New-York tribune., 1898-11-27
AS AUSTRIANS SEE US.
A NATION OF MONEY SEEKERS"-QUEER
IDEAS ABOUT OUR LITERATURE
Vienna, November 3.

! and Army over Spanish arms public opinion ID
this part OF Europe has been turned toward
the United states. Hitherto America has been
thought OF by the great majority OF classes
throughou the Austro- Hungarian monarchy as
n great wild Dream n golden I'll Dorado, land
covered with huge tr0ughs through which the
rich yellow gold streams to all parts OF the
| country. The Americans have been iooKeo
| upon by the Austrians as race OF shopKeepes
and merchants. The term ~ ankee they hrs'
became familiar with through the newspapers
and to them it has always been a synonyme ior
greedy money seekers quite devoid of any feel
ings whatever other than mania for dollars
When the Spanish American war opened pub
lie oninion in Austria was sure that on land the
Yankees would be glOriousy defeated and that
il would be a miracle if they were not van
auished on sea. one heard on all sides that
the Americans could not fight; that they had no
army and but a puny navy; but that IN al
probability their gold would win In the end
In the mean time however. they wouid DC
soundIy whipped. This was at the beginning OK
the war When Dewey electrified the world
with the news OF his victory at Mania the
Austrians opened their eyes somewhat Ana
when on the Fourth Of July the telegrams an
nOunced that the whole OF Cervera's heet hao
been DESTROYED without loss on the American
|
States Army and Navy changed its tactics and
characterized the victor greedy young ma
ton with it's brutal grasp at the throat on
| Spain" Nevertheless, public opinion awakened
| with a start TO the fact that the Yankees pos
| sessed something more than the love or goid-
| The press headed the American wave that
ensued by publishing all the information avail
able regarding the new nation across the sea"
| And now anything and everything. possible
and impossible. that bears on America ana
things American is accepted as gospel and
| eagerly read.
The latest morsel of news" about America
| that has been served to the Austrian reading
| public Is a learned study Of American litera-
| ture an article obviously originating from some
writer of German nationality who has visited
| tho United States and. following the example
Of our foreign critics, has returned to ventilate
the knowledge picked up on his trip. The arti-
| Gle appeared some weeks ago in the "Neue
| Free Presse" one OF Vienna's best Informed
| Journals The writer starts out in most ap-
| proved German style. with large exclamation
point America and poetry-how miserably
the words rhyme! America-we think Of the
thunder OF Pullman cars, Of the grating sound
Of the shovels Of gold diggers. Of the never
ceasng hunt for gold. The sound Of the luts
Is absent. A wheat ring has more interest for
the American than the Nibeungen Ring. And
yet we are familiar with the names of poets
whose lot we forget cast between the Hud-
son and the Sacramento. They, however. be-
long to the past. Longfeowa Lutte long silent
Poe-a string snapped asunder. And the crea-
tors and guardians of the first blood 0t Ameri-
can civilization En- on and his circle all OF
them lie buried in the Hollow Churchyard in
Concord. Massachusetts may indeed be as
proud OF Ralph Waldo Emerson Saxe-Wei-
mar Eiscnach is proud of the name Of Goethe"
The writer then without exclamation pointa
but with quite as much emphasis, offers the
opinion that Emerson's works voice the spirit
Of humanity. not Of Americansm." According
to Austrian IDEAS, Emerson not an Aneri-
can. He was unfortunate in having his lot cast
! in an uncivzed country, and he philoso-
pher enough to accept the lot assigned him
/ American literature is carved out OF an entire
ly different quality Of wood from Emerson1
writings What We call American In literature
is coarse mixture OF whiskey fumes and
hymns, OF beer benches and low cOntempa-
ton OF life. r. x. Munkitrlck. James Whit
| comb Riley. G.. T. Lannigan S. w. Foss. A. w.
Bellew and. In a certain sense. Mark Twain. In
these names we see the typical American soil
! Naive delight In noise. in paradOXes. in the
grewsOme in the love OF destroying. In exagger-
alton and In the hair thrilling characterizes
the spirit OF almost all American literature
II reaches its height in the swing OF Yankee
Doodle and in the really hrst-class humor Of
NJ Quad in The Arizona Kicker" Here IS food
| for thought for our literary men. In the opinion
Of our Austrian cousins with the exception Of