CIVILIZATION
An officer of the Indian Office at Washington tells of the patronizing
airs frequently assumed by visitors to the government schools for the
redskins.
On one occasion a pompous little man was being shown through one
institution when he came upon an Indian lad of seventeen years. The
worker was engaged in a bit of carpentry, which the visitor observed in
silence for some minutes. Then, with the utmost gravity, he asked the
boy:
"Are you civilized?"
The youthful redskin lifted his eyes from his work, calmly surveyed his
questioner, and then replied:
"No, are you?"--_Taylor Edwards_.
"My dear, listen to this," exclaimed the elderly English lady to her
husband, on her first visit to the States. She held the hotel menu
almost at arm's length, and spoke in a tone of horror: "'Baked Indian
pudding!' Can it be possible in a civilized country?"
"The path of civilization is paved with tin cans."--_The Philistine_.