St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-11-07
Gbe Californian.
DISCoURTEsY OF WOMEN.

Every fair-rninded woman must
admit the justice of the charge made
against her sex, III the Sunday School
Times. to the effect that 1.-THE average
woman Is not so courteous as the
average man One reason given for
this IS because men are trained from
boyhood to pay Difference to woman,
who thus become accustomed to re-
ceiving constant attention, and q
habit of overlooking the rights OF
others Is developed. One count in
the general indictment, however, is
too severe. So far as our own obser-
walton goes, women rarely fail to ex-
press thanks when seat is proffered
them in a pnblic conveyance. The
article closes as follows:
If two men, walking abreast on a
street-crossing, meet a man walking
IN the opposite direction, one of them
will instinctively drop behind the
other in order to allow the third to
pass them on the crossing. If two
women be walking thus, they will
move right along together when they
meet man, even though he must
step off the crossing into the mud on
on either side of it, because of their
walking abreast. There are excep-
tiOns to this rule; but this is the
rule. Men walking together on a
sidewalk generally have it in mind to
give fair share of the walk to pas
sers, of either sex, in the opposite di-
rection. Women are not likely to be
SO thoughtful on this point.
In crowded market-house, or
other business establishment, many
women will push in before a custO-
mer at a counter or stall, and make
known her wants.as pressing, wheth
er the customer whose rights have
precedence of hers is q man or a wO-
man-when Il man would have no
thought ofcrowding himself forward,
and another out, in that way. The
wOman's habit of having the first
place Influences her, as the mans
habit of conceding it influences him.
ANY street-car conductor, in any
city, would testify that women are
less prompt and considerable in seeing
to it that room is made for as many
sittcrs as can be accommodated in
the car than men are; that is, that
women are not so ready to aid in
providing seats for men. And that
same conductor will tell YOU that he
has far less trouble with q car full of
men than with car full of women,
at q time when all the cars are
crowded.
In any scramble for seats in q pub
l1c'car, a courteous man is bound to
give precedence to a woman. But
when man has paid for, and is Oc-
cupying, Il seat iii a car-whether it
be n parlOr car, an ordinary passen-
ger car, or n street car-he is not
bound to vacate that seat III favor
of woman who afterwards enters
the car. The duty of providing
seat for other passengers rests on the
railroad company, rather than on
the passengers who have already
taken seats. AS u matter of special
courtesy, however, many man is
always ready to rise and proffer his
seat to any woman who NAV enter
a car where the seats are all occupied.
A woman who accepts such q cour-
tcSy has q duty to acknowledge it as
courtesy, and to return her thanks
forit Yet, as a matter of fact, many
a woman never thinks of saying q
word of thanks i'll recognition of such
a courtesy as this. If man were to
be given seat by younger man, it
would be a rare thing if he did not
give hearty thanks for it
1T woman attempts to get on or
off a crowded street car, man
standing on the platform of the car
isquitc likely to step off and stand in
the sometimes Ill the rain-in
order to make room for her. For
this act of courtesy, as for every
other, specific thanks are due from
the woman to the man. Yet such
thanks are rarely given by a woman,
although it would be strange
thing if man were to fail of thank
ing another man who showed this
courtesy toward him.
Similar illustrations of this truth
might be multiplied. But enough
has been said to call the attention of
parents to the duty of training their
daughters, as daughters, to cour-
tcsv for the hope of the correction of
such an evil is i'll the bringing up of a
new generation i'll q better way than
that of the present one. Girls ought
to be trained to courtesy i'll every
direction; to be watchfully consider
ate of one another, and deferential
toward their seniors; to be prompt
to rise and give their seats, when oc-
casion calls for it, to women or to
elderly or infirm men; and to be eX-
plicit in their thanks for every cour-
tesy of any sort which is proffered to
them by any person whatsoever.
There are girls who are thus trained,
and who give evidence of it continu-
ally When such training is more
general. there will be less reason than
now for complaining of any lack of
courtesy among women.