Page:Travel letters from New Zealand, Australia and Africa (1913).djvu/197

 A ton, consequently, is not 2,000 pounds, but 2,240 pounds; and this system bothers every country with which England does business. The English also use the term guinea in reckoning money, although there is no such coin, nor is English paper money issued in guineas. A guinea is as much more than $5 as a pound is less. If the people of the United States should invent a slang term meaning $1.03, and occasionally use it in reckoning money, instead of the dollar, it would be about the same thing as the English custom of occasionally dragging out the word guinea, and using it, to confuse strangers Some Americans say, "Don't you know?" in conversation, and it is a very bad habit, since the term is meaningless, and soon gets on the nerves of the listener. The English make fun of the expression, and represent all Americans as saying "Don't you know?" It is a fact that too many of them do. But Australians add, "You see" to their statements a great deal. I believe a majority of the Australians say "Yis," instead of "Yes," and they have many other oddities of speech which grate on the nerves of Americans, who believe in pure as well as free speech On a rough night, the squeaks in a ship sleeping-room are worth mentioning. Last night as I lay in bed, I made note of the squeaks, and could distinctly count four different ones: two for each pitch, and two for each roll. When the weather is fine, there is no strain on the ship, and the squeaks disappear This morning at 10 o'clock the captain made a calculation, and said the time in Atchison was 10 Thursday night. He showed me how he figured it. Atchison is in 96 degrees longitude; there