Evening journal., 1891-02-06
AN IGNORANT ENeLlsHMAN.


Rudyard Kipling is the latest example
Of an ignorant and ill-tempersds English
man who has said harsh, aud to some ex-
tent untruthful, things about u.s.
lie says the hotels are bad, the ser
wants did not wait upon him and the re
porters did walt upon him and pumped
hlm sith an exhaustive peraiatoncs
rarely equalled aud never surpassed
he refers to tho streets OF San Fran
cisco, which were paved with stones az
noisy and rough, TO the cuspidors in the
hotels which were always hume .ous and
we're used and 10 the many otherthings,
some Of which are bad and some are only
the inconyenienees which any traveller
may suffer who travels ia new country
where the manners and customs are diff
ferent from those OF his own country.
For all OF those things we have no
complaint they either amuse or assist us
10 weigh the mental calibre Of a new aud
sensational novelist. We do object,
however,to his splenetic and unfair criti-
cisms on our girls
The reporters who, he said. were
gnorant-rsferring to the reporters
the Call, Chronicle and Examiner. great
Iapers Of San Franeisco-csn take care
Of themselves, but with the girls 1t Is
different. We love our girls and we will
not allow any ledgling in literature, who
has not earned his laurels. TO make harsh
comments ON them.
Mr. Kipling said the girls we're beauti-
full graceful, richly dressed but he
overheard them saying 'sez he" and
nses |. He said that an American girl
would spoil the beauty and the rhythm Of
Bret Hartes unique stories Of Western
life in reading them after the American
style oi pronunciation
We resent that bold and bad impata-
tion on tho elccution ana orthoepy Of
our girls. One Of our girls, our Mary
id iacE, interpreted tile drama TIE
Winters Tale by The grandeat drama
tist 10 the world, TO the admiration Of
the asperating and hating English and
won applause and sovefeigns, gold and
feshiy, as no other girl ever wen either
before Ada Rehan orthoepy and high
chinned. drawllng elocution pleased those
same fastidou people last summer to
almost the same degree that her beauty
captlvated them Irving has not
purer nor more scholarly dictlon than
Booth, and JefIsrsonsIefned and spontsn-
eous comedy, is more than a match for
O'Toole's duh English wit
What is called eloquencs in Parlia-
ment, tie hesitat!ng, drawing. irregular
speech Of perfunctory statesman or the
interiectional obs abs ana his coughs of
sing song, English preacher would
drive an American audience wild The
speeches Of our public men Breckenridge,
Blaine, Carlisle, Bsyard. Gray the i'm
petuous eloquence Of ingalls,. Ingersoll,
Dougherty and thousands Of orators here
is not matched by any public man either
in Great Britain or Ireland
Our girls perhaps, speak the purest
English used since the days and the works
OF Addison and Macaulay rhe fact that
Kipling does not know that, proves that
he does not know our girls.
Kipling acknowledges that all the
women he saw were beautiful gPacs-
full, stylish aud well dressed. but two Of
them spoke ignorantly and ungrammati-
oslly, and then he hastily indicts and
convicts this whole country for the crime
az bad English.
Il is bad Judgment to conclude that
two swallows make q summer. II is super
iative folly for young author whom
nobody knew or cared for, to fit through
this country on the railway and imagine
that he has met our girls and Is able to
decide that they are vulgar, IN bred,
uneducated and unfit to read Bret Harte's
intensely, pathetic stories. II is Mr..
Kipling who is ignorant He does not
know The people here a. all--never met
them and, especially, he does not know
our girls.
Dickens came here as a young author,
with the manners and social habits
acquired In ths purltaus Of London. gor-
geous with spotted velvet vest, a big
gold fob chain and long greasy hair ex-
pecting 20 be made social lion. he was
disappointed grew angry and snubbed
and got snubbed to his hearts content.
Then he vent away and sought revenge
ia the American Notes The
people laughed at the fresh
ness, ignorance inexperience and
ili.teNper Of the mau and then read his
book, with amused aud forgiving pity.
Dickens returned with more sense and
better manners 10 correct his previous
mistakes
ItKi2ling YES long enorgh he viii do
the same thing. Meantime If he does
not like US or our girls we are sorry for
him. BE can stay away and leave the
girls alone.
Rnsasbiy.