246  SELLING  LATIN  AMERICA
others  that  he  was  insulting  the  Peruvians  or
the  proprietor  of  the  hotel.  The  head  waiter
rushed  to  me  and  asked  that  I  ascertain  what
the  trouble  was.  Imagine  my  surprise  when
my  countryman  in  explanation  of  his  barnyard
impersonation  said:  “I  was  trying  to  tell
these  durned  fools  that  I  wanted  ham.”  Incidents ­
  like  these  are  never  forgotten;  always
magnified  when  told  and  invariably  hurt  us
seriously,  socially  and  otherwise.  This  little
affair  happening  in  a  foreign  country  where
news  is  scarce  was  talked  of  in  the  hotels,  clubs
and  cafes,  printed  in  the  journals  and  illustrated ­
  in  the  comic  papers.  Americans  were
always  referred  to  by  each  narrator  as  uncouth
and  the  story  gone  into  with  great  detail  and
precision.  Grandparents  in  Peru  one  hundred ­
  years  from  now  will  be  telling  this  yarn
to  their  grandchildren.
I  have  long  ago  ceased  to  wonder  at  the  lack
of  common  sense  exhibited  by  some  large
American  houses  in  selecting  the  type  of  man
they  employ  for  Latin  America.  I  recall  one
well  known  concern  in  this  country  sending  a