Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1873-06-19
BANKRUPT TAKERS.


IN society without meeting a number
OF unfortunate persons who may be
designated as bankrupt takers. Most
OF these people started out in social
lie with high hopes and. good pros
poets; there was no apparent reason
why they should not succeed as CONVEX
satlonalists. But they failed Now,
If they want to talk, no one regrets
their silence. Their remarks are always
below par. An offer of them either
excites no attention CT decided disap
probation. a..
These bankfurts may be divided in
to several classes. Ones class consists
OF those who do not know how to ex.
haust or even fully treat commonplace
subject. If they Suggest anything in
a conversational way or anything is
suggested to them, they will say lit
tie about it and then let it drop. To
continue the conversation, another sub
ject must be obtained. This is extrava.
gance, and no talker can afford it long.
There is hardly anything about which
great deal that is. interesting cannot
be said, but it often requires skill and
address to say it. Still, he who has not
that skill is bound to fail as a talker
in society. Of course one may have
windfall, and something extraordin
airy may happen Of which great deal
may be said without special effort.
But nothing ever happened, which
could be satisfactorily talked about all
the Tina.
Another class of conversational bank
rupts are those who never tell anything
unless it is very remarkable or striking.
Such people are bound ultimately to
fail. We are not speaking of persons
who draw the ''long bow" OF anything
of that kind. We merely refer to those
who, not taking interest in common
place matters themselves, SUPPOSE that
nobody else does, and therefore oonfne
their conversation to the discussion Of
remarkable and uncommon subjects
We knew such a man. He had fine
eye tor the peculiar. He noticed i
acutely and talked about it well. But
he noticed, or at least talked of, moth
ing else. # a thing was not very well
worth telling he would not tell it.
The consequence Of all this was that he
soon obtained the reputation of liar
The common mind could not compre-
bend how he could become acquainted
with SO much that was unusual, and so,
whsneyer he opened his mouth people
instinctiyely looked for 'stretcher," to
say the least. Had he mingled his
STANCE experiences and observation
with good deal of matter of an ordin-
airy kind he might have been great
conversational success
Another set of bankrupt takers owe
their illfate to their bad habit of offer
ing couuterbalancing experiences. No
one can ever relate an incident but
| these folks can match it, and, what is
worse, can often tell something better.
Nothing is more discouraging to well
organized talker than one. of these peo-
pie. No matter how much pleasure we
anticipate-and ought to realize-in
telling something novel and interesting,
man of this class will hardly wait ur-
til we have finished before he common
ces to relate the story Of which ours
has reminded him. Our statement or
narration is not only deprived of op-
portunity Of consideration and appre-
citation, bit is crushed and humbled be
meath the better. story of this: irconsid-
crate person. And it is a melancholy
fact that the stories OF these people are
generally better than ours. 1t is in
fact this fatal excellence which starts
them on their road to their ruin.
There are other divisions of the great
multitude Of society people who have
failed as takers, but we have not room
discuss them here. It is curious, how
ever, to note that there are very few
women among the bankrupts Wo-
men are generally not only economical
in the use of the odds and ends of con-
versation, but they make a very good
show of them, and often astonish you
by presenting you with some of your
own ideas, warmed up and served so
nicely that you scarcely recognize them.
And then, besides the fact that most
| woman have an extensive ''sinking
fund" on which to draw in times of
temporary conversational embarrass-
ment, they would always rather borrow
than fail, if they can't talk about sub
ject themselves they will make others
! talk, and no one is SO successful as
| conversationalist as one who makes
other people ,talk.-Fraaak r. Stock
ton, saa "Honss and Society," Scri6ner's
| for June.
A LITTLE 0irl attandinO tbe South