366 To the River Plate and Back 



world-horizons, as they scan them from the quiet of 

 their sanctums, and which, as they portray them, help 

 them to work off editions of their writings. One of 

 these, scarcely less terrific in its proportions than the 

 so-called "Yankee peril," is the "German peril." This 

 is regarded as being particularly insidious in its nature. 

 Its ravages are noticeable especially in southern Brazil, 

 where it has been accompanied by the reclamation of 

 large tracts of hitherto uncultivated lands, the establish- 

 ment of schools, churches, and the institutions of 

 civilized life. It is remarkable for the importation 

 into the regions where it has fastened itself of habits 

 of order, thrift, and industry. It is also characterized 

 by a certain persistence in the use of the language of 

 the Fatherland, an addiction to beer and to sauer- 

 kraut. In North America we have so long been ac- 

 quainted with this 'peril," that in a measure it has 

 lost its terrors. It gave us the Astors in New York, 

 and the Wistars in Philadelphia. It invaded Penn- 

 sylvania early in the eighteenth century. It gave 

 us the Muhlenbergs, the Shunks, the Snyders, the 

 DeSchweinitzes, the Wolles, the Haldemans, and the 

 Rothermels. At the time of the Revolution it was re- 

 presented by a Steuben and a DeKalb ; at the time of 

 the Civil War by such men as Carl Schurz, Siegel, Rose- 

 crans, and Schimmelpfennig. It transformed the central 

 part of Pennsylvania into a veritable 'Garden of the 

 Lord," and to-day is relied upon to do good work 

 wherever good work is required. It is useful in schools, 

 colleges, libraries, museums, and studios. It works won- 

 ders in mills, stores, and shops. It is especially useful 

 in fields and forests. The experience which the people 

 of the United States of North America have had with 

 the "German peril' 1 inclines them to take it to their 



