Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-03-09

contemplates her charms ~ long ~ he
plcnses. He may even call over friend
and the two discuss The lady at some
length. II they are very young, they
may follow her, and without making any
effort actually TO approach her, they mAy
seek IN q variety of ways TO nMusc her and
10 attract her attention. For example, one
gifted young gallant was seen To amuse
his "novia" Of the moment by running
along ahead OF her and climbing up on
some high pcdestaIs Intended for statues
There, with the fine dramatic feeling
which every Latin possesses, he took a
variety OF posses. He was alternately
Diana, Venus, Washington crossing the
Delaware, and Napoleon on St He'ena to
the great amusement Of al passers-by.
The Cuban Senorita smiles and toler-
strs all this, for she knows she Is safe from
any actual affront. A Cuban gentleman
seems never TO approach q Cuban lady on
the street. II simply isn't done. The WHIT
ing American, observant Of the smiling
and complacent air with which the native
beauty cndures his curiosity, very often
leaps TO the hasiy conclusion that he has
made a conquest. Mindful that hc is far
from home, with grand flourish Of his
brand-ncw Panama hat, he sails up and
delivers broadsidc Of amateur Spanish,
hastily culled from 4 vest pocket diction-
ary. Ten TO one the dark-eyed beauty
does not resent thie. She never feels self
rlghteously irnpelled TO whale him over
the head With an umbrella (she does not
carry such a, thing anyway nor TO run
him through with q hatpin, or even 10 call
a cop. She nlagnihcently and completely
ignores him, without appearing in the
least fustered He cant understand il. II
she was nice lady she ought to have ez-
ploded, and il she wasn't, she ought TO
have acquicsced Darn these geezers
anyhow
The lady from up north finds the Cuban
gentleman equally incomprehensible. he
is gallant, attentive, polished, but he does
not grasp the idea of platonic friendship,
and the long courtship Of American Gus
tom is not thing he can appreciate. On
this point the testimony of the pretty
Irish maniciirist IN leading hotel is inn
portant. She works in Atlantic City in
the summer and IN Habana in the winf>Y.
She makes lot of money and is thrifty,
careful business woman. IncidentalIy
she goes into society and regards IL as a
rare misfortune 70 pay for her own dinner
But | never 20 out with these Cuban
guys Simply impossiblel IL you 50
much as give one Of EN- date, he irnagines
you just cant resist him Perfectly
foolish, | say They want very
high polish on their finger nails, Just like
woman Not for met"
Thus little things make big differences.
The two kinds Of Americans look at each
other with interest across a gulf Of differ
ing social custom and language. The Gus
toms and points Of view might possibly
be adjusted If more North Americans
would learn Spanish, and more LATIN
Americans would learn English. An inter-
national fund ought 10 be established to be
administered by the Pan-Anerican Union,
or some similar body for the teaching Of
the languages in all American countries.
1t ought 70 be possible to establish a
system Of schools which would soon be-
come almost or quite self-supporting.
A large percentage Of Americans who
como here 70 make living. fail because
they cannot speak Spanish. How thew
expect 10 succeed il a mystery. Ii is hard
even 70 get anything 70 eat in this town
without little spanish. Yet many young
men come down here from the States 20
look for jobs, who cannot speak a word Of
Spanish. Such a man should have money
enough TO live until he has thoroughly
mastered Spanish. Then he will make a
living with ease. In the local papers, for
example, there are always advertisements
for stenographers who can write both
languages, and they are offered from sl75
TO 5000 70 start ON. Anyone who. uses
both languages really well is sure of q good