Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-28

nothing to prevent Americans from
making fun Of his cherished antioui-
ties.
Exhibitions of what Europeans re-
gard as bad taste on the part of Amer
lean tourists are by no means confined
to Italy. The same thing is true In
France. The south of France for MANY
years was a paradise of pastoral beauty.
relieved by ancient cathedral cities and
Roman remains. Most tourists saw
Paris and let France go at that But
now the southern provinces are attract
In: more and more American tourists.
SO Il has become the custom for every
do 20 to remove to some remote and
a. yet undiscovered region for the
period OF the tourist season.
Visitors Should Re Adaptable.
Paris is the great shopping mecca Of
the American tourist. and while the
Parisians. eager for American money,
have done many things to accommodate
the American trade, it has been impos-
sible to remake the whole city. with the
result that there are many misunder-
standings. The American Is accus-
toned to have very prompt deliveries
of purchases. Distribution Is not SO
highly organized there. There are
many complaints regarding service.
wives seem to be very fond Of telling
French shopkeepers, hotel keepers and
other tradeSmen that they ARE hum
dred years behind the times" The OBJ
vious answer, of course. IL, whose
times, ours or yours?" But the average
tourist seems not to think Of that
Although there is no language dif->-
ficulty to overcome in England there>sfe
almost as many differences in customs
nd tn
and American slang are poles apart.
What is a casual remark in one coun-
try's slang is an insult in the others.
And. of course. not even Rome itself
has a greater reverence for antiquities
than England.
It will be remembered that the body
OF William Shakespeare lies beneath the
floor Of the memorial at Stratford-on-
Avon. The slab which bears the famous
epitaph written by Shakespeare. him.
self, beginning: Dear Friend, for Jesus
sake forbear. ETC." Is fitted even with
the floor An authentic story Is that
concerning the American visitor, In q
great hurry. who hustled ahead OF his
disnified guide into the sacred place.
He demanded in loud voice to be
shown instantly where ShakespeareS
tomb was located. In a carefully modu-
lated voice. but one filled with singing
standing on it
What trade experts. attempting to ex-
tend American trade abroad. are re-
porting TO the Department OF Com
merce, to Chambers Of Commerce and
to manufacturers and exporters or
CARNATIONS is that there has been 80
much of this sort Of thing due TO the
vastly increased numbers of tourists in
the last few years. that when Eu-
ropean is offered an American product
he instinctively turns away from 1t.
These organizations declare that. in
stead of hurting American trade. every
tourist could be an indirect salesman.
A bit of advice offered them is that they
stop TO think what they would feel upon
seeing French baker. for example.
filing his nails at the tomb OF Wash.
ington. 1t is also suggested that II
Americans would leave as much OF their
language at home as possible and use
straight English. better impression
would be given and 1t would not be
necessary as 1t is now, for Partisan
shops to have sogns reading: English
spoken: American understood