The Project Gutenberg EBook of America To-day, Observations and Reflections
by William Archer

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Title: America To-day, Observations and Reflections

Author: William Archer

Release Date: July 22, 2004 [EBook #7997]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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AMERICA TO-DAY

_OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONS_

BY
WILLIAM ARCHER

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1899

CONTENTS

_PART I--OBSERVATIONS_

I. The Straits of New York--When is a Ship not a Ship?--Nationality of
Passengers--A Dream Realized

II. Fog in New York Harbor--The Customs--The Note-Taker's
Hyperaesthesia--A Literary Car-Conductor--Mr. Kipling and the American
Public--The City of Elevators

III. New York a much-maligned City--Its Charm--Mr. Steevens'
Antithesis--New York compared with Other Cities--Its
Slums--Advertisements--Architecture in New York and Philadelphia

IV. Absence of Red Tape--"Rapid Transit" in New York--The Problem and
its Solution--The Whirl of Life--New York by Night--The "White Magic" of
the Future

V. Character and Culture--American Universities--Is the American
"Electric" or Phlegmatic?--Alleged Laxity of the Family Tie--Postscript:
The University System

VI. Washington in April--A Metropolis in the Making--The White House,
the Capitol, and the Library of Congress--The Symbolism of Washington

VII. American Hospitality--Instances--Conversation and
Story-Telling--Overprofusion In Hospitality--Expensiveness of Life in
America--The American Barber--Postscript: An Anglo-American Club

VIII. Boston--Its Resemblance to Edinburgh--Concord, Walden Pond, and
Sleepy Hollow--Is the "Yankee" Dying Out?--America for the
Americans--Detroit and Buffalo--The "Middle West"

IX. Chicago--Its Splendour and Squalour--Mammoth Buildings--Wind, Dust,
and Smoke--Culture--Chicago's Self-Criticism--Postscript: Social Service
in America

X. New York in Spring--Central Park--New York not an Ill-Governed
City--The United States Post Office--The Express System--Valedictory

_PART II--REFLECTIONS_

North and South, I

North and So