Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1917-10-18
A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD IN
WAR TIME
BY URIAH S. JAMES.
(COntinued)

One of the things which the American
arriving on foreign soil must adapt
himself to is slower pace. Here in
America we are going on high, but
have been born and raised in that at
3 mosphere and do not realize it: In
Norway and Sweden you go on inter
mediate until finally arriving in Finland
and Russia you get way down on low
with the clutch slipping most of the
time.
, The Americans have wonderfully
practical and efficient way of doing
things, which becomes so interwoye n
into their every day lives that they do
not IN great many instances appre-
ciate it. For instance, while stopping
at hotel in Christiania I wanted to
get suit Of clothes pressed. told the
porter when [ was about to retire for
the night to send the boy up to get my
suit and have it. pressed and returned
by 100 a. IN. He looked rather aston
ished at first and upon second thought
evidently thought it was joke and be-
gan to laugh. When he found out that
[ really meant it he replied, mo, we
do not Keep anybody sitting up here
nights to press clothes..
AS my trousers were SO badly bagged
at the knees that [ could scarcely tell
whether | was going or coming, and
the rest of my clothes were packed in
my trunk which SO far as | knew at
that time was lost, l thought possibly
could drop into tailor shop the next
day and have them pressed while [
waited. The tailor whom the hotel
porter recommended was a man built
more for comfort than speed, and when
| asked him TO press my suit he in
hours to get his flats hot. 1t was early
in the morning VIXEN | visited him and
he said, Il can't possibly promise to
have them done until four o'clock this
afternoon. [ had slept perfectly the
night before and had no desire to go to
bed again SO he did not get the job. In
America, you know, this would have
all been done while you were enjoying
your peaceful slumber.
Or take another case-you are wear
ing your last clean collar, and after
gathering your laundry up in hurry
to get it Oft by S a. m, expecting to
have it returned the same day, you call
the servant who informs you very po-
litely that the shortest possible time in
which it can be done is one week.
few Of such incidents, especially if
they all take place in the same day, are
liable to rutf1e up the feathers of a new
conner and start him criticisng things
in general, which is a very bad state of
mind to get into. When we stop to
think these people were living happily
here before America was discovered,
and just because their rules and regula-
tons do not conform to ours is no proof
that they are wrong. The best thing to
do is to adapt yourself to the conditions,
although it may seem little awkward at
first, and in surprisingly short length
Of time you will find you are slowly be-
coming accustomed to the customs of
the country in which you are living.
In some cases you may find conditions
more agreeable than you were used to.
AS for myself l was willing to accept
everything just as it was and make no
criticisms if the baggage man at the
railroad station could only locate my
baggage. Two trains had come in after
the one on which l arrived and the
baggage man and I had searched the
baggage rooms upstairs and down in
the basement until I was beginning to
feel quite at home around the place,
but no sight Of my missing trunk He
had all kinds of faith, however. that it
would finally turn up and told me,
through an interpreter, that he would
watch every train and notify me at the
hotel when it arrived. He notified me
the following morning that my trunk
had arrived and this was good news, as
l had very vivid picture of myself
buying whole new outfit and paying
war time prices for it.
The next move was to secure a ticket
to Petrograd. | had been trying to get
ticket for two days but as the travel
at that time from Christiania to Petro-
grad was very heavy there was nothing