Evening star., 1937-10-17
|M|DWEST'S SIZE
STACGERS CRITIC
Hannen Swaffer, English
Writer, Decides to See
Linc0In'S Tomb.
BY the Associated Press

BY the Associated Press.
DECATUR, ILL.,, October l6.-Han-
men Swafter got plumb tuckered out
just contemplating the Midwest's wide
open spaces today. so he turned his
quest for a typical" midland town
into a pilgrimage to Abraham Lin
coins Tomb.
The visiting English writer, who
had publicly doubted the existence of
a typical Midwestern town." decided
after a one-day inspection of Decatur
that this might as Well be it.
Decatur's Mayor and press an
nounced this energetic community Of
$500 was decidedly superior to typ
ical." but Swaffer let it 20 at that
and Cancelled, at least temporarily, his
projected inspections of other midland
communities. They were too "bloomin'
far apart"
After learning Lincoln once froze
his feet here, Swaffer packed his
bags for pilgrimage to the martyred
Presidents memorials in Springfield,
III. That's only 40 miles away.
mas respect Tor Lincoln.
There's no other American for
whom the English people have such
reverence" he said. George WASH
lngton was just an fashioned Eng
lish tory, you know. We're glad he
won, but we haven't the real respect
for him that We have for Lincoln"
One item Swaffer wanted to check
up was whether Lincoln's rail split
ting was "a political stunt" as he
had read somewhere.
Swaffer made the following observa-
tions about the Midwest in genera:
1T is untrue that the Middle West
is just a lot of nat earth that believes
In the fat earth theory. Still. If I
Travelled all over it would be fiat
footed. An Englishman. you know, is
used to flying clear across his own
country in two hours.
Sees Same Movies.
MY stay in Illinois has shown me
might easily become Middle West
erner myself, without making much Of
a change. We all see the same movies,
you know, listen to the same radio and
buy the same gramophone records and
talk about the same Duke of Windsor
(by the way, you can have HIM.
Our small towns in England have
more individuality than yours, with
their main streets and their right
angle roads making them all OF a pat
tern. TT makes them all look like
boxes Of bricks.
Il don't think l could face your
womens clubs with their prime pas
sion for absorbing knowledge that
doesn't matter and their earnest zeal
for doing nothing the wrong way. 1
think, too, that the Rotary Club must
be so-called because it merely goes
round and round like 4 squirrel.
Il can't understand all this highly
organized talky-talk (of women's s
clubs. We in London cut down the
maternity death rate by half In three
years without drive and without tell
ing everybody.
Dislikes Rush Of Cities.
The Middle West consists not Of
towns, but OF homes, and in that it
can teach much to the great cities
with their mad craze to rush some
where that doesn't exist"
Swaffer said he might return to
Chicago to study the crime situation"
(although q number Of Chicagoans
say there isn't crime situation any
more) and then visit Salt Lake City
and possibly Washington before re-
turning to England November 3.
From Decatur came one of the first
publicly spoken opinions Of Swaffer,
who yesterday interviewed Mayor
Charles e. Lee and vas much taken
by the fact everybody called him
Charlie Said Mayor Lee:
He seemed to be pretty good
egg"