The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1912-07-20
BY ESTHER GRIFFIN WHITE.

Sshis -
See America First"
An association, with the preceding
slogan, has recently been formed.
If among railway officials with an
eye to the development of business,
it's none the less commendable.
For many there be who know Eu-
rope like book and yet who would be
hazy in their definition of the sources
of the Ohio river.
Who can tell you all about the Riv-
iera but who never saw the coast of
the Gulf of Mexico.
Who have sailed the Rhine but
never got within shouting distance OF
the Mississippi.
Who babble of the lake region of
England but who are unaware that a
more charming one is found in Wis
consin.
Who rave over the majesty of the
, Alps and yet are ignorant of the far
more impressive grandeur of the
Rockies.
Who are fascinated with the color of
the Norwegian fjords but have never
been dazzled by the incompatible
gorgeousness of the Grand Canon.
Who talk of castles in Spain.
| And don't know of the old Spanish
missions of Southern California.
Who rush a thousand deep to the
Passion Play at Oberammergau but ig-
more the Mission Play at San Diego.
Who go crazy over Paris, but have
never been in San Francisco-"the
| Paris of America"
| Who HE to the waters of Spa and
pass by those of French Lick.
| Oh, but, you say, this isn't fair
comparison. It's the association, not
the landscape, that takes people
abroad.
Abroad" however, covers a big part
! of the earth's surface.
Generally it means England and the
continent. 1t really includes every
thing outside the environs of the Uni
| ted States.
! But, in any event, it's use is attend
! ant upon a sort of snobbery. Let any
one work his way on cattle ship to
Europe and stay two weeks in London
and forever after among his fellows
he is exalted as one who has been
abroad"
| And what of those personally con-
| Quoted" tours whose members romp
through Europs in six weeks? Return
| ing with a vague moving picture SER
| les of impressions, inextricably en-
| tangled.
| Or those trips under the guiding
care and direction of the ancient and
honorable Cook which railroad you
from London to Rome in blocks of
five and segments of fifty in ten days,
and get you back to the store before
! closing time on Saturday night?
Then there are those shipping con.
! cessions to the Holy Land or round
the world which may return you to
your ain countrie or again may strand
you in Bombay or Timbuctoo with
$3.50 and no "langwidge" but Ameri
can.
Here is where the missionary comes
! in handy.
| You apply to him for assistance. He
says he can't do anything for you, al
though you can make his home yours
while he passes the case on to the
American consul.
You gratefully accept his hospitali
ty although you fear you may be in
conveniencing him.
| AstOnishment corrugares your noble
brow when you are introduced to the
menage of the missionary.
It's extended and mysterious ramifi
cations are kept taut by a half dozer
fleet footed servants.
My lord, the missionary, clad in i'm
maculate white linen from collar tc
toe, dispenses iced ''yittles' pussy
footed to him by genuflecting servants
who noiselessly ooze in and out of the
fountain-splashed and flower embow
cred court.
Is this, you reflect, the martyr ban
ished to the burning deserts and the
fever ridden heather abode who exists
on two cents month contributions
from the Ladies' Missionary societies
and appropriations made by the con
ference?
| Who is popularity supposed to veal
the cast off clothes of the bishop and
to feed on odd scraps garnered from