The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1904-09-16
A SOCIAL EXPERIMENT.
How an American Bought his
way Into British Society.
Boarded for so Much Per Week.
Became Acquainted Through
an Ad.


over the publication OF letter In the
London Daily Mail, signed "Ameii-
can Visitor" The writer Of this let
ter declared that for the weekly sum
OF 10 guineas (,bout S52) he was be-
Ing entertained by dowager count
sss for the G oodwoo ID and Cowes rae
Ing season, the argument including
lntroductions to title persons, on con :
ditiou that the boarder did not wear
American clothes aud hid his Ameri-
eau accent.
The London Daily Mail In cabling
the letter to the New York American
submitted documentary evidence es-
tablishing the genuineness OF the COM
nuications mentioned in the letter.
The letter is dated of Cowes. Isle
Of Wright, August I, and here it is in
part:
am in a chair under an awning on
The deck of a noble yacht that to day
makes a unfit in the great fl ating for.
est off Cowes, having dined we'll at a
board graced by the presence OF prob
ably more real aris:ocrats than all
my conireres in Wall street have ev-
er seen. am mere moneyed Amer
lean, Oh coniessedly snubbish tenden
c'cs a-d do not feel pleased with
myself Nor Is my contempt Tor my
fellow Americans diminished by the
reflection that irGir city | shall pay
Tor that dinner. On the contrary, the
TACT that have entertained, unknown
TO themSe ives, some OF the prouds st
and buest blooded owners ofpedigree
In Burk's Is a tidb.t lending pleas
ant Havo, to my ciger. The latter,
which l suspect will cost from bill, |
extracted from 5oX bearing a cornet
luscriped with a motto that since Boil
ingbrooke's days has been the watch
word of generations Of fighters.
/ am the first paying guest to be re
ceived into the bosom of the distin.
gulshed but impoverished family bear
Ing this crest. For something APP
preaching my chief clerks salary,
$4,000, the dowager countess, my
present landlady undertook to receive
me for Goodwo aud Cowes intro
ducing me to certain number of her
titled friends.
made the dowager countess &C
qua'rtance through an advertisement
In the "hoard and apartments want
cd" column of the Morning post, an
nouncing my ambition to mix 10
good English society, approximate
terms to be stated. The dowager's
was one OF thirty eight replies receiv-
ed, half Of them bearing co!ouets and
the names OF the people milking
splash In society, as we vulgar
Americans" term It. One Application
borne an impressive daub OF purple
wax with a cornes and and strawberry
leaves.
OF the many applications received
my secretary decided on the dowager
countess, as ne seemed to offer the
hest opportunities, so that found
mat ioT six shil.ngs and nine pence,
tta cost Of my advertisement, the
sect q the highest English society
were tuny wide open to welcome me,
Next dag the successful applicant,
tie dpvseer countess, telephorod
me.
Americans visiting England criti-
else your nonhustling and unbusi-
resslIke ways, bu: they ought to have
dealngG with sorle bill burdsred, en-.
h., n5L-u ari,tocIsts looking fol
TaJiug guests ans they would shed
that idea No Wall street hustler
could have haudlsa tie telescope bet.
Ter than the dowas ger and the way she
stuck that subsequent negotiations
made ut blink stars and stripes that
had a,r 70 talk dollars to her every
day, The dowager made ME put
away all my American clothes before
Sc you'd consent to temporarily
---..- ~, aad she expressed the wish
.r-t1 10 the the same with American
a-cent.i fad the after feat difficult
bat during the.wsek at Goo1wco1 and
By ha.d practice / have rubbed of the
sharper corners OF my Objectionable
wang, aud the dowager gives me
silly lessons after lunch on the
yacht
So b .hJ.d me this evening sitting
or one Of the smsrtest yachts In the
Cowes roads, satisfied with everybody
and everything, fo< l am certainly
getting my moneys worth.