Osage Valley banner. (Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo.) 1879-1881, 1880-05-06
now . please.

PLEASING people Is q very simple
thing, the same as dancing or swim
ming. II one only knows Just how 70
do Il. The whole secret of the matter
is nothing more nor less than 10 eoafe 70
please.
The explanation looks very easy, rs
81 no one could help guessing Il at
sight. Yet IL cost the writer the expo
riences Of quite q number Of years in
ups and downs before he fairly solved
this bit OF a life problem. Had he
known il twenty years since, he would
be to-day much the richer in friends
and money. So he eagerly gives his
young friends the chance toproiit by bis
mistakes.
Did you ever try to turn a key In a
rusty, creaking lock, and then notice
how much difference a slight oiling will
makeP Or, did you ever hear the story
of the skipper Of a small sloop knock
ing in the head of a barrel Of oil, in the
midst of a heavy storm, and letting the
contents flow overheard, with the won
derful result that the breakers ceased
to beat upon his deck, as the oil Gained
the fury of the waters around by spread
ing in a thin flm above the surfaceP
Oil and water cannot mix, as surely as
n thunder-clap cannot come out OF q
sunshiny sky.
A personal desire to please has a pre-
cisely similar effect in our meetings
with friends and strangers. 1t oils the
tongue. so that it moves without the
%haphazard of a snarL. 1t curves the
mouth into a CHEEKY smile. It'bright-
ems up the eye and so tells the new
conner how glad we are to meet him,
without q word being said on that
score. 1t warns up the hand and so
guards against the poking out of two
fingers to be shaken, or the taking of q
hand within ones own as coldly as if
il was merely a worm for fish-bait.
II is certain that some have much
more of a natural talent in this line
thar others. Such happily-endowed
folks seem to give pleasure to every
body without the least effort. II we
seek their condolences, we will find the
guiding motive to be that the heart is
Interested, at sight, in each new face.
The dullest OF us in this delightful
trait of character can try to initiate
this spirit. 1t is not needful to begin
TO put on any strutting airs, like u
pea-fowl, nor TO show off, in polite
grimaces, that do not fit us at all well.
1t will not do to be playing a part,
and feigning IN interest we do not feel.
We must oontrive TO say what we
think, and behave without any affecta-
ton. But our thoughts need to be
oiled with a kindly interest in all our
associates. First thoughts. and later
ones also, are most likely to be about
oneself.
Let us resolve to reverse this process
whenever an acquaintance is present,
and try to take a pleasure in what con-
Germs him chiefly.
Boys and girls can live the happiest
of lives by trying to display this gentle
and ~companionable spirit in the family
circle. Dim-eyed and feeble grandma
may be saved many a tiresome step by
a little care. Fother and mother may
DO spared many a heart-ache by a kind
forethought before speaking or acting
Tashly. Little brother and sister may be
bound TO us by cords of love that none
Of the unexpected changes of coming
years can snap, simply by an unfailing
tenderness.
Besides, in this manner of living,
kindly habits will become so well-ftting
that, when the time comes for each to
go out to make his own way in the busy
and selfish world, the lad will have the
best Of all starts for forming pleasant
and profitable alliances in business or
professional life. He will as well, to his
own surprise, find himself the social
center of a multitude of unfailing
friends .-Goiden DAYS.