Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-10-30
Courtesies and Discourtesies.

There are many courtesies Which a
gentleman should render to a lady, the
absence of which is at once felt, and
causes people to in7oluntarily remark
inwardy to themselves, if not aloud to
their friends, ''That man has Tot good
manners" 4passed that Judgment the
other evening when l Was sitting with
. friend by her hreside. A, gentleman
was ushered in who was we'll known to
my friend. but a comparative, stranger
to me. He shook hands with her first,
which was, of course, the right thing
to do, and then, while. speaking to her,
he shook hands with me. The breaker
of this law Of courtesy was q young
professional man, we'll endowed with
this worlds goods. I should not re-
cord this little rudeness if it was only
of rare occurrence, but l often notice
namely. fhat Of. shaking. hands viii,
one person while they arc speaking to
another person. If you wish to say
more than "How do you do?" to. your
hostess, or to any one else whom you
greet at first, it is less discourteous to
continue your conversation with her
" q AOV A4OAAOAOo UCxOlC tdhlly uOIlC0
Of any one near her. than it is to stretch
out your hand and shake that of her
neighbor while your. face is turned
away and your lips are addressing an
other person.
The discourteous jooundg man to
whom 1 have alluded gave me another
reason for my verdict, and as ip this
Respect also he is by no mean the only
offender in general society, l shall
mention the little ~rudeness.. There, are
three. ifnot more. separate syllables
and. sounds, which some people utter or
make when they have not heard, what
has been said to them, 81 when they
wish to express assent. These are
What? Ehp. Oh? and q cultural sound
OF the letter in, which'can not be ,ex.
pressed in writing II beg your par
DONOR What did you say?".;: are
sentences which, should certainly be
said when a. repetition. is, asked for;
and Eyes" should not be replaced by a
grunt when an, assent is given,
There are numerous little acts which
a man Of courtesy will perform. While
he is calling at q house, he will rise
and open the door for any lady who
leaves the room, even if she is an en-
tire stranger to him; in his own house
he will not only open the door of the
room, but accompany the Lady to the
hall door, and open that, if there is no
servant at hard to do so, for a depart
ing guest, whether lady or gentleman,
should not be left to find their way
alone. Neither should they be allowed
to find their way into 4 room. When
you act as a host, and your guests &C.
company you into the drawing-room,
do not.you, my dear sir, follow the
practice of some forgetful OF neglectful
men, who walk in and march straight
up the room, leaving their. one guest,
or a train, as the:case may be, to fol-
low and to close the door. A host
should open the door, and shut it
after his guests have entered the
ROOM. "a
Among other small corrtesies q gen
tleman will raise from his chair, how
ever luxuriously comfortable, and offer
assistance, if need be-, to a lady if she
goes to put Goals N the -tre;;vor if she
tries to open or close q window. When
he escorts her into a room, he will see
that she is seated before he looks fer a
chair for himself; when he escorts her
to a table, he will wait to arrange for
her comfort, hold the chair, or push it
backward or forward, as required, be-
fore he takes his w seat. And flur-
ing the meal he will see that she is pro-
vided with all she is likely to want.
The lady ought not to be- obliged to
ask for salt, for water, for another cup
Of tea, or, in fact, for anything ths.t Is
on the table.-From CasseW's Magasfne