Chapter the Second
Visitors

And the Americans?


Seeing the scientific debate coming to an end, Klacel returned to a topic that was of great interest to him. "I wonder if you could give me some of your impressions of America?" he asked, "One day, I would like to go there."
"Well," said Brown, "it is a large country, not all explored or discovered, but along the East coast there is some civilization. I spent most of my time in the largest city, a place called New York."
"And what was that like?"
Brown thought for a moment, searching for a way to sum up his experiences. "Humm, New York is a port; the main city is on a large island surrounded by water and, like most, I arrived by sailing ship at a place called 'South Street'. The piers are always crowded with vessels loading or unloading, and, since there is not enough room for them all to find a birth, they have to stand off into the East river often two or three deep."

"But the people, what are the Americans like?" "It is a town devoted to women," Brown told him, forgetting for a moment where he was, "I have never seen such women. These New Yorkers are uniformly good looking, slender, with more than the usual degree of feminine delicacy and dress in the most elegant fashions. When I was there, it was popular for them to powder their hands and cover their faces in an enamel mixture of arsenic and white lead, which they leave on their bodies for up to a year."
Brother Joseph shuddered, but listened in fascination.
Brown went on, "No person of quality would ever be caught dead south of 14th Street, but all New Yorkers share a vulgar, almost fanatic devotion to money. From the sail makers I met on Fulton Street, to the gentry who pay a $300 entrance fee to the Union Club on 21st Street and Fifth Avenue, they all talk loud, laugh a lot, and will do almost anything to acquire their next dollar, or hundred dollars."

"Are they a godless people, then?" asked Mendel.
"Not at all," Brown told him, "while I was there they were building some magnificent churches. One that I got to see was a place they will name after Saint Patrick, an Irish saint, it had been under construction for about two years and will be a magnificent cathedral when it is finished."
The three monks crossed themselves. "A good Catholic Saint."
"But other faiths are not neglected. On Madison and 45th Street they were building a church dedicated to the Disciples right next to the train shed for Grand Central Station."