THROUGH GERMAN SPECTACLES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 366, 3 June 1911, Page 5

THROUGH GERMAN SPECTACLES.

A representative of the "Berliner Tageblatt," who has spent some time in London, has given his British friends an opportunity of seeing themselves as they appear through German spectacles. The "impressions" he has published in the German newspaper indicate that he has been a painstaking observer, though some of his conclusions appear to do less justice to the average Briton. His first impression of the "Englishman in the street" is that he "looks as if he has no time for anything." This is exactly the kind of comment to be expected from the phlegmatic Saxon. "Anyone who has time to move slowly," he says, "interrupts and disturbs the street traffic in London. One can easily sue that Englishmen are dominated by a desire to move forward and to achieve their respective missions as quickly as possible and without any interruption." From his own puint of view, of course, the busy Londoner will find cause rather for pride than for reproach in this soft impeachment. The German visitor expresses his regret for the hard-working life of the "Londoners of the middle and lower class," but evidently the ill-treated working man has his reward, as "this feature of his life gives him a serious aspect which is wanting in the same classes of the population in Germany, and the Londoner is entirely free from the inclination, noticeable among Berliners, to concern himself in other people's affairs." There is some truth in the visitor's statement that the people of London do not look as if they were particularly well nourished, but even these unfortunate Britons will be able to enjoy a laugh at his next remark. In all seriousness, apparently, he writes: "After a time a warm-blooded man, located in this cold atmosphere, becomes somewhat automatic in his daily habits. Slowly but surely one loses the feeling of being a man among other men." He reserves his unkindest effort till the last, and, with the baldest rudeness, declares "it is extraordinary how many ugly girls are to be seen in London. Evidently the German journalist has not been impressed by the example set him by his gallant British comemnoraries.