Harper's New Monthly Magazine Volume 104 December 1901 to May 1902 . aman as it does inLondon. What-ever be the rea-son — and prob-ably the nearnessof the clubs tothe membershomes is at theroot of it — onemisses, or thinkshe misses, some-thing of the easyun c onvention-ality, the sense of comfortable camaraderie, that make clublife in London so particularly is a stricter atmosphere, fewer re-laxations, and a more insistent code ofetiquette. My first instinct on entering aNew York club was always the last onewould be likely to be prompted by inLondon—to take off my hat. New York
Harper's New Monthly Magazine Volume 104 December 1901 to May 1902 . aman as it does inLondon. What-ever be the rea-son — and prob-ably the nearnessof the clubs tothe membershomes is at theroot of it — onemisses, or thinkshe misses, some-thing of the easyun c onvention-ality, the sense of comfortable camaraderie, that make clublife in London so particularly is a stricter atmosphere, fewer re-laxations, and a more insistent code ofetiquette. My first instinct on entering aNew York club was always the last onewould be likely to be prompted by inLondon—to take off my hat. New York can damn or boom a play,sell a novel, and settle to the satisfac-tion of the rest of America what is theright thing to do and wear, but there-with its influence comes abruptly toan end. It is not a literary centre, nora scientific nor an artistic centre, still lessis it the pivot of American politics. Lit-erature, science, and art all flourish inNew York, but they flourish equally wellin Boston and Chicago. New York hasnone of the compelling power that drew. A LUMBERING LONDON OMNIBUS 302 HARPERS MONTHLY MAGAZINE. Daudet to Paris, or Dr. Johnson to Lon-don, and a writer or an artist who settlesdown on Manhattan Island does so moreto satisfy his pocket than his soul. Theelements do not blend as they used to inFrance before democracy destroyed thesalon, and as they still do in London. All Americans who have lived inLondon will have noticed the curiousfacility with which Englishmen con-trive to neutralize Americans by onlyadopting them in part. I remember thearchitect of a building who evidentlywas infected by American ideas. Hehad heard of elevators and dumb-wait-ers and speaking - tubes, and he hadobviously made up his mind to leadall London by including these conven-iences in his block of flats. But in-stead of connecting the speaking - tubewith the kitchen, he put it outsidethe drawing-room, so that, had it beenused at all, the entire household wouldhave been obliged to
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