The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1895-03-01
For Girls.
"A Correspondent Gives the tiirI Read
ers Of the Telegram Some

I'D. lELEGhAM.---l-n nave IOrm :
ed a habit of clipping from the
newspapers anything / think
valuable, for the purpose of pre-
serving it in my scrap book.
/ am going to give the girl read
ers of the TELEGRAM the benefit
of ascrap l recently clipped. CIV
ing the reflections of Lucy Elliot
Keller about what she would do
if she were a girl again. She
says:
If we're girl again-if some be.
nignant fairy should touch me with
her wand and say: "Bea girl again, /"
and ] should feel bursting over me
the generous impulses, the enthusi-
asm, the buoyancy, the ambition,
that belong to sixteen-some things
I should do, and some things /
should not do, to make me at fifty
the person whom now at fifty 1
should like to be.
First OF all, I should study self
control-the control Of body, of
speech, of temper; a power best
learned in youth, before tho current
OF habit has deepened the current Of
self-will and impetuosity that seems
to be cut in every human heart. l
should count one hundred, like Tat
tycorum, before / would allow my
self to utter unkind, impulsive
words; ! should scorn to burst into
tears because of some petty correc-
ton or grievance; / should learn to
sit quietly, TO close a door gently,
to walk calmly even when my
thoughts we're boiling within me.
should shun, if were a girl
again, the tendency to be sensitive
and suspicious. Because my friend
talks to another person, or because
a group OF acquaintance seem to be
enjoying themselves apart from me,
! should not fancy myself neglected.
! should not construe thoughtless-
ness into intentional Sights, nor alb
straction into Indifference. | should
say oftener to myself; My friend
did not see that was here; she has
not heard of my return; she is busy
with her music; she is tired after her
journey. will trust in her friend
ship, just as would have her trust
in mine
If were a girl again, ] should be
more careful about my conversation.
l should beware of slang and gossip
and q tendency TO drop into silence.
1 should avoid sarcasm like plague,
that tho person who
uses il shows her sense of her own
inferiority, Nobody ever had so
many enemies as Disracli; and it is
to be remembered that sarcasm was
his most powerful weapon. should
practice the art OF such gay repartee
as is free from satire and unkind-
ness, learning to tell a story well,
and To dwellupon what is kindly and
happy. i should be more ready to
express my appreciation and thanks
for services rendered; be quicker
with my praise and tardier with my
criticism. | should cultivate a dis
tinct enunciation, enlarge my vo-
cabulary, and remember Lord Ches-
terfield's dictum Never utter one
word, even in common conversation,
that should not be the most en-
pressive and the most elegant with
which The language could supply
him"
If were a girl again, ] should be
a better student. l should worry
less over my lessons, and potter less;
hut should think as study, and
Try 10 understand statements in one
reading, rather than by saying them
over and oyer, Ike parrot.
should he more thorough, not pass
ing to one lesson until had mas
tered The last; and | should be
ashamed of poor spelling or illegible
handwriting or faulty prouuncia-
ton.
should be more scrupuious about
making and keeping engagements;
should be less daunt"d by obstacles
and defeat, and be less, hope, the
slave Of petty but annoying habits.
These things should do i'll were
a Girl again. But suppose | have
passed my girihood! Suppose am
thirty. STU, shall not at fifty
wish that rou!d retrieve the past
twenty years? Should | not EN-,
plcy them differently? Again, say
am fifty. ~ seventy could moi
bette: Use those prccious years o.
preparation? There IS always 1
golden agc soon 20 be behind us
which q every period Of our life i,
before is Ju>i as to.morrow's yes
;erday is still to-day So we ma,
all take courage. 1t is never 10,
late TO mead. Lucy Elliot Keller
in Outlook