The Street Letter Boxes Are Quite Small Square Boxes, Not
Large Pillar Boxes As Are Ours In This Country.
I should like to have remarked more generally on America, but both time
and space fail me.
Of course, as most people know, the (to us)
disgusting practice of spitting is common in America; spittoons are
universally provided in public and private places. At Merced Court House
is this notice: "Gentlemen will not, and others should not spit upon the
floors." Huge spittoons are provided there.
The awful guttural which precedes the constant expectoration of
Americans is most trying. It excites in persons near them and who are
unaccustomed to it, a sensation of necessity to vomit, as it conveys a
fear that your neighbour is about to vomit over you. It is not the
excusable expectoration arising from an accumalation in the air
passages, but a continuous fusilade of saliva. It is a disgusting
practice, and I believe will die out in America as its citizens travel
more in the old countries and become used to manners more refined than
such a one as this. I observed that my clients in California, who have
travelled in Europe, and other travelled Americans, are not guilty of
this odious practice.
I would say to Englishmen travelling in America, don't condescend to the
"guessing" and other loose styles of expression, and don't affect the
nasal twang. Americans, with all their boast of one man being as good as
another, are greatly pleased to entertain or travel with Englishmen
having a title, and they pay a marked respect to Britishers who speak in
a classical style, and who, while being devoid of foppishness, bounce,
or vulgarity, conduct themselves with a genial dignity.
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