The Washington herald., 1922-06-18
NORTHERN EUROPE
ADOPTING
AIRS OF AMERICA
Cigarettes, Jazz, Vaude-
vile, All of U. S. A.
V"~iety.
TAKES UP FOX TROT
Latvia Also Shimmies and
Admires Imitation of
C. Chaplin.
TAKES UP FOX TROT

RIGA, Latvia, June 17.-If you are
looking for local color. there's little
use travelling in Europe today. You
might as well stay at home and go
to the educational scenic moving
pictures. For everywhere the Ameri-
can tourist goes in Europe he finds
that some other Yankee has got
there before him and thoroughly
Americanized the place.
Yes, 1t is true. Take Riga, for ex-
ample. Here, on the ice -sheathed
Baltic. Is a bit of old Russia.
Through the narrow winding
streets of the quaint. age-old Hanse
town-streets that are pictures from
a Hans Christian Andersen fairy
tsle--rumble picturesque droskys,.
piloted by fiercely- mou-
tiks who are the delight of camera
carrying Americans. Copper samo-
vars, sables. white fox wraps. Rus
sian riding boots decorate all the
shop windows. Here. in the capital
of Lettland. Is gathered all the gla-
mour of half Arctic, half Oriental
Russia.
Want to Become American
Are the Let's satisfied with this?
Not for a moment. Their great am
bition Is to become as American
as possible.
An American, arriving here yes
| terday, rang for the ober. or waiter.
and ordered cigarettes, wishing to
| sample. here in old Russia. the IA
nous Russian brands. The waiter
returned bringing trayful of
boxes of Camels, Fatimas. Chester
| fields, Piedmonts and Lucky Strikes
for Yankee cigarettes are the
most popular form of smokes in
Latvia today. The American in
sisted that he'd smoked those butts
all his life and wanted some real
| Russian ones, the ones with the
paper tubes on the end.
Finally a box of Russian cigar
cites was produced. This brand is
the most popular native cigarette
here. 1t is called the Dollar, and
the cover of the box bears a huge
red. white and blue American flag
with a gold dollar. spreadeagle and
all. superimposed upon it. over the
| eagles head are the words In God
| Doctorest." which shows that some
good artist is a poor interpreter.
Fox Trot Popular.
Riga's night life is based on the
! best American principles. The fox
| trot is one OF the most popular
night cafes in town. Here q jazz
band, full of Yankee pep. plays
20, by Jingo," Whispering and
'Dardanelle." together with the
other 1919 Tin Pan alley vintages
which have just struck Latvia. Be
| tween the dances a negro, the only
! one In Latvia, gives exhibitions of
| jigs. breakdowns and shimmies $
that were all discovered south OF
the Mason-Dixon line. Here, as
throughout all Europe, American
jazz dancing and jazz music have
conquered the Old World.
An amusing phase of Americas
influence Is seen in the travelling
circus which is now showing here.
1t Is real circus. one ring, saw
dust, trapezes and everything, in
cluding an ancient and sad-eyed
elephant and thin and discouraged
camel, both of which look with
pessimistic disfavor on Riga's ice
and snow.
Charlie Chaplin, Too.
The clowns and actors are either
Russian or German artists. They
are amazingly clever; their acts are
carefully thought out. And as they
whirl from trapeze to trapeze. or
tumble through the paper hoops on
| the ring, the American visitor is
astonished to discover that the line
| of patter that they reel off is all
| In American. with nearly the right
accent and the right bit of Yankee
| slang.
A Charlie Chaplin clown flip-fops
down the ring. He is obviously a
German. But what is he saying:
Fem the oreegenal jazz babe-
| Watched me feets. Me left foots
all hopped up wiz moonshine, bu,
me rights feets sober"
No one in the audience under
stands him. Why does he do It.
| The answer is that the wise Ger
man comedian, having perfected a
good act, Is now touring the Baltic
states to make money enough fol
a passage to America and is study
ing the American patter of an act
Observation-Disclosures