The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-02-03

or west, it's up to London and down
to everything else in the island. On an
other occasion 1 came near being dash
ed to death by a pursuing hansom be-
cause, forsooth, I stood still when the
driver yelled eli! hill" To me, Hill"
meant Hold on, there, I want to speak
to you," so I incontinently drew up. Five
Of these mystifying phrases I noted in
my diary, and unraveled them one by
one. They were: Steam roundabout
a fall for travelling" annual sermon"
"cubicle' and chocolate sandwich"
The sandwich I ate; It was layer cake.
The cubicle I investigated, and found
1t to be tiny bedroom The annual
sermon, I found onrinquiry, did not mean
only one sermon year. The fall I
bought, and 1t proved to be a veil. Last
ly 1 refused to have anything to do with
steam roundabout when it turned out
to be rampant merry-go-round
Stll, on the whole, had little serious
trouble in understanding what was said
10 me. 1t needed only a little ingenuity
ana Few questions to get at the English
meaning. When it came to making the
English understand me, however, it was
very different matter. I found them
miIar phases. 1t was only after repeat
ed failures to persuade the bus condGc-
i tOg TO TO let me OUT at a specific cross
ING Ilsid [hat learned to say put me down."
Whcn worked like charm. I asked a
booking clerk for stop over privileges.
and he stared in amazement. | might
DID RTe4k the the Journey. If I liked, but what
trip only served to elevate eyerybodv's
eyebrows. I soon learned to repIaca II
with HOW much for the round?' No
pody understood me when I asked how
many mi an y blocks or squares it was to the
catnedfal But If 1 said, Can you di-
rect rue to the cathedral?" out came the
f fI9r,2 reply re- Top of the street. second
In Warwickshire I tried to send nv too
cumbersome trunk ahead by express The
porter assured me this was impossible
s4erg Was no 10 such system in England
ABOUT freight. 1t took the penetration IF
the motel porter to fathom my difficulty
ana trni, supply the magic words. goods
silver cuff buttons. Il don't think nix we We
have the article: madam said the per-
picked clerk Sleeve buttons?" No bet bet
no success. Things to fasten i'5 Your c 91ss
TSIlthi l cried at last in desperation.
S Sa9wy b bSht u broke oyer his counte,
sontalres? and he didn't mean diamonds,
either Again. needing paper fan for
steamer use, I inquired at a plnarm1-
eee &c f chemist shop where fans were to
and florist hard by. An unlikely place
thought I. However. in I went and dc.
manded q fan Certainly" said the
obsequious shopkeeper. "but do YOU rs.
quire one in a pot?" They Thought
said farm to rhyme with 'qbairn'' ana
that, in their dialect, is spelled fern
only by saving 'fahn" should [ get
what ! wanted I hastily explained and
was directed to the establishment of Fl
quick q Sen, silk MERGERS linen diapers
naberdashers and upholsterers. where /
found my article in the ironmongery de-
partment. 10
Perplexing, even vexatfons. as are tbe-a
mlsunderstandings, they are not without
THIS compensation. If our conyereaticn1I
dlHerences with our cousins Overseas
could all be smoothed into tame uniform
ATTY, our ENGLISH experiences would h.
ROBBED of half their spice The little YER.
pal sparring matches by the way are
pleasantly stimulating. For myself I
round the exercise most congeniaI
There is certain amount of philosonhv
10 be derived from all this In the firs+
place never expect an Englishman fo
meet You half wav in the struggle for
persp1cuity. On the invader must lie
the onus of accommodation Therefore
set about acquiring the language az
promptly as possible pick up the accent
ed English phrases, the accent. and even
the odd upward lit of the sentence. and
your progress through the island VIII he
wonderfully smoother than that Of your
wooden headed countryman who refuses
to abate one title Of his Yankee vernac-
ular.