Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1886-09-04
The Etiquette of Introductions.

There seems TO be a growing tenden-
CIV on the part of the average American
toward what I may be pardoned for
calling the anonymous or tncog. intro
duction. This introduction generally
starts off in a tortiSSimo strain that, if
kept up throughout the recital, would
herald the names of both parties to the
uttermost parts of the earth. Then the
piano and dtminuendo strains come in.
This is the reason we are acquainted
with so many people whose names we
do not know. a man steps up to you
in a crowd somewhere in one of those
quiet little town meetings where it is a
mark of great conversational genius
to talk steadily onward without using
the mind, and says: Pardon me, I
want to make YOU two people acquaint-
ed. You ought to know each other.
You are both friends of mine. Mr..
-, Mr.. There, now, YOU
are acquainted
Why a man should write long let
ter and write it plainly. signing it at
the end with a name that would have
bothered Daniel to decipher, is more
than can understand. 1t is the same
style of popularity as the anonymous
introduction exactly. i may be little
careless about my penmanship while
writing in great hurry, trying to keep
up with my surging thoughts, but |
most always sign my name so that it
can be deciphered. have written let
tiers where the signature was the only
thing that was absolutely beyond the
possibility of doubt. But if man
signs his name so that you can write to
him and ask him what the balance of
his letter was about, it is better than a
long, beautiful letter from IN unknown
and unknowablc person. In the latter
case, you are left to kick the empty air.
Some day when l get more time. l
am going to prepare a long treatise up
on etiquette, and deliver it to the
American people, illustrated by one Of
those stereopticons. Etiquette has
been a lifelong study for me. 1t is a
thing that has engrossed my attention
from my earliest boyhood, and it shows
| itself at once in my polished manners
and easy-running carriage.
At tables especially our American
people need a great deal of training.
Wherever l 90 | am struck with our
sad need of careful training, As a
country, We need careful instruction in
our manners, more especially at hotels.
Only the other day, at the table dhote,
I heard man ask for half a dozen
buckwheat cakes, and when they came
| to him he moistened the tips of his fin
gers in finger bowl and ran over the
| cakes as he would roll of currency,
| for he was the assistant cashier in a
| national bank. Another man at the
same table was asked to pass the pep
per box and he took it with his thumb
on the bottom and his first two fingers
| on the top, just as he had been in the
habit of moving stack OF chips from
the ace to the deuce, no doubt, fol-
years.
So we see people crowd our voca-
tons to the front, and are not able to
Danish our trades and professions, even
at the table. We should try to over
come this, and there are many other
features of our national etiquette which
we need to change.
Only last week | saw a fine looking
Young man sit at the hotel table comb
ing his moustache with his fork. and
while in brown study the fork slipped
out of the moustache and plunged with
sickening jab into his eye. We can
not he too careful in our intercourse
with men to avoid all appearance Of
evil
Etiquette always marks the true gen
tleman and makes him an object O
curiosity, especially at hotel. Wher
you see a gentleman with whom you
are not acquainted you should lool
upon him with genteel horror and shud
der two times in rapid succession. Thi:
will convince stranger that you have
been reared with the greatest care and
that your parents have taken special
pains not to allow you to associate with
vulgar people.
/ started out to say few words about
the folly of indistinct introductions and
wappy-jawcd signatures, but l have
wandered away, as am apt to do. and
| apologize, hoping that the genial and
rosy -cheeked reader as she sits in hel
boudor. on this glorious morning, look
ing more like a peri than anything else
Il III