The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1896-04-21
A BRITON'S LUGGAGE.
ATTEMPTS CT AMERICAN IdiTATOR5
TO INTRODUCE IT HERE.

eler and Ills Isa.-taS-
AS the travelling Briton is known IN
this county 3 by his luggage, SO the
American NrCman was once hated IN
Europe because of her saratoga trunk
The world has escaped the general
adoption Cf the saratoga trunk, but
worse thing seems possible, as British
luggage threatens to become interna-
tionaL Even now you may buy in this
town all the impedimenta with which
the travelling Briton cumbers himself
and bedeyils the rest Of mankind. A
Broadway trunkmaker has for some
years past undertaken to fix the thral-
dom of these things upon his fellow
country men and Women, and many
travelling Americans, especially the
wealthy and fashionable, are to be rec
ognized by the multiplicity of British
impedimcnta that they carry to and fro
in their frequent jOurneyings between
the old world and the new. More curl
ous still, those clever and initiative Jap
anese have begun TO produce British
luggage identical with the original in
the ninutest details, even down to hand
sewed straps ON leather trunks, port
manteaus and the like; but, drolly
enough. the whole outfit is merelya pa
per counterfeit of the real thing.
American imitators Of things British,
lacking the fine humor of the japanese,
have made no substitution Of light ma
terial for heavy, but have taken on the
full burden Of ponderous British hat
boxes, portmanteaus, rugs, bags, hold
alls and even bathtubs. 1t was a travel
ing American who gave TO the world an
account Of a refreshing scene ON board
a Mediterranean steamer bound TO Tan
gier or some such Muhammedan port Of
north Africa A British passenger with
his bathtub had nearly pestered the life
out of a meek, coffee cOlored Moham-
medan, who accepted the Briton 5 curses
without a sign of reproach, but when
in the course of getting the luggage
ashore the precious bathtub fell over
board and sank like lead, the harmless
follower of the prophet was seen TO
pause in his work and dance gleefully
upon the deck, exclaiming in triumph,
"Oh, Mr.. Goddam, Mr.. Goddam - 1t
is since that incident that Travelled
Americans i'll their aping Of British
ways have accepted even the burden #
the bathtub.
A study Of baggage at a steamship
wharf or even al q large railway station
in New York is an Instructive lesson rs
to the cosmopolitan character Cf the
| city. There is Cna article Cf British
luggage that seldom survives more than
one journey within tie limits IL tho
United States ard sometimes gets 10
farther inland t;iar ihe New York hufCl
at which the traveller makes his irs-
stop. This article l. tie little trunk or
box of japanned tin much used by tray-
alers in Great Britain. The tiimsy triae
hardly survives tile first encounter with
the American baggage handler. and
after the first journey # Goo miles in
this country Is battered out # all Ie-
semblance to its original Icciilinear self.
1t is an article Of luggage rot suitable
to the exigencies Of American travel
A pathetic feature If the baggage at
the railway stations that are doorways
to the west Is the immigrant : luggage.
Sometimes ii Is mattress from the
steerage wrapped abCGt the few belong
ings of the new made American. Again
it is the corded box Of the Irish. English
or Scotch immigrant. 1t viii be recalled
how important a preliminary TO Char
lotte Bronte's journeyin2s ont into the
great world from her Yorkshire home
was the cording Of her box. The corded
box is as rare among the luggage of an
American traveller as the old hair trunk,
though both are occasionally seen. The
seaman's locker, rectilinear for a stable
stOwage and strong against accidents,
figures in the luggage at steamship
wharves. One knows instinctively its
contents of old clothes, Photographs,
curiOs, tobacco and long treasured let
tiers from home and the array Of pic
tures from the illustrated papers pasted
on the inside of the lid.
The elaborate dressing cases thai
some Americans and all we'll TO dc
En3lishmen used to travel with are go
ing out of fashion. 1t Is almost a neces.
sity that the traveller with this pretty
piece Of luggage take along a valet, fol
the thing weighs like so much lead and
is too precious to be trusted TO the ten.
der mercies Of the baggage department
The travelling desk also has nearly dis
appeared, though some ingenious trunk
makers now produce trunks that open
so rs to form desks. The luncheon
hamper that used to accompany every
traveller across this continent in the
days before dining cars came into Us,
has almost entirely disappeared. Tn,
California milliunaires of early taus
continental travel carried enormous anC
richly laden hampers and dispensed Of
ten princely hospitality to their fellow
travellers. The dinner hour on board
tranScontinental rain was a picturesque
, incident of travel in those days. Th,
] travelling Briton in Europe still some
{ times carries his luncheon hamper, anC
it is often one of the nuisances of Euro
, pean travel