Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 May 1877 — American and English Physique. [ARTICLE]

American and English Physique.

Mr. Richard Grant White, who has recently been abroad, and who has set down certain of the experiences purchased by his “ penny of observation ” in an article, entitled ** English Traits,” makes a few affirmations which, while contrary to general opinion, accurately accord 'with ~the facts as we have seen them. They refer to the comparative physical condition of the English and American people. Mr. White asserts that he has watched crowds of English people at theaters, festivals, churches and rail way-stations; that he knows the human physiognomy of all quarters of Lon-

don, and has walked through country villages and cathedral-to*ns; and, as the result of this wide observation, he declares that “ the men and women are generally smaller and leas robust thanjours, and, above all, that Ibo women are, on the whole, sparer and less blooming than ours.” He thinks there are more ruddy people in England, but that delicatelygraduated bloom is not very common, while the proportion of people without color in their cheeks is nearly the same as here. Now, we, also, unwilling to let a vague impression go for troth in this matter, have stood and purposely watched crowds of people at English railway-sta-tion*—wherever, indeed, there were fiat) l erings of men and women —ana could but feel that, compared with similar assemblages here, the physical difference was but slight. But Mr. White dwells upon another point that we also noteu, although the descriptive phrase he uses is his own. He speaks of the superior “set-up” of the men meaning, of course, their carriage and bearing. This, he tells us, “ appears in a marked degree in all militaiy persons, rank and file aswell as officers, and in the police lorce, which are, on tho whole, inferior in stature and bulk to ours, but far superior in appearance, owing to the ‘set-up* of the men, and the way in which they carry themselves.” This ‘‘Bet-up’ 1 is not alone, according to our observation, confined to drilled bodies of men. Mr. White must have noticed what a superior body, in appearance and carriage, the omnibusdrivers and hackmen are to ours. The London omnibus-drivers are no such ragged and slovenly vagabonds as those who make unsightly the Broadway stage (by way of compensation, the New York vehicle is much superior). They are gen. erally well clothed, often wearing a “high hat,” that stamp of respectability in England, and they sit on their boxes with the dignity ana upright carriage that here we never see, except on the box of a private carriage. Whether omnibus-drivers there are subject to any form of drill or discipline, we cannot say; if not, then they must be animated by greater pride and self-respect than ours are. Similar facts may be observed with English rail-way-officials, especially with the guards and porters, who are always trim, neat, cleanly “set-up” men, prompt to serve, but always commanding respect This is not a slight matter. If the habits of American life tend to make men slothful and negligent, if they encourage the spirit of the loafer and the vagabond (and the recent rapid multiplication of tramps would seem to confirm it), it behooves us to look well and see whence may come the remedy, and how to apply it. The good effect of uniforms in dress upon the nun ale of men has often been observed. We see, therefore, one way in which, in large bodies of men, the evil mentioned can be partly remedied. Conductors ou city cars, for instance, just as they are now on the steam lines, might be pnt in uniform; in all other cases where it is practicable this should be done, as one step toward counteracting an evil tendency of very serious nature.— Appleton'* Journal for Man.