FLORIDA AND THE WEST INDIES 43 



off the ship. With what brutal indifference do we 

 of London view the opinion of foreigners ! But, 

 then, the grandfathers of the present generation 

 made New York ; the responsibility for the other 

 city is too remote to allow of personal stake in the 

 result. 



In a community where the stress of competition 

 is a creed — even American angels probably scorch 

 on the wing in the upper ether — there is a degree 

 of rivalry among the cities quite unknown in older 

 countries. Several amusing anecdotes bear on this 

 jealousy that one city has of another. In one of 

 these, a Boston man is supposed to have wagered 

 a friend from Chicago that he would tell the 

 bigger lie. The Chicago man started with his 

 contribution. 



"I once," he commenced, "met a gentleman 

 from Chicago " — 



" Hold on," interrupted the other, " from where, 

 did you say ? " 



"Why, from Chicago"— 

 " Done ! " was the retort ; "I pay." 

 At the time of the World's Fair, when the 

 receipts were not quite up to expectations, a Cin- 

 cinnati paper remarked — 



" It is surely impossible that Oliver Goldsmith can 

 have had St Louis in mind when he wrote ' The Deserted 

 Village.'" 



And the busy men of New York hold those of 

 quieter cities in fine contempt. Philadelphians, 

 they say, come to no harm even if they fall off a 

 roof. They don't fall fast enough. 



My stay in New York terminated with an 



