to call for notice at this moment is a paper by Prof. Forbes, which appeared in the September Blackwood's, entitled Harnessing Niagara.
It is doubtful if any American magazine would have published that article, even had it contained fewer references to the shortcomings of the United States. It seems to us, however, that it would have been much better for it to have appeared in this country than in Great Britain, because of the freer criticism it would here have had, and because America's faults would then have been told where it might be hoped that, coming from so authoritative a source, certain valuable reforms would result.
A large portion of the article is devoted to a description of Forbes's own unusual endowments and capabilities, natural and acquired, which, it would appear, fitted him for the position of consulting electrical engineer to the Cataract Construction Company, not less than for the suppression of the American railway conductor.[1] A perusal of the article brings to one's mind the couplet by a famous English librettist:
"He was the bravest man in France;
He said so, and he ought to know."
Having noted the title of the paper, we are astonished at the space that is devoted to placing the demerits of this country in relief against the author's excellences, especially in so short an article. To quote certain instances, he says: "There are two great mistakes commonly made as to Americans: one is, that they are original inventors; the other is, that they are humorous. Neither of these propositions is true." The chief argument he advances against our possession of humor is that "their periodical literature is filled with so-called wit, but it smells strongly of the midnight oil." This is most sadly true, but, if one on this side of the water may judge, how much more so is it with British publications of alleged humorousness! The professsor admits, however, that in the matter of humor there are some most brilliant exceptions in America. May we not ask whether Great Britain, for instance, can produce exceptions in this line to vie with the United States?
In support of his theory that the inventive faculty is lacking in the New World, he states that Americans are competent merely to design, not invent, and, by implication, informs us that his own talents in the inventive line are the real article, and that
- ↑ He informs us that on a New York Central train he created disorder in the ranks of six (?) conductors ("the most insolent class of men in the country"), who filled the smoking room to the exclusion of himself. The subsequent verdict of one of the conductors is stated to have been that there were no flies (sic) on Prof. Forbes.
