“Of course, those who can afford to do so, go to Cuba or Europe, and there, like your camels of the desert, they fill themselves with the wine and beer of Germany, the cognac and champagne of France, the brandies and whiskies of England, to tide them over the return.”
“Oh, dear, you are joking. It is really not as bad as that, is it? But you know, when I was in New York, I was given several recipes for the making of home brews and wines. Seems as if the art of brewing is becoming one of the greatest American accomplishments. I brought the recipes home with me,” laughing lightly. “Some day the Sahara may get really dry and then I could make use of the formulas. Of course, I suppose I could, like your truly patriotic Americans, indulge in water only. I used to think that water was for ablution only, but it seems that you Americans have discovered another use for it.”
“Yes, and the ones who fostered the idea should get an iron cross pinned on them, or, they should at least receive the Nobel Prize as a reward for taking away the personal liberties of a people and making a crowd of hypocritical law breakers of them. The part that hurts is that the people had no say in the matter, whether they liked it or not. Yet the people are the builders of the nation—the ones who have contributed to its greatness.”
“Speaking of the contributions to a nation, what struck me most forcibly in your country was the uniformity and monotony in every city and town I visited. That is, with a rare exception.”
“Oh, then, you admit there was an exception. Where was it?”
“My friend Mr. O’Brien had to make a business trip to Bethlehem in Pennsylvania, so he took his wife and myself with him in his car. We passed through a number of New Jersey and Pennsylvania cities and towns, and in the evening he took us to a great county fair in Allentown, a city adjoining Bethlehem. It was there that I found the exception to the rule so far as American cities are concerned. Allentown certainly was different.
“Never before had I seen streets so well and so uniformly lighted—even very much better than your own Fifth Avenue in New York. Even Europe can boast of nothing of the like. There was a touch of the artist that appealed very much to me, and I believe to all visitors to that town. That is, the lamp posts have, near the lamp, large bowls that are always kept filled with differently colored flowers and trailing vines in summer, and evergreens, I understand, in winter.
“In the middle of the public square was a great granite monument, erected in honor of the Soldiers and Sailors of Allentown. What impressed me most was the lighting effect used to show the monument at night. Nothing garish, like the Coney Island effect, so many times seen in America, but the whole was bathed in a soft glow that was extremely effective and peaceful.
“We liked Allentown so much that we remained overnight, and before leaving the following day, took time to look around. To our surprise we found the sidewalks and streets extremely clean, which is the exception, as you know, for an industrial city of some hundred thousand population. But everything was different, even the people seemed different and more friendly.”
“Yes, I know it,” was Carl’s dry answer.