The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1900-06-29
EXPOSITION LETTER.
Written tor the Citizen.)
SO Rue Caumartin, Paris,
June IL, 1900.

about four weeks a majority OF the
exhibits will I've fully installed,
and by the middle Of July it will
be complete in all its details.
Last Sunday was fine day and
nearly half a million of people
passed through the gates and
crowded the grounds. | say
crowded, for it was an actual
crush, making it difficult to move
about. Ii is interesting to be in
IL crowd like this, to hear the Oh
servationS OF the sightseers and
especially to note how many of
them speak English. 1t is said
there Is permanent population
of 10, 600 Americans in Paris aud
a floating population of 10000.
There are doubtless mere than
twice as many English here. |
have been trying TO find a hotel
where no English is spoken, be-
cause | am anxious to improve my
French, bat have found only one,
that in the Latin Quarter on Rue
BOnapartc and too tar from the
Exposition. At the hotel where
| AIN stopping all three OF the
/ clerks, the porterS and the wait
ers at the tables speak English
and more English is heard in the
dining room than any other Ian
guagc. In all the better shops
English can he heard and very
many have the sign ''English
/ Spoken on the window. These
facts are significant. They were
not nearly so striking at the two
previous expositions in 1873 and
1889. They indicate the certain
and accelerated progress of our
mother tongue and the ultimate
subsection of all other languages
to it. Educated Germans speak
English frequently without an ac-
cent having learned it with gram
NAUTICAL accuracy from English
professors in the German schools.
We know from observation that
some of our German citizens in
the United States do not speak
English correctly after a resi-
dence of twenty years or more.
1t is the difference between study
ing a language and "picking it
up" mixing it with foreign i'll.
ions, using it before it is learned
and thus forming and confirming
almost ineradicable errors of
speech.
| met an untamed immutable
American girl from New Jersey,
employed 10y the Hygenic Optical
Company, Of New York. AS |
passed this exhibit she extended
a paper and said in English,
"Will You look at our circular"
"Why do you speak to me in
EngliSb?"
because thought you klGw
the language"
"But you know French do you
not?"
No, | don't know it and | don't
want to know it. | hate the Ian.
guage, and | hate the French.
Oh, | hate them! They have no
politeness beyond a too frequent
taking off their hat and saying
'pardOng madame, merci ma
dame.n
81 suspect you are a little
homesick."
Eyes, | am; I've been here
since January and all | want is
to get home and forget the sight
and sound of every thing that
has French in it,
The Hygenic Optical Co. has
specialized horse with prismatic
lenses that make the ground APP
pear about fifteen inches nearer
his nose than it actually is. He
therefore lifts his feet high to
reach it and is thought to be q
high stopper with knee action,
quality very much desired by the
swagger set. This optical com.
pany makes specially of a glass
so slightly tinted that the tint
cannot be observed unless the
glass is laid on a white surface.
but it is said to be restful and
helpful to the eye. Specialists
say that the anxious wrinkled
characteristic of the American
face is due in part to the greater
glare of the American sun which
has i'll recent years been intensi-
fled by reflection from smooth as
phalt streets. We have certainly
a larger average of dazzling days
in America than in Europe.
The United States Publishers
Building at the Paris Exposition
under the management of Mr..
Capehart was inaugurated today
with ceremony. The American
Ambassador was present and
made an appropriate speech.
The Paris Edition of the New
York Times issued it first number.
1t has model newspaper plant
with linotype machines and the
very latest improvements i'll press
and folders. The lightning ra-
pidity with which a paper can be