Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-01-27

put an -extingz1ishsr oftsn- on the meet
scintifiant Of her sex. II her acduaint-
chaahEsa 5at}she5 iii 6o5 seem Z s.
licit red1htiot thGukh @da altern4tive
is a alea Ne rs nd Ii ased staA.S
TIE hostess, at ease IN her world, may
think this a foolish reticence. But since
slIOtsObsQun1WomGaNare aff4fd to
sp& ak wit buts auth ritz she should
nj4keSit al iIkarian Ne d1stom tointro-
duces The 16sis vSry simple. What
eIef hts her Guests Inostat Aaseis her
peTiots duty. There is y certain social
aRofoentripsfA forceswhichSaz4a3 be
trusted to send the right atoms together
if the artificial retraints are removed.
And it often happens that the richest
friendships of ones lifes ensue honI
these chance encounters, while, on
the other hand, if both parties
Ito@.the occasion feel, like Slender,
s'if there be no great love
at he beginning, yet Heaven may de-.
atgase it SpW better Sacquaiptanoe," q
IpfvA bow pn meeting is heaonly future
redgnition which courtesy requires.
fbrhaps the form of introduction
might be made more helpful than it is.
There are certain fixed rules, of course,
based on sufficient reason, which every
body is snpposed toAunderstand and OBJ
serve. It is proper, for example, al
ways to introduce a gentleman to a
ladH ayoug@ woman to IN eldar, a
stranger Oh > ewconler to The longer
resident But beyond this the phrase
and tone employed might convey an as
surance of q rewarding acquaintance,
or simply imply ia coa1rtesy q the mos
ment. Suppose, foxinstance, the host
ess were to say, 'sMrs. Blank, I am so
glad of this opportunity to- introduce
t. you Mrs. Dash,'' Or cit is such
q pleasure to introduce 1.-TWO peo.a
pie who ought to know each
other" or any other agreeablY uncon-,
ventional sentence, there issa ground of
likin9an q sense of familiarity estab-.
lished atopce If, on The other hand,
she sees that there is not likely to be
any commons interest between the two
strangers, the usual form, s'Mrs. B1ank, I
Ipray allow me ID present Mrs. Dash to
you," merely means, ''Now you two
women, who happen to stand together,
may leave off your futile attempts to
look unconscious of each others exist
sence, and become as agreeable to each
other as your limitations will allow. = A
woman must be ponderous indeed who
can not find a few words of graceful
commonplace TO bestowson her new acs
.quaintance, or, having offered them,
who can not easily and inoffensively
glide out of the CONVERSATION
But il it be the duty of the shoStesseto
introduce, it is not less plainly the duty
of her guests to speak to each other
without her. interventiop.s The law Of
kindness, which precedes and underlies
the code of etiquette, commands them
to assist her in her effort to give them
pleasure "a jest's prosperity says
the ar-perceiving Shakespeare, "lies in
the ear of him who hears it, never in the.
tongue of him who uttersi it, And it is
equally true that all social successes de-
pend on the spiritof the guests far more
than upon the skill Of the hostess. She
is but one. They are many. Schiller
complained that the gods themselves
must fight in vain against stupidity, and
there is no stupidity more hopeless than
that whichlmakes woman in society re-
gard her own preference, prejudice, or
timidity as of more consequence than
the pleasure of the rest.-Harper's, Ba.,
zQf h a. l. &%H - n 40 "a r. = ~ =