all whose only interest is that which has its birth with the day

and disappears with the night.
Banquets and dinners in America, as in China, are, however,

often far removed from frivolities. Statesmen sometimes
select these opportunities for a pronouncement of their policy,

even the President of the nation may occasionally think it advisable
to do this. Speeches delivered on such occasions are generally reported

in all the newspapers, and, of course, discussed by all sorts of people,
the wise and the otherwise, so that the speaker has to be

very careful as to what he says. Our President confines himself
to the more formalprocedure of issuing an official mandate, the same in kind,

though differing in expression, as an American President's Inaugural Address,
or one of his Messages to Congress.

Commercial men do not understand and are impatient with the restrictions
which hedge round a Foreign Minister, and in their anxiety to get speakers

they will look anywhere. On one occasion I received an invitation
to go to Canada to attend a banquet at a Commercial Club

in one of the principal Canadian cities. It would have given me
great pleasure to be able to comply with this request,

as I had not then visited that country, but, contrary to inclination,
I had to decline. I was accredited as Minister to Washington,

and did not feel at liberty to visit another country
without the special permission of my Home Government.

Public speaking, like any other art, has to be cultivated.
However scholarly a man may be, and however clever he may be

in private conversation, when called upon to speak in public
he may sometimes make a very poor impression. I have known

highly placed foreign officials, with deserved reputations
for wisdom and ability, who were shockingly poor speakers at banquets.

They would hesitate and almost stammer, and would prove quite incapable
of expressing their thoughts in any sensible or intelligent manner.

In this respect, personal observations have convinced me that Americans,
as a rule, are better speakers than. . . . (I will not mention

the nationality in my mind, it might give offense.) An American,
who, without previous notice, is called upon to speak,

generally acquits himself creditably. He is nearly always witty,
appreciative, and frank. This is due, I believe, to the thorough-going nature

of his education: he is taught to be self-confident, to believe in
his own ability to create, to express his opinions without fear.

A diffident and retiring man, whose chief characteristic is extreme modesty,
is not likely to be a good speaker; but Americans are free from this weakness.

Far be it from me to suggest that there are no good speakers
in other countries. America can by no means claim a monopoly of orators;

there are many elsewhere whose sage sayings and forcible logic
are appreciated by all who hear or read them; but, on the whole,

Americans excel others in the readiness of their wit,
and their power to make a good extempore speech on any subject,

without opportunity for preparation.
Neither is the fair sex in America behind the men in this matter.

I have heard some most excellent speeches by women, speeches which
would do credit to an orator; but they labor under a disadvantage.

The female voice is soft and low, it is not easily heard in a large room,
and consequently the audience sometimes does not appreciate lady speakers

to the extent that they deserve. However, I know a lady who possesses
a powerful, masculine voice, and who is a very popular speaker,

but she is an exception. Anyhow I believe the worst speaker,
male or female, could improve by practising private declamation,

and awakening to the importance of articulation, modulation, and -- the pause.
Another class of social functions are "At Homes", tea parties, and receptions.

The number of guests invited to these is almost unlimited,
it may be one or two dozen, or one or two dozen hundreds.

The purpose of these is usually to meet some distinguished stranger,
some guest in the house, or the newly married daughter of the hostess.

It is impossible for the host or hostess to remember all those who attend,
or even all who have been invited to attend; generally visitors

leave their cards, although many do not even observe this rule,
but walk right in as if they owned the house. When a newcomer is introduced

his name is scarcely audible, and before the hostess,
or the distinguished guest, has exchanged more than one or two words with him,

another stranger comes along, so that it is quite excusable
if the next time the hosts meet these people they do not recognize them.

In China a new fashion is now in vogue; new acquaintances exchange cards.
If this custom should be adopted in America there would be less complaints

about new friends receiving the cold shoulder from those who they thought
should have known them.

In large receptions, such as those mentioned above, however spacious
the reception hall, in a great many instances there is not even standing room

for all who attend. It requires but little imagination to understand
the condition of the atmosphere when there is no proper ventilation.

Now, what always astonished me was, that although the parlor might be crowded
with ladies and gentlemen, all the windows were, as a rule, kept closed,

with the result that the place was full of vitiated air.
Frequently after a short time I have had to slip away

when I would willingly" target="_blank" title="ad.情愿地，乐意地">willingly have remained longer to enjoy the charming company.
If I had done so, however, I should have taken into my lungs

a large amount of the obnoxious atmosphere exhaled from
hundreds of other persons in the room, to the injury of my health,

and no one can give his fellows his best unless his health is hearty.
No wonder we often hear of a host or hostess being unwell

after a big function. Their feelings on the morning after
are often the reverse of "good-will to men", and the cause

is not a lowered moral heartiness but a weakened physical body
through breathing too much air exhaled from other people's lungs.

When man understands, he will make "good health" a religious duty.
In connection with this I quote Dr. J. H. Kellogg,

the eminentphysician and Superintendent of the Battle Creek Sanitarium.
In his book, "The Living Temple"*, the doctor speaks as follows

on the importance of breathing pure air: "The purpose of breathing
is to obtain from the air a supply of oxygen, which the blood takes up

and carries to the tissues. Oxygen is one of the most essential
of all the materials required for the support of life. . . .

The amount of oxygennecessarily required for this purpose
is about one and one-fourth cubic inches for each breath. . . .

In place of the one and one-fourth cubic inches of oxygen
taken into the blood, a cubic inch of carbonic acid gas is given off,

and along with it are thrown off various other still more poisonous substances
which find a natural exit through the lungs. The amount of these

combined poisons thrown off with a single breath is sufficient to contaminate,
and render unfit to breathe, three cubic feet, or three-fourths of a barrel,

of air. Counting an average of twenty breaths a minute
for children and adults, the amount of air contaminated per minute would be

three times twenty or sixty cubic feet, or one cubic foot a second. . . .
Every one should become intelligent in relation to the matter of ventilation,

and should appreciate its importance. Vast and irreparable injury
frequently results from the confinement of several scores

or hundreds of people in a schoolroom, church, or lecture room,
without adequate means of removing the impurities thrown off

from their lungs and bodies. The same air being breathed over and over
becomes densely charged with poisons, which render the blood impure,

lessen the bodilyresistance, and induce susceptibility to taking cold,
and to infection with the germs of pneumonia, consumption,

and other infectious diseases, which are always present
in a very crowdedaudience room. Suppose, for example,

a thousand persons are seated in a room forty feet in width,
sixty in length, and fifteen in height: how long a time would elapse

before the air of such a room would become unfit for further respiration?
Remembering that each person spoils one foot of air every second,

it is clear that one thousand cubic feet of air will be contaminated for
every second that the room is occupied. To ascertain the number of seconds

which would elapse before the entire air contained in the room
will be contaminated, so that it is unfit for further breathing,

we have only to divide the cubic contents of the room by one thousand.
Multiplying, we have 60*40*15 equals 36,000, the number of cubic feet.

This, divided by one thousand, gives thirty-six as the number of seconds.
Thus it appears that with closed doors and windows,

breath poisoning of the audience would begin at the end of thirty-six seconds,
or less than one minute. The condition of the air in such a room

at the end of an hour cannot be adequately pictured in words,
and yet hundreds of audiences are daily subjected to just

such inhumane treatment through ignorance."
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