Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1874-08-28
Tricks of Behavior,

viewed relatively to their effects upon
Others are seen to be Of serious nature.
Many man and woman have failed In
their aims 10 life from being unable TO
overcome the prejudice created againtt
them by some offensive trick OF bebav-
ior. This may he in itself of the sim
plest kinda mere turn OF the lip, a
cast of the eye, a Zone OF the voice, or
motion of a limb. Denounce as we
please the unreasonableness of giving
such Importance to so trifing matter,
society will persist in excluding from its
list of fayorites those who offend it's fas-
tidioua taste Severe as it is inits Judg-
ment, il is not always unjust, and makes
the humane distinction between defects
which are natural and those that are ar
tifcal. For the former there is pity,
for the latter only disgust.
People are bound to make themselves
mutually agreeable, and are to blame ior
any offense they unnecessarily give to
the public fastitiousness. Most OF those
peculiarities of manner which create the
greatest aversion are entirely spontane-
GUS in origin. They indeed often become
40 habitual as to seem hardly distinguish
able from natural traits, and no more
under control of the will. Hence the
necessity of preventing their formation
or checking their growth in childhood,
which is especially favorable to their de-
velopment
Some of the worst tricks of behavior
are due to physical causes, and of the
slightest kind, which are entirely under
| control. Squirting, that ugliest of hab-
t its, can frequently be traced to the
> growth of the child's hair, which, from
mere neglect to call in the barber, is al
lowed to overlap the forehead, dangle
over the eye, and distort the vision.
That most offensive and by no means un-
! common practice of noisy eating and
Thinking is generally begun in child
hood. The ugly sound which many new
or fail to emit with every spoonful OF
! soup they take comes simply from not
opening the mouth sufficiently and
slight as is this cause of a very offensive
! practice, it is astonishing how persistent
it becomes from habit. Nothing is hard
J. er apparently for grown person who
d has never been taught in childhood than
Il to learn to open his lips wide enough to
swallow his broth without sonorous
a. splutter.
IS The sucking of the teeth is another
vile practice, which may be ordinarily
r traced to a neglect 10 youth of timely
is consultation with the dentist. Once
formed into habit, however, it outlasts
a the occasion which may have originally
as provoked it, and becomes one of those
1t personal nuisances which no good quail
n ty the individual may possess can recon.
Ii cile to the public endurance.
Illftting clothes are common cause
OF of some of the most unseemly of these
d. tricks. The habit of struggling the
ne shoulders comes often from badly
40 made and too loose a jacket, shirt Oh
On other garment, which, producing th'
sensation as il it we're constantly slip
up ping off, causes the wearer, in striving
for his relief, to make frequent upward
al Jerks to keep it in its place. This ugly
TX motion finally becomes habit, which
ht endures even after the cause has beer
h' removed. So, too, an ill-fitting pair O.
u. trowsers will give habitual hitch to tn
RE walk, and slouchy gait has often nj
a other cause than an awkwardly mad
ty shoe. Squirting eyes and twitcoing fac
a es are frequently due to uncomfortable
1d hats or other coverings of the head, am
in some of the most ungainly actions of tn
ere arms and hands to overlong sleeves, pre-
IRE iecting wristbands, and uneasy gloves.
,k. Some of these tricks are generated b
lly that sympathy between the bodily al
ms, tions of human beings which is often OF
Ise served whenever they are associated tc
tor gether. Although it can be controlle
,he by The will, it seems to act often quit
er. independently of it. The infection
led yawn and cough, which are noticed
n a run through a whole company and larg
lge congregations, when oppressed by the
ne. own dullness or that Of a prosy preaci
nd er. are illustrations of this bodily syn
as pathy. In schools it is observed to op
SOL rate With such power that hundreds I
The children may be seen TO be under i
a simultaneous influence. They will
the often found to sway to and fro, with Il
same swing, like the pendulums of
.;os shop full of going clocks. A cough ont
H., started will be taken and Kept up
III class after class like volley of muske
an ry let off by platoon of sharpshooter
nm. A single squint introduced into crow
81 sob0o1 has heeu known to disturb