
have succeeded In getting rid Of the inter
viewer without replying to his questions. 1t
Is in such cases that the American journalist
reveals himself in all his glory. To your
stupefaction eho newspapers next day will
have nn account Of tho conversation which
you might have had with their reporters-
If my advice be worth giving, the best
thing you can do, when tho interviewer pre-
sents himself and says, 81 am a reporter, sir,
and | have come to ask you for a few mo
ments' chat, " is to say to him:
Mad to SEQ you, sir; pray be seated
On the 18th Of November, 1887, at 0 a. H.,
the G~ermanic, after u terribly rough passage
of nine days, entered tho magnificent harbor
of New York The sun had risen resplend-
emit in n cloudless blue sky. We had Just
passed Bartholdi's statue of Liberty En-
tightening the World" and it seemed as IL
France were not far of. 1t was a sweet sen
s~ation, md instinctively l had raised my
hat. Ail'at once tho Germnnic stopped. A
little steam tug drew up alongside, and there
stepped on board a few custom house officers,
followed by several other persons.
Look outrn cried one of my fellow passen-
gcrs, sseIng that I appeared to be unconscious
Of danger.
What is the matterr ] asked.
1.-THE interviewersI'
"Nonsense, not here surely" l exclaimed
No sooner were the words out of my mouth
than 90 Young men handed me their cards,
viii announcement that they were jour
ma.
~ ave come to present our respects to
you" they said, and to wish you a pleasant
time in our country"
While they uttered these words they
scanned me from head to foot, jotting a few
strokes on their note books. They were TAX
ing my portrait, which appeared next morn
ing at the head Of the articles that the press
of New York thought fit to devote TO me.
Obi that first afternoon In New York,
spent in the company Of the interviewersI /
shall never forget It'll
The office of my lecture manager Mat.|
Pond, was situated on the ground floor of the
Everett house, where l had put up. Thither
repaired after lunch to undergo tho opera
ton of tapping by eight interviewers at once.
"Ahr" said one of them, after tho usual
Elutations, 1--WE are going to bore you, 50 let
us begin at the beginning"
This made me smile.
al know your first question: l said; "you
-. ~ - -. al l. a.
visit to America
"You are right; that is generally our first
question; but I have another to ask you be-
fore. You nave just eaten your first meal in
America; what did you haveTn
"Gentlemen,n / replied as seriously as l
possibly could, 81 have just been in for a
piece Of turbot, a beefsteak and potato chips,
n celery salad, and a vanilla ice"
"And now" remarked another reporter,
II have an important question to put to you.
| hope it will not astonish your
"Ohr" replied, ~ am in America, and
quite ready not to DO astonished at any
thing"
"Well, then" said he, ~ want to ask you
what arc your impressions of America"
Excuse me-" 1 exclaimed, 81 have only
been in it three hours, and those three hours
have been spent in this hotel. You must
really allow me to abstain for tho moment
from telling you what l think of America;
for you will admit, l hope, that one must
have passed n whole day at least in America,
in order to judge it with any accuracy"
Here | rolled a cigarette and rang for a
lemon squash.
The reporters Immediately made an entry
in their note books.
What is that you nave put DOWN.
asked
A young fellow, with a face beaming with
activity and Intelligence, replied: ~ wrote
hat at this point of our conversation you
rolled a cigarette and rang for a lemon
squash"
The questions they asked really appeared to
mo 50 commonplace, so trivial, that l was
almost ashamed to think l was the hero of
this little farce.
With tho idea of giving them something
better worth writing, l launched into anec-
dotes, and told a few to these interviewers.