THE EVENING STANDARD

AND ST. JAMES'S GAZETTE

London, England

5 November 1913

(page 12)

TO-DAY'S TABLE TALK.

Some Little Problems.

Are American Women Cultured?

Mr. Allister [sic] Crowley, in the “English Review” is sarcastic on the subject on the subject of American culture. “Travelling from Nagasaki to Hong Kong,” he relates, “two mature maidens from Massachusetts discovered that I sometimes wrote and ‘took me up.’ ‘And who,’ I asked ‘is your favorite poet?’ A warm flush overspread each sallow cheek as the two thin mouths exclaimed, ‘Rosetti!’ ‘And which’ (I tactlessly pursued) ‘which of his poems do you like the best?’ This remark closed the conversation. They had put the name Rosetti down in a note-book, and right there ‘culture’ ended. This I found characteristic of many American women. I have seen American girls in Italy laboriously writing down the names of more painters than I shall ever know, without any further comment than the dates at which they painted. To ask a single question on the broadest lines was to court silence; in fact, it became the most useful method in my daily life and conversation.”