St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-03-02
THE TYPIUAL AMERICAN.

what WHEN he said there was no dis.
4inct type of AmerlcaniSm; that the
country was too new for the develop
ment of new type OF man, and our
conditions too composite to admit OF IT
for several centuries to come. That is
all fol-de-rol, and we say 1t with due
Difference to MAX O'RELL's wise con-
ceit, for we have four centuries of civili-
cation behind US, and, with the best
blood of the old world to begin with,
there is no reason why American life
should not in that time have generated
a distinct genus hOmO-SO distinct as to
be readily distinguished from the men
who inhabit other countries. The Amer
lean man is sui generis; he is like him
self and like no one else. Meet him at the
North pole, at the equator, or at the
South pole, you will recognize him at
once. Nor will you ever mix him up
Frenchman, with your German, or with
the man of any other nationality. There
is that about him which will distinguish
him as citizen of the United States.
If MAX O'RELL's vision is so dim that
he cannot recognize the American man
in his travels through this country, we
Will draw portrait Of him. He is
double-typed man. We mean to say
there are two classes of him, the upper
and the lower class. If he belongs to
the latter, and is clodhOpper or hOd-
carrier-that is. if he performs manual
labor-you will find him robust, Wig
orous fellow, CHEEKY and clipper as the
next one, fairly we'll eontented with the
world as it is, and as independent as
wood sawyer. 1t apparently makes but
little difference to him whether school
keeps or not. He is man with strong
domestic taS;eS and affection for his
family. If he is as poor as JOBS turkey
he will manage to get up four walls,
and put some kind of a roof over it, and
calls it home. He marries early, and
is partial to large family. He is inn
pressed with the belief that his chill
aren are the best children in the world;
and he expects to see every one of them
mount the ladder of fame some day. He
loves his country next to his family;
and. whenever its honor is en-
dangered, he shoulders his gun
and goes to the wars as che rfully
as he would to his days work. He is
jovial fellow, too; likes to crack a
joke and have his social pastimes with
good, jolly company; now and then
takes glass of grOg, but seldom gets
drunk; is never bothered with the govt
or rheumatism. but lives on without
aches and pains until the full lease of
life has expired; and. when it, comes the
time to die, he dies without any fooling
about it. That is the plain, common.
everyday American workingman; and,
thank God, there are millions of them.
But he has a brOther-nOt an elder
brother, but richer brother-who be-
longs to the other class of the same
type He is a man of affairs, who works
more with his braiuS than with his
hands, and he shows it by his looks.
We are sorry to say he is not robust-a
man who neither eats nor sleeps, but is
in perpetual hustle to keep up with
the procession. couldn't be healthy-lO0k-
ing. He is lean and dyspeptic, and
in that particular is a typical
American business man. Go. to
other countries and see the men
of affairs. the men who occupy
the leading positions, and you will find
them as rOtund as aldermen and as jolly
as Dutch tavernkeepers. They live
high and they live long, and they get a
wonderful amount Of comfort and cheer
out of life. In the old country the only
MISUNDERSTANDING people are among
the working classes. 1t is just the re-
verse here. So that If MAX ORELL
really wants to know what a typical
! American is like, just let him paint him
the opposite of the typical man of every
other country and he will have a correct
| portrait of him.
We do not undertake to say that the
American type is in all respects the best
type of manhood; in fact, we think it
susceptible of Improvement; but we do
say it is distinct enough in all its char
acleriStics to be seen from afar. If the
four centuries that have been evolving
it have not yet moulded it into shape.
there is but little hope of it ever being
done. The statue may be little crude,
yet it is on the pedestal, all the same,
and has created a sensation on more
than one occasion. JOHN BULL, with
| his fifteen centuries Of growth, knows
| IONATuAN whpn he SEES him