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ORIENTAL IMPRESSIONS 
 IN AMERICA 
 
 By 
 
 DONG Sung Kim 
 
 Of Korea 
 
 With Drawings bg the Author 
 
 PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY 
 
 THE ABINGDON PRESS 
 CINCINNATI 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1916 
 BY D. S. KIM 
 
 '^"'. 
 
 -M 
 
 (G)JI.A4189J6 
 FEB II 1916 
 
TO 
 
 WHOSE UNSELFISH EFFORTS 
 
 MADE OUR EDUCATION POSSIBLE 
 
 DURING THE FIRST FEW YEARS 
 
 IN AMERICA. 
 
r oreword 
 
 He came from peaceful lands of rice, 
 From peaceful people, peaceful skies. 
 Beloved b'ue Korean skies. 
 
 Over the green fields* rim; 
 An education his emprise, 
 A lad all grit, with quiet eyes. 
 With golden heart, and very wise, 
 
 Our Mr. Kim! 
 Oh, folk of Uncle Sam, be nice, 
 With all your kindness, all your lies, 
 
 Be good to him! 
 
 Mary MacMillan. 
 
Introduction 
 
 "Oriental Impressions in America" discloses the ver- 
 satility and quickness of the Oriental mind to grasp, 
 understand, and accommodate itself to the thought, the 
 activities and foibles of Occidental civilization. The 
 author's genius is further unveiled in the quaint and 
 wholesome humor shown both in text and illustrations. 
 Mr. Kim does not undertake to write the philosophy of 
 Western civilization — indeed, who would ? — but with 
 unerring judgment and discernment he pictures it very 
 much as it really is. Though East be East, and West 
 be West, "Oriental Impressions in America" proves 
 that we're all akin. 
 
 W. F. Wiley, 
 Managing Editor of The Cincinnati Enquirer. 
 
Oriental Impressions in America 
 
 Our Trip to America 
 
 At last our long voyage has nearly come to an end 
 on a November morning. Late in the morning we 
 caught the view of the land, the skyline of coast hills 
 
 ' in the far 
 
 distance. 
 Some one 
 informed 
 us that we 
 were ap- 
 ^. preaching 
 New ^York 
 City, yet we 
 wondered 
 how the city 
 was on the 
 hills. As we came nearer, 
 to our surprise, it was the 
 real New York, her sky- 
 scrapers appearing to be a 
 long range of mountains to 
 our naked eyes. Uncon- 
 sciously our hat was off to the Statue of Liberty, as 
 we were accustomed to do to our gods at home. 
 
 To be sure, not with the same spirit, but with our 
 greetings and respects to our hostess-to-be we bowed 
 our head politely. 
 
 9 
 
 
Columbus could not have been a happier man than 
 we were. We had been sailing toward America for two 
 months, yet we scarcely believed there was a real Amer- 
 ica until our feet touched the bank of the "Noiseville- 
 on-Hudson." Then we remembered the little Latin 
 quotation, Ve?ti, Vidi — except the last part, which re- 
 mained to be proved. 
 
 Our heart was turned to the good Lord with pro- 
 found gratitude for two reasons: first, the possibility of 
 bringing into direct contact nations and races separated 
 by oceans and hemispheres; and second, the advantage 
 of journeying with modern conveniences. If there were 
 just one class like that of the steerage, we would have 
 preferred to stay at home rather than to be mingled in 
 that human herd of immigrants in the filthy and un- 
 sightly compartments, although we might have re- 
 mained an insignificant and ordinary person. 
 
 What right had we to drop in from without to enjoy 
 all the civilization of this great commonwealth? Rome 
 was not built in a day and neither was America. Only 
 through the continuous hardships and unselfish efforts of 
 the forefathers of the nation had this wonderful achieve- 
 ment come to be crystallized into this stage of civiliza- 
 tion. 
 
 We had not come through the influence of some man- 
 ufacturer, neither as a captive nor as a conqueror in this 
 strange land, but we were here to absorb the intellectual 
 atmosphere of modern times which was stored up in a 
 college education. No words could be found to express 
 our heartfelt appreciation and admiration for the hos- 
 pitality of our American friends during our sojourn in 
 this new and free world. 
 
 10 
 
City 
 
 Since we were just an ordinary person, the noise, 
 the people, and the buildings interested us more than 
 did the government and the celebrities. Our dreams and 
 imaginations of Amer- 
 ica were different from 
 the actual seeing, in that 
 we did not think it pos- 
 sible to construct such 
 immense buildings as the 
 Singer Building, with 
 which we were familiar 
 because of our imported 
 domestic articles. It was 
 bright, clear daylight, yet 
 all these tall buildings 
 looked more or less alike 
 to us, which made us 
 think that the composer 
 of that song at the John- 
 son-Jeffries bout was not 
 quite right in saying 
 "Some objects look alike "^ =-- ''^^^S 
 
 in the dark." 
 
 The hurried throngs on each side of the walk, the 
 big, tall traffic cops with ever-moving limbs, the auto- 
 mobiles, electric cars, surface, elevated, and even sub- 
 way cars, vehicles of every description, the whistles, the 
 rattles, and a thousand and one other things were all 
 at the same time in a modern American city. 
 
 The more we learn, the more we realize our lack of 
 knowledge. We thought we could get a share if we were 
 
 11 
 
at our home community. Soon we found out that we 
 knew very little, and we were completely lost in a great 
 metropolis. We knew what v/e were doing without 
 knowing where we were going, or vice versa. After all, 
 we were just but a drop of water in the wide sea. None 
 cared for or recognized us in the whirlpool of a city's 
 rude buffets. 
 
 Country Life 
 
 There is nothing like a country place in America. 
 At times its hills, rocks, and brooks seemed to be trans- 
 planted from our home, or, miraculously, we were lifted 
 over to our home country. We were impressed with the 
 fact that Nature has provided the world about all alike 
 in the temperate zones. 
 
 The summer's green fields or the winter's snowy open 
 ground were the perfect art of natural genius. We liked 
 the cow-bells in the distant pastures, or the crowing of 
 the poultry around the barnyards. We enjoyed the 
 buttermilk and sweet cider in the pleasant and simple 
 country homes, where family altars were kept with a 
 devoted spirit. 
 
 But alas! who could stop the young blood from run- 
 ning away from this quiet place? The electric lights, the 
 vehicles, the people, and the theaters attracted almost 
 all the younger generations into the big cities; only the 
 less ambitious or the less worldly individuals were left 
 at home. 
 
 Some could gain materially twice as much in the 
 country as they could in the city. But they preferred 
 to yell "Step forward, please!" on the street cars. How- 
 ever, the auto vehicles came in time to rescue this mi- 
 gration from country to city to some extent. Of course, 
 most of the leaders of American life were once among 
 this migration. 
 
 12 
 
Church Going 
 
 Along with our wonders and surprises, we came to 
 one place where we were quite disappointed. We used 
 to attend, in our home land, a full prayer meeting with 
 as many people present as there 
 were on Sunday; but here in America 
 just a handful of faithful few turned 
 out for this mid-week service. At 
 the first prayer meeting, our pastor 
 told us that he had the largest 
 prayer meeting in the State, al- 
 though the crowd was quite small. 
 Yet this pastor was such a whole- 
 some and lovable 
 man of great power. 
 He was among 
 the choicest of 
 the leaders of 
 his State, yet 
 he was unable 
 to pull the peo- 
 ple out to a 
 mid-week prayermeeting. 
 
 In an Ohio denominational college, the boys went to 
 church once with a Persian student, who had recently 
 arrived. The stranger evidently was not accustomed to 
 the American ways. He had to imitate the other young 
 men in everything they did. But he went a little too 
 far. After the service was over, he noticed the young 
 men escorting the young ladies home, so he walked po- 
 litely up to a young lady to escort her home. His at- 
 tempt was not very successful, however. 
 
 13 
 
 ^:y0l^ 
 
So young men go to church to worship the Almighty 
 in the goddesses? In our own judgment, it would be 
 more amiable if the people would show a little more of 
 a devotional spirit, even if they did worship goddesses. 
 
 Once in a church on our travels, we took the last seat 
 in order to get out sooner, but we did not succeed, for 
 some one followed us out, shook us by the hand and bid 
 us come back again. This was an unnecessary invita- 
 tion to us. The moral is, we are not to go to church be- 
 cause a half dozen people come around and pat our 
 backs and ask us to come back. We should attend church 
 because our conscience directs us to do so. 
 
 An American Home 
 
 An American home is the finest institution of this 
 age. An American believes in independence, or stand- 
 ing on his own feet according to his own merits, regard- 
 less of his father or uncle. No matter whether he is the 
 eldest born or the second or even the third, although 
 the ideal family has no more than two children. 
 
 This spirit entered the home and the young man 
 knew how to earn his bread before he planned a home, 
 so there was no threat of his going under the breadline, 
 as in Europe or Asia. 
 
 We saw him gcttirg up early to fire the furnace; we 
 saw him eating breakfast of hot coffee and biscuit with 
 his wife and two children; we saw him kissing his family 
 when he was off for his work. 
 
 A home does not mean just four walls with a roof 
 over them, or Newport villas, or Hudson castles. A 
 true home consists in the peaceful God-fearing family. 
 Colonel IngersoU ought to have said: "I would rather 
 have been an American peasant and lived in a bungalow 
 with vines growing over the door, the grapes growing 
 purple in the amorous kisses of autumn sun. I would 
 
 14 
 
have been that man, with my loving wife by my side, 
 playing and singing as the day died out of the sky, with 
 my children on my knee with their arms about my neck, 
 and I would have gone down to tongueless silence of 
 the dreamless dust rather than to have been monarchs 
 and rulers of the troublesome world." 
 
 Dancing 
 
 The first western dancing we saw was on the Prince 
 Eitel Frederick (which happened to be interned at 
 Newport News later), on the blue Indian Ocean. The 
 whirling motions 
 on the light fan- 
 tastic toe, accom- 
 panied by the 
 made-in- Ger- 
 many band, fur- 
 nished us with an 
 amusing and en- 
 joyable evening. 
 The ocean was 
 calm and the 
 weather was ideal, which 
 rendered the most pleas- 
 ant entertainment pos- 
 sible in the wideness 
 that covered the ocean. 
 " Unthinking, idle, and 
 wild and young, I 
 laughed and danced and talked and sung." 
 
 How gay that princess must have been, but we cared 
 little personally, for we used to be a quiet, typical South- 
 ern Methodist long before we ever saw America. 
 
 At home, no respectable person danced. For occa- 
 sional uses, we had our dancing girls whom we could hire. 
 
 15 
 
Yes, there is a great deal of physical exercise in dancing, 
 but why not dance alone, or man with man or woman 
 with woman, without jiggling around both sexes at the 
 same time? 
 
 "Billy" Sunday said, "If a man had to dance with 
 his own wife, he would just as soon husk corn under the 
 moonlight." On the other hand, some say it is rather 
 cruel for a man to condemn dancing because it is woman's 
 only amusement, while men can do whatever they please, 
 as they are not confined at home as women are. 
 
 Is it cruel to condemn dancing? Well, some day, 
 should our wife insist upon dancing with any one or 
 everybody in the ballroom, what could we do in this 
 day of equal rights? What would be her preference — 
 two-steps, waltz, fox trot, grizzly bear, bunny hug, 
 waddle, toddle, or simple ordinary tango? 
 
 Automobiles 
 
 It would have been impossible for the ancient gen- 
 erals to occupy so many pages of history without their 
 favorite horses. But this animal, in the early part of 
 the twentieth century, met his rival in his new adopted 
 land in the automobile or horseless carriage. 
 
 As many other useful things American brain has 
 developed, this new type of vehicle has become efficient 
 in all branches of traffic, from pleasure cars to utility 
 trucks. It has risen as fast as a mushroom, but it has 
 come to stay, unless all human beings disappear from 
 the earth. 
 
 An automobile is an advertising agency for the one 
 who owns it. We judge how fat his pocket is when we 
 see him in his car, provided it is not a taxi in which he 
 rides. In other words, one owns a car according to his 
 bank account. The larger the bank account the more 
 costly the car which he owns. 
 
 16 
 
Nothing gave me a more pleasant sensation than 
 speeding a high-power machine with the gas valve wide 
 open. But we were more cautious than some others, for 
 a machine is often nothing less than a medium for sud- 
 den deaths and cripples. It was rather a difficult task 
 to collect news items for the press before the days of 
 the joy-riding era. On the contrary, now, because of 
 the large number of Sunday afternoon accidents, many 
 are overlooked and not reported. Some are actually 
 speeding their way to their graves, but could we call 
 this also "Yankee Push?" 
 
 D 
 
 ress 
 
 It is probably correct to say that the Americans 
 are the best dressed people on earth. In our estimation, 
 they are not very homely looking, but they believe in 
 the theory that clothes make the man. 
 The advice to a youth with fifty dol- 
 lars capital is to invest one-half in 
 clothing. It is quite fortunate for 
 the American girl that she is not as 
 fickle-minded in other matters as she 
 is in dress. No matter how expen- 
 sive, or how much she admired a 
 dress, she seldom wore it for a second 
 time. The styles changed so often 
 that the tailors were not able to 
 supply the demand for new styles. 
 She liked distinctiveness, individu- 
 ality, to be somewhat different from 
 her sisters at any cost. She looked 
 for the up-to-minute fashion in hats, 
 dress, and all. Her chief aim and 
 ambition is not beyond being at- 
 tractive in the eyes of the male specimens. 
 
 17 
 
Recently a returned missionary said that the heathen 
 were putting on clothes while the American women 
 were taking them off. The Zulus are still uncivilized 
 and do not appreciate the art of nature. In former days 
 they were naked simply because they had no clothes. 
 There was a time here when low-necked dresses were 
 considered immoral by some, but the other night a 
 leading lady in a silent drama had her back almost 
 naked, representing a society woman at a card table 
 showing a big wart in the middle of her back. 
 
 Frog Legs 
 
 "Chink, chink. Chinaman, Chinaman eat rats," we 
 heard as we passed along the poorer quarters of a city, 
 fromthe lips of uneducated children. As usual, we were 
 
 taken for a "Chink" or 
 a Jap. Being unfortunate 
 in not having been bom 
 in the celestial empire, 
 we never had the 
 pleasure of tasting 
 the flesh of rats, nor 
 did we see anyone 
 participating in such 
 a luxurious diet dur- 
 j « ,1 ing our two years of 
 li.f.J school days in that 
 country. At any 
 rate, this story came 
 to be familiar to the 
 _ ^ _ ears of American 
 
 ^^ "^ ~ ^ v^f. " children. But the 
 greatest thing to us was to see frog legs, classed as non- 
 edible at home, here found to be the most fashionable 
 dish on an American menu. 
 
 18 
 
We must confess that we engaged once in this feast 
 and enjoyed it immensely. But soon the thought came 
 that we were prejudiced against frog legs, and we ran 
 into a recondite place to find some means to take it out 
 from our ventral cavity, but it was too late, for the frog 
 legs went down deep and well. We were as helpless as 
 our landlady's spaniel that had a flea on his back which 
 neither his feet, his mouth, nor his tail could reach. 
 
 We afterwards learned to enjoy them fully with well- 
 prepared tartar sauce, which inspired us to quote a 
 verse in such an arrogant manner as if we were a born 
 poet: 
 
 Oh, East and East, West and West, 
 
 And ever the twain shall meet; 
 Even fore earth and sky stand presently at 
 God's great judgment seat. 
 
 — Apologies to Kipling. 
 
 Accidents 
 
 Some one asked us once why it was that all our 
 folks he saw were in such good physical condition. He 
 meant, why our legs were not broken, or he wanted to 
 know where we had put our armless sleeves. It was such 
 a simple question to answ^er. We did not have all kinds 
 of machinery and means of transportation like we saw 
 in America. Everybody was in a hurry, hurry here, 
 hurry there. One took fifteen minutes to catch trains, 
 five minutes to get up, five minutes to eat, and the 
 other five minutes to run. Yet most of these immortals 
 wondered how Methusaleh managed to live six hundred 
 and ninety-six years, while Noah reached the respect- 
 able age of five hundred and ninety-five years. 
 
 One summer we were on our way to New York 
 State by way of the Lake Shore lines. Suddenly our 
 train jarred, some unpleasant gas odor filled the coaches, 
 
 19 
 
after which a terrible explosion occurred and our car 
 stood still. In the wild excitement, we learned that an 
 automobile had stopped right on the track which our 
 train ran on. It was struck squarely and carried some 
 distance. 
 
 Certainly the train had the right of way on the 
 rails, but it was mercilessly cruel for our train to crash 
 into that poor and helpless stalled engine. Two out of 
 five of the joy-riders jumped to safety, while the rest 
 went along with the pilot of our locomotive. We won- 
 dered if Methusaleh or Noah met the limited train 
 squarely on their travels while driving an auto. 
 
 The Postman 
 
 The Americans are hard workers in all branches of 
 life, though some work harder than others. Most of 
 these men worked with machines or something equiva- 
 lent to them, but 
 the mail-carrier 
 alone used no 
 artificial means 
 for his daily 
 routine from 
 house to house. 
 The postman 
 we thought was 
 our best friend, 
 although we did 
 not learn his 
 ^ n a m e . He 
 brought the 
 news from our 
 mother and our 
 friends from all parts of the world. We were quite 
 anxious to see him coming down the street, and he 
 
 20 
 
never came too often. Once we thought that we were 
 the only person who appreciated the postman's ap- 
 proach because we were a stranger in strange surround- 
 ings; but we soon discovered that we had a wrong im- 
 pression. Everybody who was big enough to discard 
 his cradle was delighted to have the postman stop at 
 his front door. This postman recently added to his 
 bundles of letters post cards, periodicals, some heavier 
 mailing matter, such as a box of chocolates for a beauti- 
 ful maiden or a basket of eggs for a city consumer. Yet 
 without a single protest this faithful friend carried the 
 weight and strolled along the avenues and alleys from 
 house to house on one side of the street, then on the 
 other, in sunshine or in rain. He was the most welcome 
 person of the city and the greatest joy maker in America. 
 
 Love 
 
 "Since love hath never of any man been seen, 
 Nor touched by mortal fingers bodily, 
 Many there are who led by Folly lean 
 To think that love is a nonentity." 
 
 — From Symond's Translations. 
 
 We are inclined to believe that love is nothing more 
 than a nonentity. Our young folks at home have to 
 learn to love, for their parents pick their mates for them, 
 but in America the situation is just the opposite. The 
 young folks have so much freedom that they elope with 
 their own choices, should they prefer. However, for 
 this serve-self proposition, including girls in America 
 because a bachelor meant that a man with very modest 
 means was unable to provide the required standard of 
 a modern family. If one had a little bigger bank ac- 
 count than his neighbor, the most beautiful belle in his 
 community picks him first, unless she is a student of 
 eugenics. 21 
 
The qualifications of a young man to be a good hus- 
 band consisted in three things: first, his bankroll must be 
 large enough to meet the demands of the ever-changing 
 styles of apparel of his bride-to-be; second, he must be 
 possessed of good looks; and last, he must love her. 
 
 Our roommate in school, the j oiliest fellow in exist- 
 ence, announced his decision of entering the ministry 
 in a church meeting. We never saw any one so disap- 
 pointed as a young lady of his acquaintance, because 
 she well knew a preacher could not keep an electric coup6 
 for his wife. 
 
 Woman Suffrage 
 
 It seemed to us that the intelligence of the average 
 American woman was far superior to that of women in 
 other countries of the world, and 
 in fact, they are rulers of America, 
 figuratively speaking. Always 
 woman first. There was 
 hardly time for us to oc- 
 cupy a seat pur- 
 chased for a nickel 
 in a street car. The 
 male portion did the 
 bread earning, but 
 the ladies bossed 
 them all. 
 
 "Al, go out and 
 
 see if the milk bottle 
 
 was put out before 
 
 \\,^ you retire, and don't 
 
 ^ ^^„.<^ forget to see that 
 
 Fritzie is in." 
 
 We see no reason why the men hesitate to give such a 
 little thing as the casting of votes to women, although a 
 
 22 
 
great many States boast of their chivalry by giving the 
 right of suffrage to women at an early date. Some 
 women are better fitted for public office than so-called 
 qualified politicians. At this point some men were 
 afraid of losing their breadline. 
 
 But not all the best people in America are in politics. 
 As correctly as we could figure it out, the matter of 
 economy plays a large role. The men have their hands 
 full with the millinery bills at present, and if they give 
 the right to vote to the fair sex, they will disband the 
 sewing clubs and thankofferings to go out on campaign 
 tours and speech makings. Naturally the campaign 
 fund will be larger than thankofferings or the expenses 
 of a bridge club. 
 
 It is bound to come In due time. Why do not the 
 gentlemen give the right of suffrage right away, not for 
 the sake of argument, but for the cause itself, even if 
 they have to nurse the children while their wives are on 
 the platform? 
 
 College Socials 
 
 Since Oberlin College started the department of 
 higher learning for girls, as we were informed, there was 
 very slight chance for a bashful fellow to go through 
 college without having his face tickled by the plume or 
 feather on the hat of a fair co-ed who occupied the seat 
 directly in front of him. 
 
 The idea of the co-ed is that she must have a beau 
 at any cost. If a fellow played football or was a mem- 
 ber of a fraternity or a patron of nickel shows, she was 
 his bait. House warmings and proms were the result. 
 
 While we were yet in a "prep" course in a Southern 
 college, an invitation came to us from a neighboring 
 college. It was the annual function of the seniors, com- 
 posed of the fairest members of the South. We had not 
 
 23 
 
quite recovered from the shock and intoxication of the 
 new life, and knew Httle about any sort of college amuse- 
 ments. Perhaps on this account the invitation came. 
 The next day "Bullfoot," one of the old men, told us 
 enviously that he had been in college for five years and 
 had never caught the glimpse of the reception parlor of 
 that college. How absurd he was ! He envied us as much 
 as a little girl envies her older sister's summer furs. 
 
 C 
 
 ampus 
 
 Life 
 
 A German scholar once said that the scholar is the 
 sheep in the kingdom of learning; he studies because he 
 
 is told to do so, 
 and because 
 others have done 
 so before him, so 
 those innocent- 
 looking little 
 lambs flocked in- 
 to a campus and 
 started to make 
 noises with care- 
 free voices: 
 
 "Hail! hail! 
 the gang's all 
 here!" The songs 
 and yells would 
 linger with us 
 through life as 
 the sweet mem- 
 ories of joUiest 
 days of our youth. None could appreciate this fact 
 fully unless he himself had once donned the little cap on 
 the back of his head at a sixty-degree angle, with loud 
 stockings of different color on each leg. 
 
 24 
 
Our first experience was away down in a Dixie col- 
 lege, small in size, but foremost in standard, where the 
 proudest families of the fair South were represented 
 with their joUiest younger generation. Yet thise fellows 
 are so human and shared the fun and humor with us 
 most lavishly under the same roof and at the same 
 dinner tables. 
 
 Then our roommate, or "old lady," as we used to 
 call him, and we had our times independently by our 
 midnight eats until the oil was burned out. The ser- 
 enade, the rallies, the shirt parades, and the bonfires 
 were one after the other, as usual, until Halloween or 
 April Fool Day came, when we celebrated with all our 
 energy that sweet foodstuff could manufacture for us. 
 
 One midnight our roommate and we climbed to the 
 highest floor of the main building and went through a 
 transom to see our hobo friend. Mack, who had been 
 carried up there by a professor in physiology, with the 
 permission of the mayor, after he bade farewell to this 
 life on a nearby tract. He was to be cut by a class ex- 
 clusively. We wanted to meet him, but gained no in- 
 troduction. 
 
 Our adventure was successful, and we escaped the 
 demerit which we were accredited with by the pro- 
 fessor. There was Mack, whom we wanted to meet face 
 to face. He was lying on the table in the middle of the 
 room, showing the inside of his ventral cavity, without 
 a word of greeting to us, because his days were ended. 
 What is in a man if he be a simple hobo, like Mack, or 
 the mighty Czar of Russia? He was dead and back to 
 earth again. Thrills, thrills, thrills. 
 
 25 
 
Baseball 
 
 ¥ 
 
 Pf 
 
 We overheard, in a street car, one young man asked 
 another what he was doing. The one to whom the 
 question was put repHed, " I am cutting diamonds." 
 
 So we thought he 
 was one ot those 
 unfortunate Bel- 
 gian refugees, but 
 soon we discovered 
 that he was the 
 grass cutter in the 
 baseball park. 
 
 Among all the 
 sports in America 
 baseball is the most 
 popular. As soon 
 as the weather be- 
 gins to smile in the 
 spring the whole 
 nation, the ball 
 players, fans, old 
 and young, go into 
 wild excitement 
 and enthusiasm over the sport. Had a Roman caught 
 the glimpse of the ball park on a National League day 
 or one of the days of the world's series, it undoubtedly 
 would have made him homesick for his old times around 
 the forum with its throng of spectators. 
 
 The professionals were able to carry home an ap- 
 preciable compensation, according to their speed and 
 ability to steal bases. 
 
 The chief ambition of many a boy is focused on the 
 hope of being, some day, a Christy Mathewson, Walter 
 
 26 
 
Johnson, or Hughie Jennings, or perhaps the President 
 of the United States. Even the President himself ad- 
 mires the game so highly that he is often found at the 
 ball parks to imitate the professionals by throwing the 
 first ball for the world series, or some sort of the same 
 nature. 
 
 Like many good things in the world that never die, 
 baseball continues to be popular, in spite of its old age 
 of three score and ten ; in fact, it is safe to prophesy that 
 it will increase in popularity and stay with the destiny 
 of human kind. 
 
 Football 
 
 Football is a distinct college sport in America, al- 
 though some professionals tackle and kick the ball 
 around the gridiron. Football is the game of all games 
 for us. Its only rival 
 is baseball, but, happy 
 to say, these two 
 games never inter- 
 fered with each other, 
 for they occupy dif- 
 ferent seasons. Foot- 
 ball in the fall and 
 baseball in the spring. 
 
 We would rather 
 watch a football 
 player make a touch- 
 down after a success- 
 ful plunge through 
 the foe's line, or a 
 drop-kick, than to see 
 a baseball player hit 
 a ball over the fence 
 and leisurely make a home run. 
 
 27 
 
 Football requires all 
 
the strength and vigor of a young life. It is the game 
 of a giant who lives a robust life. 
 
 To our regret, we never took part in this manly 
 game, for we were not husky enough to push the lines. 
 However, we had to learn a little about tennis because 
 it is a family game. 
 
 We were as earnest and enthusiastic over football 
 as any rooter on the bleachers. We were there to join 
 the crowd when a shirt parade was marching. That 
 husky, robust fellow who made the touchdown was the 
 hero of the day and the idol of all the co-eds. Glory and 
 triumph crowned his head, but his triumph was there, 
 and there alone. Should he return to his alma mater, 
 say five years hence, to his astonishment he would be 
 utterly lost on the campus among the ever-changing 
 student body. He would have no more regard shown 
 him than the ordinary passerby gets. 
 
 So the clock ticked and ticked, the morning dawned 
 in the east and the sun rose and went down in the 
 western sky, then the moon rose again in the east, as 
 the earth went around without paying the least atten- 
 tion to what the human activities were. 
 
 28 
 
President 
 
 We knew America was a republic, but we could not 
 believe it was possible to elect the chief executive of the 
 land once in four years. He was not the same imperson- 
 ation of focus and authority as we saw at home in kings 
 and emperors. He was but merely a public servant with 
 utmost unselfish motives. If he were a servant of the 
 people, we were unable to understand it, for we were 
 accustomed to keep our servants for generations, while 
 he was to make 
 room for some 
 one else who 
 was equally 
 capable. It 
 was too true to 
 believe. 
 
 We wish to 
 inform our 
 friends at home 
 who are not 
 fortunate 
 enough to see 
 a simple plain- 
 clothed Presi- 
 dent or crown- 
 less king, that 
 the traffic of- 
 ficer occasionally must arrest him for violation of the 
 speed laws, just as they do any other person. 
 
 His form of government is the wonder of nations. 
 Why is it that some of the notables of the world have 
 not called the United States the "Celestial Republic?" 
 
 29 
 
South 
 
 "Yon cloud with that long purple cleft 
 Being fresh in to my mind, 
 A day like this which I have left 
 Fully thirty years behind. 
 
 My eyes are dim with childish tears, 
 
 My heart is idly stirred; 
 For the same sound is in my ears 
 
 Which in those days I heard." 
 
 — Theocritus. 
 
 We left the South to come to a northern school 
 fully three years ago, but on account of our homesick- 
 ness it seemed thirty years, and this pastoral poet fore- 
 told our feelings quite admirably. 
 
 We found equally warm friends up here, but the 
 things of the South were not the things of the North, 
 even under the same flag. In the South there were not 
 only mocking birds, magnolias, corn, and cotton, but 
 also the beautiful maidens from the noblest and purest 
 American blood. Where can the true native white stock 
 of America be found as easily as in the South? 
 
 Perhaps the stork liked the South better than he 
 did the North, for his visits there were more frequent. 
 A family with only two children was practically un- 
 known there, while it would be shocking to see three 
 children in a New York apartment. 
 
 Then there were good-hearted and pleasant natured 
 colored folks who shared the Ameiican wonders along 
 with their white brothers. 
 
 30 
 
Pretty soft! as we heard on the campus. They 
 laughed and sang and sang and laughed. 
 
 "Oh, Hanna, won't you wake me up so 
 Early in the morn? 
 I'm gwan to 'usking of de corn. 
 What r'e gwan to do den? 
 I'm gwan to chew on ham bone den 
 When de dinne' horn blow." 
 
 Freedom 
 
 In a certain city a citizen owned a house, and operated 
 the underworld secretly outside of the segregated dis- 
 trict. The court had evidence to prosecute, yet had no 
 power to drive the owner out of 
 the house, so the court ordered 
 a uniformed officer to 
 be on duty day and 
 night at the expense of 
 the city to keep 
 the patrons 
 away. 
 
 This is not 
 a good example 
 to pick out in a 
 Christian land, 
 but it shows 
 that Americans 
 are not all 
 saints. Some 
 evil forces are 
 at work. But 
 as a whole, 
 Americans are nearly superhuman. We mean that 
 Americans alone enjoyed so much freedom. Freedom 
 
 31 
 
in America was the most enviable thing in the past oi 
 the present. Neither the court nor the individual evei 
 trampled on or took advantage of others, no mattei 
 how wrong the act might be. Boot blacks have as mucl: 
 right as a member of the upper house, or millionairt 
 club. 
 
 Washington completely uprooted tyranny in America 
 and established freedom, not alone for his own country 
 but for the people of other lands as well. Here tht 
 refugees and exiles of other countries find shelter and 
 protection. New York is the largest Jewish town ir 
 the world. The Poles, Armenians, Hindus, including 
 our own countrymen, have their personal rights re- 
 spected under the Stars and Stripes. 
 
 Noted Americans 
 
 In the pages of history we learn that some periods 
 produce more prominent individuals than others. Bui 
 it seems to us that America at present possesses a group 
 of historical characters, although it has been said thai 
 such men as Lowell, Longfellow, and Wliittier are nc 
 longer to be found. 
 
 We used to think the men who filled the annals ol 
 history with their biographies were really big men, bul 
 our view is somewhat changed. The big men in America 
 to-day are not found in the State capitols or governmcnl 
 buildings, but they arc found in the ol^ces of downtown 
 skyscrapers. 
 
 The riches of Rockefeller would have been impos- 
 sible without these men of brain, or the Stars and Stripes 
 would not have much weight on the lands across the 
 ocean. In other countries just a few individuals direct 
 the public affairs, but in America things are just the 
 opposite. Yet no one praised these men so loud because 
 
 32 
 
they shook and trembled at after-dinner speeches. 
 These men, real shrewd Yankees, are the main support 
 of the country — the power behind the throne. 
 
 Nevertheless it is true that such men as Bryan, Wil- 
 son, Eliot, Butler, Jordan, Edison, Ford, Rockefeller, 
 Carnegie, Wanamaker, and Roosevelt are before the 
 public eye. 
 
 Writers 
 
 Writers of the past who made contributions to 
 society by their talents received small material com- 
 pensation. We never learned that any writer of olden 
 time lived a lux- 
 urious life; but in 
 America to-day 
 some of the most 
 easily made 
 means are accumulated 
 through publishing 
 houses. The public are 
 great readers, hence the 
 publisher supplies the 
 demand, paying a good 
 price for a well-written 
 article. 
 
 We do not know 
 whether these count- 
 less contributions will 
 all live or not. At any 
 rate, the literature used 
 to be written by the inspiration of a genius; but now it 
 can be bought and sold by words and length of the 
 article, just as a house or an automobile is bought and 
 sold. 
 
 Naturally, some of the books are dead before they 
 33 
 
get to the press, while others will rank with the classics 
 and live for endless ages. 
 
 A few of the familiar names of merit in America 
 to-day are: Riley, Howells, VanDyke, White, Reinhardt, 
 Gladden, Beach, Chambers, London, Cobb, and Blythe. 
 
 Personally, we would have admired Wallace Irwin, 
 had he not been a secretary to our stronger neighbors; 
 but now we like Sam Blythe among the popular writers 
 of to-day, because he has his own style, and is square 
 and fair. He was not influenced by favors. Recently 
 he wrote an account of his world's tour and wrote it as 
 he saw it himself, not seeing it through the eyes of some 
 agent, like a professor in Chicago. 
 
 Public Libraries 
 
 Perhaps the greatest achievement of American 
 civilization is the system and facilities afforded the 
 people in regard to library advantages. Public and 
 private libraries are located all over the country. 
 
 Andrew Carnegie has contributed more liberally to 
 this cause of enlightenment than any other one person. 
 He should be given due credit for the advancement of 
 the American library, even if he has had some slight in- 
 terest in the manufacture of human-destroying machines. 
 
 Most of us had to memorize all the important dates 
 of the birth and death of great heroes, the date of the 
 rise and fall of nations, and the epoch-making events of 
 the past. To an American this is unnecessary, for all 
 he has to do is to visit the nearest library, where he 
 finds all useful knowledge classified and easy of access. 
 He does not need to remember when the Titanic sank, 
 or when Nero set fire to Rome, or when Roosevelt won 
 his libel suit with a Michigan editor and received three 
 cents damage, or who was the mayor of Chicago who 
 ordered the saloons closed on Sunday in 1915. 
 
 34 
 
The flooded literature of American life is all stored 
 up in the libraries under the most systematic manage- 
 ment. The buildings, too, are of such construction that 
 there is little danger of burning, as did that great Chinese 
 library four thousand years ago, which resulted in 
 practically producing a dark age in the nation's life. 
 
 The library is the monument of American culture 
 for generations to come. 
 
 Newspapers 
 
 Newspapers in America was nothing new to us. 
 The first issue of this kind originated not far from our 
 home. Since the days of the Tang Dynasty, the news 
 of the court had existed. 
 However, there was such 
 perfect efficiency in the 
 newspapers here, the 
 break-neck speed could 
 spread the news while, 
 new. We actually read 
 the news of the final 
 score of a baseball game 
 before we got out of the 
 ball park. 
 
 Perhaps two factors 
 controlled the American 
 public, the politicians 
 and the newspapers. The 
 American newspapers 
 swayed the nation as the 
 Roman orators on the 
 forum. The throng might 
 hail Brutus one minute and then hail Antony the next, 
 although it was not true in the case of Leo Frank, of 
 
 35 
 
Atlanta. It is the combination of the parliament an 
 the Fourth Estate. 
 
 It would not be an exaggeration to say that th 
 American civilization is in its zenith through the toil 
 of these anxious and inquisitive newspapers. The news 
 papers are to the American public as Nietzsche was t 
 German culture, if not more so. 
 
 On the other hand, the papers are issued by huma 
 beings, and hence are not always correct in their opei 
 ations. Our Prexy was one of the most popular leader 
 in the civic and educational affairs of the city, yet h 
 was criticized by the press because he did not confin 
 his activities to his campus office. So we can not be 
 lieve their opinion, like an Irish husband who stoppe 
 his sick wife in saying, "Hush, Sara, and lie down sti 
 without a word. You are dead now; the doctor says so. 
 
 36 
 

 
 
 
 
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