The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1908-05-21
Greetings of an expansive German tor an
embarrassed American Officer.

Talk about masculine superiority" said the
globe-trotter you ought to the way women
greet a man guest iHr5apan. There's nice fellow
in Tokyo whom l used to know. He in San
Francisco a few years ago, but he went back to
take up his fathers business. Well, was invited
to his house in Tokyo Say, you ought to have
the way Mrs Furugawa saluted me! She was
a sweet little creature, not really pretty, but gen.
tie and dainty and all that sort of thing Well, sir.
she went down on her knees and crossed her hands
on the floor and bowed her head down to touch
the mating. l felt like a grnning idol. FurugaWa
ought to have told her not to, else he ought to
have given her warning so might have gone down
on my own knees; but as it was I'd no idea what
she going to do so there stood like a wooden
image of heather god and she thinking all the
time what beastly manners Americans have.
You've no idea what idiot it made Ine feel. What
I'm used TO at home is having a ste My aggressive
American deliberately glare at me in
street car till give her my seat"
1T was hard you" said the hostess, with
twinkle in her eye Il remember you of old at
dancing school, and how you used to hate even that
mild ordeal"
Boys always hate boWing and scraping But
girls seem to take to it like ducks to water"
Alas not all of us" put in plump and jolly
young matron; while were in London last year
] was presented to Queen Alexandra. TO tell the
truth really had supposed | knew how to make
suitable curtsey but my friend, Eileen Tanning
who gave me various points beforehand, made me
practice over and over while she criticised. 1t all
seemed too absurd for anything but really assure
you those rehearsals were all that saved me from
dying of modification on the floor of buckingham
palace If you fancy it's easy to make very, very
low sweeping curtsey, almost to the very floor,
again and again and again. gracefully retiring dur
ing the process and not getting tripped UP by the
longest train you ever had chance to wear-well,
just try it YOURSELF"
cat least you did know what was expected OF
you and had time to prepare for it,, said the
| traveller. Its when you run up against some un-
expected kind of salutation that you're lost l saw
! a funny sight once the pier here just as was
| landing from one of the Hamburg g-Amercan boats.
| There was big, bearded Russian on board coming
over to visit some relations or other, and when he
walked down the gang-plank there were two young
people waiting fer him, a pretty girl, evidently
Russian and a young fellow who wasn't Russian at
all hut sDoke English and looked If he hailed
from the state of Maine. Well, the with the
beard fell upon the pretty girl if he'd never seen
ANYTHING SO good before-I guessed he was Uncle
Niklovitch or something of that sort. And when
he had kissed Olga both pink cheeks, didn't he
lust grab tie stiff shy Yankee fellow and kiss him,
| too! Yes ar Grst one cheek and then on the
other lust ar If he'd been a waiting sweetheart.
That poor feli3w from Aroostook county was Grim
son to his ears when Uncle Niklovitch gave him
a rarting bean hug and set him free suppose he
never in all his life seen Russian men kiss each
other-but he'll see more If he marries the pretty
girl as guess he means to-"
Hard OIL New England man." suggested q