Evening star., 1928-05-27

dimensions,
natural wealth and the Varlauohs % a.1
climate. But of its scenery IneS o,s rSns
little, and Americans themselves SCI
erally warn you that the road across
IL. even in the best of trains. Is loils
and dusty. s
The beauty and variety OF its laho-
seana are therefore likely to come as
surprise to the traveller. especially II ile
is lourneying West for the nrSt NTle.
I have travelled pretty widely IN EuI0pe ope
and the East. but clrcult Oh ''ooo
miles in the United States leaves oLa1
inenaceable impressions OF natuIal
heautv-beauty with a quality which Is
uniquely American. 1t is not for noth-
ing that most of the country Is IN
latitude which is distinctly southern,
according to north European ideas. Inc
sky has the brightness and at morning
and evening the warm glow which
Englishmen call Italian. But with 1t,
and especially as one goes away from
the coast, is a keen. dry atmosphere
which keeps the human fit and gives
trees, plants and crops northern vigor
One sees the Italian cypress casting Its
black shadow on what might be an
English countryside. Again and again
I have been struck with this combina-
ton of the northern and the southern
one sees il right down to the Gulf of
Mexico. where fan palms grow in what
look like English woodland to the
English eye it is one Of the character
istic American touches.
Desert Is a Novelty.
Americans warned me that passing
through the deserts was q penalty
which had to be paid for the pleasure
OF arriving somewhere else. I never
found it so. To the European eve the
American desert is a real novelty In
landscape and thing Of rare beauty.
The African, Indian and Arabian deserts
have their charm If you escape their
sand storms, but the American deserts.
with their rolling expanses OF sage
brush and jagged mountains on their
rim, are like nothing I have ever seen
before There is no mcnotony in trav-
cling through them The scene changes
incessantly as the sun rises and sinks
and new mountains come into view and
are swept with waves of color. There
are long stretches in Arizona and New
Mexico in which beautifully chiseled
mountains rise like Greek Islands from
the sea Of Sagebrush. The air on these
high plateauS is amazingly exhilirating
and II American ingenuity can S0iVe
the problem of bringing water to them
they viii yet provide sanatoriums for
the whole continent. The dinculty
should not be i1asuTmountable, If one
may Judge from the considerable num-
Der Of ranches which may be seen in
q days journey, and the sturdy looking
bulIocls and goats which appear to ind
something TO eat there.
Henry James. returning 70 America
after a lifetime spent in England. said
that emptiness was the dominant i'm
preston left on him by a journey
across the continent. That Is Still what
strikes an eye accustomed 70 Europe or
the crowded regions of the East. Large
parts OF India are jungle, mountain and
desert, but travelling through the plains
Of India you get ali the way the sense
Of population The fields are alive with
people: there are villages every few
minutes, and toward evening when the
tide sets hOmewaro a held-up thrOng
of men, women and children with their
bullock carts and donkeys are waiting
at every railway crossing. In England
the villages race past as the train moves
on, and the countryside is a network
OF roads. lanes and footpaths, running
In and out Of green fields. which make
tumble Of small patterns with their
irregular hedges. Everywhere there are
signs Of people and close cultivation.
Sense of Population.
Massachusetts, Maryland and some
parts OF New York State give you the
sense Of population, but mostly in
America you are travelling over thinly
populated spaces with enormous inter-
yais. according 10 the European stand
ard. between the chief towns. and
though the main roads are now nearly
always visible the cross roads are few
and there seem TO be hardly any lanes
or footpaths Agriculture having moved
West, the thrifty EngliShman gets tbs
impression Of quantities Of seryiceable
land going 70 waste In the East and
thinks enviously Of what the British
farmer might do with 1t, and then
corrects the thought when he observes
the distance Of the market for this
farmers produce All this. Of course
is but the outward expression OF Tho
fact that the population Of England Il
more than TOO a square mile, whereas
that Of the United States, for all it,
great aggregate. is only 35. But the
difference between the two things mus
be seen 10 be realized, and only whef
you see IL DO you begin 10 understand
means. or what is implied when Amer.
Jeans talk Of their "unexpioites
resources"
Rhythm Of Life Differs.
Returning 10 England. one feels tn
conpactness and manageabillty ant
clustering intimacy Of the English lif
as compared With the American. W
have more leisure partly because W
have less space ~ cover. Our bushes
gnen have not 10 fly across continen
70 90 from their head office 10 thei
branches If they live IN London the
may spend 2 day In Birmingham 0
Manchester and be home at night The
use the telegraph more sparingly be
cause most letters can be anbYeTe
soon enough by post. They have ne
the same Sense 0f opportunities wait
fng which keeps the American going .
1og speed lest others should get i
'front.' Of him All this means that tn
raytnna ~ life is different and Slo"e
Englishnen stiii walk ABOUT their iittl
country. and large numbers Of thef
soefd their lives where they were bon
Americans hardly ever Walk and al
always moving on. The size of VI
eo.gufry and the mobility of the peop
are TWO main facts which the EnGlEt
snsR has ~ master al the outset.
The well-to~do Engiistman u fai
ftalols tn his method ~ travel. VINE
s business man naS 10 90 from ilond1
n glasgow he demands, and gels IL
9fih ali the appuftenances~-for shl
which an American railway cotnpai
Noulo think ludieroiis, IL IL snooi
running 81 lEls way stao h'' 'oA"E
eguaDantes take elaborate steps W u
tfat he IL not joited On awakened pr
,naaureiy from hts siumbeTs The Anne
fpen il Tie most tolerant ~ Traveller
Iais sleeping cars seem % have 10 bu
feTs ard he scarcely eiirs IN his sic.
through bangs and crashes whiei, o.
would have thought, would wsken y
cad. RIOT being endowued with y
9pgcaal muscles which Americans see