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About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 1894)
THE COUKJER I O k V i "UNITED STATES" AS SHE IS SPOKE. 1AM free, white, twenty-ono and I BpeaK United States," is ac cording to a writer in The Saturday Review, London, Septom ber 22, the modern Declaration of Independence of every nntivo adult American citizen. Wo get considerable information out of this article. Take the following as a samplo: "The American language used to be English, of course English pure and Bimple, if English ever was either pure or simple but it has prospered on its own account, like other things American, and now the English language is being Americanized, like tho English nobility, and its vivacity is considerably benetited by the process." The trouble is that the meanings of many words have been modi fied and altered so that they are quite unintelligible to the English man. Here are some examples: "If a Londoner is fortunate enough to cross tho Atlantic, and be introduced to a sky which has not been discolored by smoke, a sun which has not been dimmed by fog, and an atmosphere which tho powers have not forgotten to dry, and is as stimulating as cham pagne, but is unfortunate enough to have to buy a frock-coat a most expensive article or to order one as a rule, quite a different matter he must call it a 'Prince Albert.' . . . "If he wants a billycock hat, he will never get it if he asks for it by that name; he must request the shopman to bring him a 'Derby.' "Should the coverings of his feet be worn out and ho orders a new pair of boots, ho will bo given Wellingtons, which are 'boots' in tho American language; if he wants English boots he must ask for 'shoes,' while if he likes to show pretty socks and wears Oxford shoes, he must call for 'ties,' or 'low-cuts,' and 'slippers,' if ho needs pumps. "He will find, too. that he does not buy articles in a shop, but at a 'store,' and ho will be sent to its different departments by a 'floor walker, not a shop-walker. . . . "Should ho unfortunately happen to get ill, let him boldly declare that he 'feels sick,' entirely heedless of what he would be under stood to mean at home, or it will be taken that he is nauseated, for the words sick and ill mean just tho reverse of what they signify in London; and if his doctor gives him a prescription, let him not ask to be directed to a chemist, or ho will be sent off to a manufacturer of chemicals, if any one knows the address of such a firm, but let him seek for a 'pharmacy' or 'drug-store.' "In its pronunciation United States is a law unto itself, and if tho aforesaid Londoner getB 'busted' or wants employment as a clerk, let him not call himself a 'clerk,' or people will open their eyes at his peculiar occupation. "Above all, let him avoid, as he would the plague, tho nasal twang which passes current for tho American accent on the London stage, unless he hankers after being mistaken for a denizen of the 'wild and wooly west,' or as hailing from Oshkosh or Kalamazoo, both of which places, in spite of a popular belief to the contrary, will be found on the map of the country over which the stars and stripes float and the bald-headed eagle screams. "United States is to some extent an 'infected language, and the intonation of a word gives it its peculiar meaning, just as happens in that most soul-wearying of all tongues to the student tho Chinese. It any one doubt this, let him listen to two people mani pulate that most distinctively American word 'right' in a conversa tion of this kind: " 'How do I get to ?' " 'Go right along, and take the first turning on the right and you are right there.' " 'Right?' "'Right!' "'Right' "Tho first meaning of tho first two rights is obvious enough. Tho third is the equivalent of 'at onco." Tho interrogativo rights askB, 'Aro you suro that it is correct?' and tho exclamatory one replies as plainly as possible 'Quito correct," while the othor goes away with a nod, for his 'Right' mcane 'Thank you, I'm off.' " THE NEW WOMAN. What sho said was this: "I am Bick and tired to death of hearing about woaian I" This somewhat violent expression is not quoted hero to be defended, and it does not need contemporary explanation; it merely indicated tho cumulative weariness of long-tried patience. And it must not bo taken to express too much. Though women are often tired of themselves and of each other, and do not hesitate to say so, this is only a temporary wcarincss.and does not at all express the feelings of a misogynist toward women generally. Indeed, this woman who is quoted would probably turn with withering rebuke upon any man who should say that tho modern world has had about enough of woman and would like a rest. And tho man would meek ly admit that rest tho world will not have, and rest it does not do serve, this side the grave. No, it is progress and not rest that wo need, and that must go on, even to tho extent of women forming themselves into a syndicate, a women's trust, for carrying on busi ness independent of tho other sex, and dictating terms of partner ship. The speaker was not tired of women, but of "hearing"' about woman. Can not women, she said, bo taken for granted? Why should sho assert herself, or permit herself to bo treated as a separate class? Why this clamor every time she does anything, as if it wero extra ordinary that a human being should have genius or exhibit capacity? Why make such a cackling, liko a hen every time sho lays an egg? A man does not ask consideration or immunity from criticism for anything he docs becauso ho is a man. Why should a woman? Tho whole attitude is undignified, and a confession of inferiority that en rages me. If I were to take a "double-first" or writo a novel, I should be humiliated if I were praised for it like a freak. I am tired of reading about woman in all tho periodicals and newspapers as if she wero a newly discovered species. Every Journal must have its "Woman's Column," its "Woman's Doings,' its "Chat About Wo men," its "Woman's World," its "Woman in Society," "Woman in the Ocean," "Woman in tho Pulpit," "Woman in Literature," woman riding down the newspaper columns on a bicycle. And it is an nounced that this is the woman's age, that woman is in tho saddle, that woman has come to stay. Sho seems to want to draw the line, as Bhe did rather effectively at Chicago in a Woman's building, and to force an antagonism in every department of life. Even in her own periodicals I do not see any column devoted to man. That might be refreshing reading. Woman ! Why, she has borne tho wholo race for GOOO years, and she has got to bear it along in all the ages; sho is the great conservative and really controlling forco. I wish they would let her alone. I am sick of all this petty talk about her. The 'Study', has not felt at liberty to exclude this intemperate language from its impartial pages. White china to decorate at Crancer's, 212 So. 11th. Awarded Highest Honors World's Fair. DSPRICE'S (HlSEf The only Pure Cream of Tartar Powder. No Ammonia; No Alum. Used in Millions of Homes 40 Years the Standa---!
