Page:Travel letters from New Zealand, Australia and Africa (1913).djvu/274

 We looked so "raw" that our conductor was immensely amused. He said to another ex-American, the manager of a bank:

"And yet they are surprised that people everywhere know they are Americans!"

I suppose we are called "raw Yankees" here, as we at home call new arrivals from the old country "raw Dutch." Our conductor in the office building told us later that the elevator man said to him, after our departure:

"Excuse me, sir, but were those people Americans?"

"No," the ex-American replied, "they were Russians. Why do you ask if they were Americans?"

"Because, sir," the elevator man replied, "I couldn't understand them when they inquired for you."

When people talk to us, they talk slowly, and use a good many signs, as we do at home when talking to foreigners But so far as looks go, I think I have solved the problem. Today I bought a London hat, and wear it with the rim turned down in the back, instead of turned down in front. I imagine that people now say of us:

"The man looks all right, but who is the frowzy-looking woman with him?"

The leading ladies' tailor in Kansas City is a German named Mendelsohn. If Mendelsohn could hear the criticism his suits attract in South Africa, he would go crazy Speaking of the English habit of turning the hat-brim down behind, instead of down in front, as American men wear their soft hats, some Englishmen in Africa go to an extreme, and wear the brim of their hats turned down all the way 'round