The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-06-14
ANDERSON c., JUNE H. 1885,
SOME UGLY HABITS.

SOME UGLY HABITS.
Freaky and Idiossncratio Ways Of Men
| and Women.
Chicago Ne,us.
"Just look at that grip
eyes; it is Mics Blank. What about
herr"
"Don't you see her tongue?"
"Oh, yes. Isn't it perfectly dreadful?
They say che always sticks it out like
that when she's thinking about any.
thing"
The young woman in question was
promenading the east side Of State street
early one morning, attired in bewitch-
ing costume and a pensive expression,
| while the tip other little tongue protru.
ded between.two lips Of the description
known to novelists as coral. eyes" said
one of her feminine acqlaintances, "she
always does that when thoughtful or
worried. It's one of those terrible habits
which, when once contracted, stick closer
than million brothers. Miss Blank
began it when child, and no one ever
took the trouble to break her oft. Now,
poor girl, it mortifes her terribly to be
told about it, though of course she is
anxious to cure herself. But then nearly
every one has some curious little habit
which he would be very glad to break if
he could; some trick more or less un.
pleasant, caused in the first place proba-
bly, BY nervousness. We all know the
man who tugs at his mustache and the
one who is perpetually pulling up his
collar. Then there is the girl who is
always rubbing one eye as ifin search of
stray eyelash, and the man who can't
be quite happy without some more or less
fragile article to twist and bend
and turn aboutiin his fingers. Anything
aud everything from your finest lace
handkerchief to your new and extremely
delicate paper cutter is sacrificed to the
demon ofnervousness which possesses him,
and yet you can't find in your heart to
rob him of. his plaything. BE is quite
happy and at his ease so long as he is
allowed to twirl and twist as much as he
wants to, but bereft of the temporary
object of his affection he would be abject-
ly miserable, and you know it. Many 8
man can talk fuently and we'll while
winding something anything about his
fingers, who, without it, would be con.
strained, awkward, silent.
"One of the most annoying forms Of
this disease is the incessant tattoo which
some people keep up on their knees or
the table or whatever happens to be
most convenient as q key board. have
noticed that musicians usually indulge
this habit, and it is very trying one,
though I don't know that it is worse than
'twiddlipg your thumb You don't know
what that is? Why, clasping your hands
with the fingers interlaced and then NOV
ing the thumbs slowly, very slowly round
each other. Nearly all old English peo.
pie are addicted to this habit, and look
upon it as refuge from ennui during
times of enforced idleness, such as that
blind mans holiday when it is too
dark to work or read, and yet not dark
enough, according to English notions, to
light the gas. At this time of day an old
English woman will sit and 'twiddle her
thumbs so many times from right to left,
and then so many times from left to right,
until one begins to think she has discov.
cred the secret Of perpetual motion. The
habit gains such hold upon men that
they are unable to sit unoccupied for
moment without Immediately beginning
to 'twiddle.'
."Of course, every one knows people
who bite their nails, and nearly all of US
can remember some girl who has destroy.
ed what was intended for pretty mouth
by senseless fashion of biting, or rather
gnawing at her lip. This is one of the
most dificu 1t habits to break, and at the
same time one of the commonest. lfyou
want to see how widespread it is, just 60
over to one of the State street dry goods
establishments about II o'clock any fine
morning. Monday morning is best, be.
cause Monday is the favorite shopping
day. Didn't you know tbat7 Oh, yes,
it's fact. Any floor walker will tell you
that more business is done on Monday
morning than any other time during the
week-that is, in the big shops. Of
course, in the cheap ones Saturday is the
great day. Why should Monday be
popular? Oh, Isuppose It's the reaction
after Sundays enforced idleness. On
Sunday one can't shop, and when one
wakes on Monday morning it is so
delightful to feel that all restrictions are
removed, and that there is nothing to
prevent one from shopping all day if
inclined to.
THE UGLY RESULTS.
"I always go myself on Monday. and
as rule, meet nearly all my friends, and
half of them, I notice, invariably bite
their lips when considering anything
seriously. When a woman asks: DO
you think this will wash p or DO you
really believe this silk will not cut?' or
confdentially informs the counter that
she is afraid sixteen yards won't be
enough, she nearly always bites her lip,
and very ugly and injurious fashion it
is. If the lower lip is the one attacked,
the pretty curve is in time destroyed and
the fullness fattened out, while if the
upper lip is ill treated the results are
almost worse, for it becomes heightened
in very unbecomiDg manner. Then
some women bite the inside of their lips,
n l. -