The sun., 1913-11-30

But the Castellana Is an empty strotcl
Of sand, for the most part, until hai
past six In the evening, when ii b.
comes for an hour or two the livelies
quarter Of the city. The mansions oi
either side of the street open their gates
carriages roll forth. senoras in costume
Of French cut but startling hue ar
! bowled into the central driveway. senor
in equally impressive garments appea
on horseback and the "paseo," the even
OF the day, has begun.
Strangers who have not been asked
dine with their Spanish friends becaus,
the latter cannot afford cook will b,
repeatedly taken to drive in luXurou,
cquipage with two men on the box am
| a pair of high stepping bays. For
Spanish family will scrimp and save an
sometimes actually half starvc in orde
to maintain its place in the daily pro.
cession on the Castellana. This is tru
Of all classes. from the impov.r.sh".
aristocracy to the struggling bourg"o!si'
and Is so much a racial characteristic
| that the same holds in Manila Hayan,
| and many Of the South American c.t.".
What his house is to the E.nglshmai
| his trip to Europe to the American. h.
1
hallmark of social solvency he can hol
| up his head with the proudes,. withou
| it he Is an outcast.
The manners Of both ladies ana
gentlemen are somewhat startling a.
| times. Toothpicks are constantly IL
| evidence, some Of the more eNclu>.v
| carrying their own little instruments ol
silver or gold and producing them fron
pocket or handbag whenever thu oc,a
| sion offers. 1t is not uncommon oith.r
| for ladies as well as gentlemen t. ~
pectorate in public: in cafes or even
| from carriages on the Castellana on
| sees this done with perfect sangtru!d
On the other hand there is an ahsulu..
| simplicity and freedom from affectatiou
| With all their interest in the appear
| ance and affairs Of their ncighhor
| Spanish men and women are without
| knowledge Of the word "snub." So
| thoroughly grounded in that uncon-
| scious assurance newer civilization
lacks. they would not know how To- SCI
about "impressng" any one. They ar
what they are. and there's an end I" it,
Coming into London from Fa,I> an
New York. or even from Madr.d j. III.
alighting from brilliant pan"ram.,
railway onto solid, unpretrni.uH-
mother earth. The massive bulk ut
| bridges, the serene statelincss Of an
cient towers and spires, the restful gro.
sweep of park--unbroken 10y iiuwcl
beds or too many trees; the quiet les
ure of the Mall and the sedate hruWl.
palace overlooking it: all is Tranquil
dignified, soothing. one leans aga.nS
the cushions Of ones beautifully luxuri-
GUS taxi and siGhs profound content
Ia, ic nr.y. oil i..i,
The essential thing in London is tha
one shall have drum to beat Sma'
talk and the polite pat.tudcs that swI,
the social reunions of New York an.
Paris are rclegated to the very youth.
or the very dull. Nor is clevrrnes-
greeted with the raised eyebrow Of dis
may: people are not afraid or too la2y
to think. One sees that in the news
papers. the books and plays. as We'll a
IN the drawing room conversation o,
| IN" English. The serious, even the so
called heavy. topics. as well as tn
subtle, finely ironic and sharply Crl,i-
cal are given place and attention: no
10y few prcceuX alone, but by thr
mass of the people And not to be well
informed is to he out of the world foi
| h"th men and women
| of course there Is the usua, set oi
smart fashionahcs who delight in
| ignorance and whose languid encrsie.
ar" spent between clothes and the new
est one step. But these are lao NOR.
| typical of London society than they ar,
OF any other. though in the minds or
many intelligent foreigners they hav.
become so through having their doins-
Iconspicuously chroniclcd in foreiEp
newspapers and by undiscrminatin.
visitors returning from England. On
one point this confusion of English So
cial sets Is easily understood: that thsl
share the same moral lenicrcy that per
mits all to lend themselves to situation,
and ideas which scandalize the for
eigncr.
1t is not that as a people they ar.
more vicious than any other, but they
are franker in their vice; they have no
fine shades. An American woman told
me OF the shock she received at her
hrst English house party. where he:
hostess. friend of years who had sev-
eral times visited her in New York
knew scarcely one-half Of her owr
guests. The rest were "friends." with
out whom nothing would induce ccrta.n
ladies' and gentlemen to come.
1T wasn't the fact Of it," said thu
Americaine candidly; "of course such
things exist everywhere. hut they aren''
80 BADLY apparent and certainly they
aren't discussed. Those people actually
quarrelled about the arrangemcnt Of
rooms and changed about with the mos
bare faced openness. My hostess and !
were the only ones who didn't pair ana
We were simply regarded as hyi""llt"'
without the courage of our desire.