The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-09-21


you feelf' 1 once chaffingly asked q |
friend who had been raised to the
peerage. SWELL" he replied, II can
now wear my old clothes and that
win be taken as eocentrlcity because
Tn q lord and not because do not
know better"
Americans often assert that English
men dress slovenly. Without fully I'D.
that know we dress more to
suit ourselves than to suit convention.
An Englishman will undoubtedly wear
garb that q second rate American
salesman would reject. I remember at
O reception at Stafford House. one Of
the show places Of London, more mag
nificent than Buckingham Palace, an
American lady called my attention to
the fact that the late Duke of Suther-
land was wearing an evening coat
positively green with age" That
was about right. think we pre-
fer comfort to appearance, like the
English Judge who insisted on being
measured for his trousers sitting down,
because that is the position / am
generally in when I'm wearing Them"
he said. Let our excuse be that we
What constantly struck me when I
came to the United States was the
punctilious correctness of the Ameri-
can men In their costume. But at the
same time thought there was
strange absence of individuality. I be-
lieve the ordinary New Yorker would
rs soon be charged with leading an i'm
moral life as to have II reported he
walked down Fifth avenue with I'M
creased trousers. I remember being
asked why wore a stand up. blue
striped collar Of an old fashioned shape
instead of the white style which nine
ty-nine American men out OF a hun
dred wear, and q could only plead
did 1t because 1 did not know any
better, though the real reason Is that
happened to find my own way COM
Portable.
The Sense of Humor.
One OF the most ingrained convic-
tons in the American mind Is that we
are devoid OF q sense or humor, that,
indeed. II takes twenty minutes for an
Engiishman to see a joke-at least!
i believe It Is perfectly true that we
cannot understand great deal Of
American humor. I admit that every
Sunday endeavor to acquire humor
by carefully studying the comic Sec
tons of the colossal newspapers. 1t
may be q sign of my British insular-
fly, but when look at the pictures Of
Mutt and Jeff' and Bringing UP
Father" I can discern nothing but the
crudest vulgarity. Some Of the jokes
in the high class weekly funny papers
pass me by. On the other hand,
know that things In the London
Punch over which chuckle are with
out point to many Americans. Yet in
their sly way the English rather pride
themselves on delicate sense of
humor.
The explanation is that the Amer
lean and British people have different
standards Of humor. American hunor
Is direct. bangs you, as it were, de-
ponds q good deal on whimsical ex-
aggeration, whereas English huinor is
more frail in texture and the point is
in the suggestion and not in the state
ment. This gives the reason why so
few English comedians. successful in
their country, make good" when they
visit the United States.
It is perfectly understandable why
the American people cannot appre-
ciate our old fashioned ways. Few of
us have steam heating In our houses ;
we prefer to travel in cubicle carriages
/ on the railway instead OF commodious
coaches; we have an irradicable affec-
tioR 'Sr furniture which belonged to
our grandparents; we have our dis
tinctions of class and expect servants
-"help" in America-to say Yes
sir" and "No. madam" I know that
lots Of folk believe civility is another
name for servility. but we have a dis
tinct liking for 1t.
Ingrafned characteristics.
Our characteristics are ingrained,
the growth of centuries. and they are
not easily to be changed. But I would
advance a plea that because we often
do things differently from the Ameri-
can method. they are not necessarily
done worse. II We prefer to travel
in a railroad carriage in winter with
tho window wide open. 1t is because
we cannot stand hot. dry air. That
many OF US walk along a muddy road
instead OF taking a ride In an automo-
bile is not to be defended except fol
the miserable reason that we like It
And there is no excuse for wanting
to reside in an old. draughty. low
rooted manor house, built 500 years
ago, instead Of pulling 1t down and
/ erecting a modern place with all the
latest appliances, except that our
fathers and grandfathers and great
grandfathers loved that kind OF house
Though the methods of communica.
ton are so rapid to-day and America
and England now seem to be next
door to each other. though travel anG
interchange OF ideas are on the in
crease and public men are constantly
appealing to our common ideals,
think the mistake both countries make
Is to believe We are very much alike
whereas We are different and the diff
ferences in our characteristics will
increase.
\ I suppose there is no Briton VIII,
has a greater regard for the Unite.
States than have and who has Ger
tainly endeavored more to brinI
about better understanding between
the new and the old worlds, chief,
by the removal Of the oobwebs OF mis-