Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-19
ANoLo-AMERIcAN FRIENDSHIP
An Enelishman, Now Citizen Of Phil
sdelphia, Joins in William Nc
Fees Hope for Better Under.
standing Between the
Two Countries

right to the point. and I suppose he could
have gone on, as l believe L could indefinitely
citing many surprising instances of absolute
ignorance of the other follows country,
habits and ideals especially on the part of
the Britisher. 7 was born and raised in
north of England seaport town. later living
i'll Liverpool. Like Lieutenant McFcc, salt
water seemed to run in my veins, and as
youngster | lost no opportunities to board the
foreign vessels coming in to my town to
listen to the tales of foreign lands, oft told in
broken English. OF particular import to this
story. however. I heard a gentleman at one
of our church concerts sing song, then
popular with many Irish and English folks,
II m OFF to Philadelphia in the Morning
Chldlikc. / wanted to know where Phila
delphia was. what was it like and did ships
ever 60 there. / learned the song and as I
progressed in school became more and more
interested in Philadelphia knew it was sit
uated on the Delaware and gathered slight
smatterng of information about it. AS /
was an orphan, my grandmother was my
guardian. and often told her that some day
] WAS going to Philadelphia. She INDUCED
me in my childish beliefs. neither of us prob
ably at that time considering that some day
| would actually be as proud of seeing Billy
Penn's statue on top of City Hall after an
absence from this city rs the native son.
When my grandparents died and | went
to relatives in Liverpool | had an oppor
tunity to hear moro of Philadelphia. but |
was not taught that tho Declaration Of In
dependence was signed here or any other
facts concerning the Revolution America
to mc-at tiftecn--waS a wild west devoid of
cities and civilized habits. That it boasted
schools, churches or theatres, factories, real
homes with bathtubS or hotels not
known to me. and at school | was usually at
the head of my class in most subjects In
Liverpool ! met men who sailed on ships to
Philadelphia. saw Americans who dcbarkcd
at tho landing stage and rode up to the Adcl-
phi Hotel in Lime street Ga favoritc hostclry
for better class tourists at that time. 1909
and they seemed to be law abiding, dignifed
folk who dressed well and had ample means.
] oven pecpcd through the hotel windows on
dark nights to sec them dining under brilliant
lights-and that song. 'l'm OFF to Philadel-
phia in the Morning. continually rang in
my ears.
BY this time had learned more of the
United States of America in general and
Philadelphia in particular, because | was
employed near the water front and the tang
of salt water was in my veins. Before ] had
yet learned to shave I found an opportunity
to work my way to Philadelphia as
trimmer or coal passcr. and | left my
desk. picked out some old clothes and duly
signed on.
When the work became particularly hard
| kept humming over the old song and think
ing of my old grandmother who had always
proudly predicted n brilliant future for me
despite the handicap of being orphaned at
an early age.
After twelve days of the hardest kind
IF I.nrl. holpu ,lanl. 7 orriyaI hnro nd
had a job before night--a hard one again,
sure, but job nevertheless.
In the intervening years | have progressed
made many friends friends ! am proud to
have know me, proud to be associated with,
both in business and private life. Yet the
thought has always been with mc-and en-
phasized greatly on many occasions on read
ing or hearing things about Britain or re-
ports on this country from across the pond
why cannot these countries understand each
other better?
Even aboard the ship none of the crew
had any desire to live here. They knew
America only through the 'lager saloon''
near the wharf and their opinions were gov
crncd accordingly. Deep down in my heart
l realized that each had many things in
common. l studied American business men
in my early years here and imagined these
men transplanted, say to Liverpool or Lon
don. Little difference in appearance, but
with perhaps more pep, certainly as much
real dignity and sincerity. As l study ster-
ling executives | meet, workmen, women in
the homes, in fact. Americans in every walk
of life, | more and more feel confident that
these two peoples can hold the peace of the
world in their hands without difficulty.
Prior TO the war one heard many sarcastic
expressions about England-the England of
George the Third, principally, but always
the speaker merely applied his remarks to
just England. Yet the average Britisher to-
day has but the slightest conception of the
whole affair, which, after all, was the best
lesson that the British nation ever had even
though the war with the colonies did not
have the support of right thinking Britishers.
The main fact is, of course, that that affair
is in ''the official records and thus stands
as official.
/ donned a United States naval uniform
within a day or two after we entered the
conflict, because | had. as a good citizen,
prepared myself for the call which I ex-
pected from the organization of which / was
a member. My wife-a Philadelphia of
German extraction-and two children under
four years l left in our homie when my shin
sailed. Never have l met better men than
the American officers l had the honor of
serving under. Never have l met liver,
honest to goodness bunch Of good fellows,
who could be trusted to go the limit in a
pinch, than the several hundreds of Yankee
boys that made up our crew. And I was
one of them.
l met Britishers in uniform, too, but
somehow, and rightly so, / liked the old
United States uniform better, liked to haul
the Stars and Stripes up on the morning
watch to the accompaniment of our own
ships band.
a body of Philadelphia troops were for
time encamped in Liverpool, and close rel
ative, writing to me after the armistice, said
it was like losing home boys when our laddies
marched away to troopships and home.
Surely actual contact cannot but have been
highly educating for both, particularly for
those Britishers who have been looking at
America through badly focused glasses.
l don't expect to see our lads come home
with a passion for afternoon tea or eve
plassps DOpularly supDOspd IN ba tuyo of ~