Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1886-11-18
CUBAN ETIQUETTE.
EfFuSVE PoLITENESS FOUND M
HlGH-TONED SPANISH SOCIETY.
Use of Certain Initials on Letter
Envelope - An Elusive Form Of
Correspondence--Extra Polite
overwhelmingly Oh the Street.

Envelope - An Elusive Form Of
Correspondence--Extr Polite
Speech-GaIIantry Oh the Street.
received letter few days ago from
! u Cuban. On the upper left hand corner
of the outside OF the envelope were the
| initials II. l.. Z. Now, any one who has
studied Spanish knows that Ii. l.. p. or
B. l.. NJ, in letter Of extreme polite
ness and etiquette, are used at the close
of o letter; but the use of these initinlS
on the envelope / hardly think is as
familiar to the general student Of Span
ish. This is very usual, both here and in
Spain on letters of some ceremony, and it
! il de rigueur on the envelopes Of cere-
monious notes, invitations, etc.
Ladies writing to gentlemen, or to each
other, or gentlemen writing TO each other.
use IL. l.. M-"BeSO las manos" Il kiss
the hands,. Gentlemen writing to la
dies use b. l.. P.-"Beso las pies' Il kiss
the feet. The compliment, of course,
for the hands and feet of the party writ
ten TO. The many expressions of friend
ship, respect, etc, used ut the close OF the
Spanish letter are not sufficient without
the usual Is. L. NJ. or Is. l.. T.. The fol
ing to a person even of very slight &c
duaintance: with the sincereSt proiCs-
sions of sympathy and friendship from
her aifectiunate servant, who Is. l.. l..
kisses her feet, etc. To use one set OF
initials for the other shows great ignOr-
anCe of the etiQuettes and cOnyenlenCes
of society. A Cuban lady of my aC-
uuaintance received ON her fete day the
usual compliment Of a visiting card
under cover from gentleman. On
looking at the envelope she threw up her
head with q jerk and remarked that
lone could easily see that that man did
not know anything, or he never would
have put B. L. NJ, instead of b. l.. p,
on an envelope sent to a lady"
A MATTER OF SPANISH TASTE.
1 must acknowledge that could not
appreciate the nice difference. But after
ali on reflection, there certainly is some
difference between B. L. NJ. and b. J..
p, and it is only a matter of Spanish
taste which is the most agreeable pro-
ceeding.
This is only one of the very little polite
nOthings of this very polite people.
On being presented to stranger-if q
lady-instead of the usual bow, more or
less gracious, Of our country, there is a
cordial shake of the hand, accompanied
by an extravagantly polite speech eX-
pressing the very great happiness this
meeting has caused, ending with an
offer to you from the lady of her house,
which is, in other words, an invitation
for you to visit her. A single man goes
through the same style Of cOmpllmental
speech and concludes by telling you that
he lives at such q number in such q
street, and begs that if you need his SER
vices you will call on him.
Whether sincere or not, these little po-
lite forms are the flowery adornments Of
speech, and help to make up the refine
ments and illusions of life, more or less
agreeable, according to the view one
takes Of them. What would be received
by an American woman rs an impertin-
ence is received by Cuban with gra-
cious smile and a "gracias," said Ill o
most pleasant tone Of voice, Us, for in
stance, on being helped into her carriage
by man who is n complete stranger 10
her If gentleman is passing on the
street when lady is about to enter her
carriage-if no gentleman is with her
he hands her into her carriage. This is
considered here only what man who is
q gentleman would do under such cir
cumstances Compliments are sometimes
paid by gentlemen to ladies on the street,
but are considered bad style. Cuba
Cor New Orleans Times Democrat