New-York tribune., 1919-04-19
American Slang Battles
Willing British Author
"Out And About London'' Deals With the Low
Life of Limehouse, Soho, The Diamond and
Other Spots in War Time

mond, and lemme Iii brother teach
you 1t is impossible for us to recon
cle "lemme I'll brother" and quit the
diamond"
1t must be said in justice to Burke
that it is entirely possible that he did
hear some Of the outlandish phrases
which he has jotted down. Among the
doughboys gathered for the game there
may have been some former collcrc
professor who had devoted the after
noon to convincing his comrades that
he was no hiRhbrow. bat q typical
American. Such a theory would ac-
count for quit the diamond"
When Burke gets TO Limchousc O.,
to DocklaNd there is TO questionirp
his keen zest for the ncighborhood
and the accuracy OF his observation.
1t reads true. Through the present
volume there runs the lament that
London has lost its SAVIOR IN war time.
The war has brought peace 10 disor-
dered districts, and in bringing peace
1T has carried away color. However,
the Llmehousc trip is rewarded b. a
hght sufficiently vigorous to suit every
taste. 1T began when one girl in Chi
nese restaurant leaned across the table
to catch another "a resounGing biH'
on the neck" and to scream in her
lace; "You dare say Pm not respecta-
ble' | am respectable | come from
Manchester
Swift retaliation followed:
This evidence the assaulted one
refused to regard as final. She rose,
reached over the table and clawed
madly at her opponents face and
clothes. Then they broke from the
table and fought and fell and
screamed, and delivered the hideous
animal noises made by those who
see red. At once the place boiled,
I've never been in a Chinese re-
belllon, but if the clamor and antics
OF the twenty or so yellow boys in
that cafe be taken as fair record
OF such an affair, it is a good thing
for the sensitive to be out of. To
the corner dashed walters and some
customers, and there they rolled one
another to the floor in their efforts
to separate the girls, while others
stood about and screamed advice in
various dialects of the Celestial En-
plre. At last the gi-ls were torn
apart, and struggled insanely in half
dozen grips as they hurled inspired
thoughts ct one another or returned
to the old chorus Of -
We would like to 60 on. but here the
language becomes perhaps overac-
>"4''N nv oilS l0tS, IL Is SuItlClcUl
to show something Of Burke's manner
Of writing in his new volume "Out
and About London" is by no means
another "Limehouse Nights" 1t is
more tired And yet there is no want
Of force. Burke writes a good deal
like newspaper reporter. He seems
to be trying to make every paragraph
suitable for the front page. Usually
this makes for vividness, but it is not
a style Of much repose.
Thc topics treated in the various
essays include many varieties OF Lon
don life. In addition to Limchouse
and Dockland there is an excursion
into Soho, trip to the theatres. A
chapter on rendezvous is among the
most delightful in the book, and there
IS another interesting bit about Monte
Carlo in war time. The baseball game
seems to us one only wholly false
touch, but, come to think of it, we
can remember only one vivid true and
interesting piece of writing about base
ball which has been put into the essay
form. That is in Simeon Strunsky's
"Bclshazzar Court" We think we
understand why. Strunsky is the only
essayist we know who has been able
to write about the game without
patronizing it.