Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1869-07-06

| q
OH tempt me not, but spare my soul
From deaths eternal brink.
From Moores nural New York.
A TALK WITH THE GIRLS.
| asau BY MINTWooD.
1t has been on my mind long time to have
a good talk with you. 1t will do us all good to
| be social and discuss social topics. My father
used to tell me ought to stay at home until
| knew ''how to behave" while | thought
should never learn how unless | went from
home; and we both were right, in degree.
Some writer has said there are two kinds OF
country girls: one soft, graceful, helpful. pretty
and Intelligent The other, coarse, awkward,
bashful aud stupid, which is equally true OF
girls the world over, although constant ming
ling with people rubs off bashtulness and awk-
wardness, of which city bred girls do not have
SO much.
One thing you can learn at home: how to re-
celve your friends and how to be civil and polite
to strangers. and one of the prime elements of
your success in so doing will be to always keep
yourselves tidy and presentabe. As general
rule, there is no reason why your hair should
| not be In good order, and clean collar about
your throat Your every day toilette is a part
of your character. A girl who looks like a
fury or ''sloven" in the morning. is not to
evening No matter how humble your room
may be, eight things it should contain, viz: a
mirror, washbowl, soap, towel, comb, hair, nail
and tooth brushes. those are Just as essential
as your breakfast, before which you should
make good use OF them. Parents who fail to
provide their children with such appliances, not
anly make great mistake, but commit sin OF
omission. Look tidy in the morning, and after
the dinner work is over, improve your toilette.
Make it a rule OF your daily life to dress up
for the afternoon. Your dress may, or need not
be, anything than caico, but with ribbon, Or
flower, some bit of ornament, you can have an
air IT sefrespect and satisfaction that invaria-
BILE comes with being we'll dressed. A girl of
fine sensibllitles cannot help feeling embarrass-
| ed and awkward in ragged dirty dress, with
hair unkempt, If a stranger or nelghbor comes
in. Moreover, your seli-respect should demand
the decent appareling OF your body. You
| should make it a point to look as we'll as you
can, even ii you know no one will see you but
! yourself.
Take as good care of your body as you can.
| Because you live In the country is no reason
why you should needlessy and foolishly expose
your face to sun and wind. l dom believe any
body adnllres treckieS, or sun-burnc face or
| hands. Keep your hands as soft ard pllabe
and white as you may, without scornlng to put
them to useful, needful work 1t seems pity
that woman s hands, that should do marvels
| in the way of nice sewing and full of soft, gentle
graceful deeds, should be distorted into great,
hardened caloused Weapons, such as belong,
| by better right, TO men. There are many kinds
OF work, In doing which, you can protect your
hands with gloves, and good ones can be made
OF thick WOODEN cloth, such as Is often left OF
coats or trousers, and. cost only the trouble OF
making.
Avoid cosmetics, chalk, magnesia, and rouges,
no matter what name they come under. Keep
your digestion good, and with exercise nd.ciean-
illness, you will have good complexion. Good
complexion does not mean white skin, neces-
sarily. The beauty of skin lies in it's fneness
and clearness, rather than its color. Carbonate
of soda dissolved in Water and used occasionally
-once a week perhaps, has a tendency to make
the skin soft and smooth. Half teaspoonfu
in a quart of water will be sufficient.
| Take care of your teeth. Better spend ten
times as much to keep your natural ones than
what it would cost you for artificial ones. A
| wooden leg is better than no leg, so artificial
teeth are better than no teeth, but because
they can be had so easily is no excuse or reason
for your neglectng to take the best care of your
natural ones.
| Keep your body straight. Bahish anything
that looks like being rOund-shouldered. Your
shirts, at least your crinollne, should button or
a waist, or supported by rubber straps or sus-
penders. Some of you think "Corsets are SC
nice, because they hold up the skirts" They
| hold up the skirts by pressing down the abdo
men, and bringing on dreadful weakness, which
terminate ia disease You should be able te
take in full deep breath after your dress il
buttoned.
In getting shoes or boots, get such as fit your
feet, and do not trust to numbers A shapely
foot. free from corns and bunons is far more
desirable than small, cramped up one, which
makes the owner martyr to tight shoes.
When YOU select shoes, sit down in the shop
take off both your Shoes tell the shop mar
what kind YOU want, and that you want HIM tt
trv on and take off until he finds pair that fts
your feet perfectly, and which you can veal
with ease A dress boot may be a trife smalle,
than those for every day wear.
In getting kid gloves, remember that yor
never make good bargain by getting cheap
ones. Dark green wears quite as we'll as any
color. The same number in black is Away.
smaller than in coors. Ifnumber seven in black
fits your hand, number six and half or three
quarters in white will be equally as large
When you take off your gloves, straighten ou
the fingers and fold them as nearly as they wert
when bought as you can, and lay them in boz
or drawer, instead of rolling them up into
mouse, as you would pair OF socks.
After you are we'll dressed, you are expecte4
to behave we'll, which is to act naturally an,
gracefully. In order to do this, you cannot atfor'
to be bashfu, and, consequently, awkward. :
You must study inconsistencies. When yo,
enter room or church do not imagine that ev
erybody is looking at you, and grow nervou
and furried because of it. Modesty is not bash
tulness Or brazenness Treat aged people wisb
courteous respect, no matter how lowy the.
NAV be. Accustom yourselves to use the word
to express your thoughts. Do this at home.-
Talk 10 yourself, ifyou have no better audience
Cultivate clearness Of expression so you ca,
make yourself well understood in moderate
" low tone of voice. 1t is in bad taste to speaI
SO low as to make it difficult for one to hea
what you say. When you talk or Iisten. loo