The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1886-09-30
VALUE OF ETIQUETTE.
a Dissertation on the Folly of fndistinct
Introduction and Kindred Topics.

VALUE Ut GilOOG Is
a Dissertation on the Folly of Indistinct
Introduction and Kindred Topics.
There seems to be growing ten
dency on the part of the average Amer
ican toward what may be pardoned
for calling the anonymous or incog.
Introduction. This Introduction gen.
orally starts off in fortissimo 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 diminuendo strain
comes.
That 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
mark of great conversational genius to
talk steadily onward without using the
mind, and says: Pardon me, want
to make you two people acquainted.
You ought to know each other. You
are both friends of mine. Mr.. ---,
Mr.. -. There, now you are ac-
guaintedr'
Why a man should write long let
ter and write it plainly, signing it at
the end with name that would have
bothered Daniel to decipher, is more
than can understand. 1t is the same
style Of peculiarity as the anonymous
Introduction exactly. l may be a lit
tie careless about my penmanship
while writing in great hurry, trying
TO keep up with my surging thoughts,
butI most always sign my name so
that it can be deciphered. I have
written letters where the signature was
the only thing that was absolutely be-
yond the possibility of doubt. But if q
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 long beautiful letter
from an unknown and unknowable
person. In the latter case you are left
o kick the empty air. ..
Some day when get more time l
I'm going to prepare a long, treatise
lpon etiquette and deliver it to the
American people. illustrated by one of
hose stereopticons. Etiquette has
been lifelong study for me. 1t is a
Thing that has engrossed my attention
from my earliest bovhood, and it shows
Itself at once in my polished manners
and easy running carriage.
At table especially our American
people need a great deal of training.
Wherever / go am struck with our
sad need of careful training. As a
country we need careful instructions in
our manners, more especially at hotels.
| Only the other day, at the table d hote,
I heard man ask for half a dozen
buckwheat cakes, and when they came
to him he lnoistened 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 Ma
ltional bank. Another man at the same
table was asked to pass the pepper
box and he took it with his thumb on
the bottom and his two first fingers on
Z the top, Just as he had been in the
T habit of moving stack of chips from
the ace to the deuce, no doubt for
4 years. A3 ne 'ti 9el
So we as people crowd our voca-
to Danish our trades and professions
even at 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 hotel table eombing
his mustache with his fork, and while
in a brown study the fork slipped out
of the mustache and plunged with a
sickening jab into his eye. We can
not be too careful in our intercourse
with men to avoid all appearance OF
evil. t5 9llata 54s
Il Etiquette always marks the true
gentleman and makes him an object OF
/ curiosity, especially at hotel. When
. you see a gentleman with whom you
/ are not acquainted you should look up
On him with genteel horror and shud.
! der two times in rapid succession. This
will convince stranger that you have
been reared with the greatest care ano
, that your parents have taken special
, pains not to allow you to associate will
) vulgar people. iA
+ I started out to say few word:
) about the folly of indistinct introduc
+ tons and wappy- -jawed sigma lures, bu
+ [ have wandered away, as | am apt t.
! do, and I apologize, hoping that th
, genial and rosy-cheeked reader as sh
: Sits in her boudoir, on this glorieu
s morning. looking more like peri thai
3 any thing else lean think of, will for
/ give me.-BiN Nye. in N. Y. Mercury
{ A Female M. D. of Nineteen.