Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-11-27
THE TRAVELLING sRlToN.
Ills EnViabie Knowledge and Love of
Outdoor Things.


bility. We agree that he is fussy
about details and slow to grasp a sit
uation, that his manners en- route leave
much To be desired. But he has with
all redecmfng qualities which are al
most endearing. He shows sensibili-
ties which one misses in that exalted
hero, The Man from Home"
When | 60 a-traVeling, I am always
touched by the average Englishman's
eager interest in all outdoor life. II
makes him on his own ground SYM
pathetic creature, boyishly simple and
direct. II makes travel to him ana to
his companions one continuous nicnie.
II IS not the exception but the rule TO
lind him knowing all about flowers,
Dirds, insects and animals. And he
shows this not in the pedagogie way
which with us usually betrays the con-
seientious sehoomarm or the college
specialist. but in a healthy, natural
love for the things whose scientific
names are merely a street number for
identification, not an end i'm themselves
Evidently he thinks that at least A
calling acquaintance. if not an init
mate friendship. with little live-folk
nelghbors Of various conditions among
whom he is destined to pass his ex
lstence will add To the sum total Of
lies JOY for him. He is quite right.
| believe that is one of the chief things
which keeps the average Englishmau
young at heart, enthusiastic, amuss. BILE
lie does not grow old so quickly as the
| average American does, because his
playtimc is indefinitely eXtensible and
ne mas ever fresh material to play with
in new combinations so long as he
| Wills There is little danger of his be-
| coming hlase or bored or worried over
the relatively unimportant business of
| life. He can be happy even when far
| from a bridge table or a comic opera
or magazine. because he always
| knows where 10 find the eternal game.
the never-ending play. the continuous
| ~ changing book
| But where does our British cousin
| get all his nature knowledge? When
| did he find time to acquire it? He
| spent no more years in school or col
| lege than our men do. He was no
| later in getting to the business of life.
| He seems TO accomplish that business
| satisfactorily TO himself and TO others.
| certainly with no more strain or stress
| than do our men highly specialized in
| business. Yet some time he manag ed
to learn what scarcely any American,
| too few women, find time for
| When was 1t? How was it?
| | suspect that it began in the nurse
| ry, that it was a part of his childish
| play and grew with his growth ]
| suspect that botany and an animal
| book were as much part of the nurs-
| cry library IS Mother Goose or Alice
| l suspect that his father and mother
| before him loved these thing and that
| nature-lore came quite naturally and
| gradually to be a part Of his equip
| ment for life, like good grammar or
the use of the handkerchief or daily
prayer.
| me Englishman en- route may fuss
over delayed dinner or a non-ap-
| pearing coach 1--WE never dob, but If it
| be in open country he is never at a
loss There are so many things to alb
sorb attention. There is so much going
on underfoot and overhead-things in
which he has an intelligent interest.
What flowers grow hereabout? He
| starts out to learn for himself What
is the peculiar fauna? There is just
| time enough to observe it. Let us see,
have we not heard of the famous moss,
here only to be found? To be sure.
Let us go forth and seek. And with
| boyish eagerness he starts upon his
quest, entirely happy.
One often sees the London business
man trotting to his office with a sweet
smelling huttonhole to cheer his APP
preciative nose. Fancy cur Ameri-
cans challenging criticism by such an
"eiteminacy." Fancy their knowing
the difference between a camellia or a
pink, To say nothing to caring to dis
cuss the comparative charms of each
with the little flower seller on the
street corner. Be sure it was an
american college professor who con-
fessed unashamed that he knew "the
carnation only in literature" Who
can wonder that our college men soon
lose touch with nature. if they ever
had it? The average American man
disdains all such things as sentimental
or pedagogic, at least as unnecessary
TO his scheme of life. He leaves the
study of buds and birds and bugs to
his womenkind Gf they wilD and turns
his interest into one narrow channel
from which they must not stray except
for the necessary relaxation of vaude-
VILE or bridge. But how much he
| misses of the richness about him. How
little he really sees when lie goes
abroad. The best of travel is not in
Baedeker, as the Briton we'll knows. 1t
/ is significant fact that popular Eng
fish guide-boo have always list of
| Fauna and Flora" at the end And
| with the thumb inserted at this page
the Briton browses happily over sunny
acres which his American cousin SKINS
in his automobile without dismountinS,
his eyes fixed upon distant tower
STARED" by his red-covered oracle
Perhaps the Englishman en- route
sees less than does our man from over
seas lie is continually expressing
l'amazement at the amount of country
we cover In given time, at the num-