The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1895-05-03
FRiTTERING AWAY TIME.

XIX 5i.
Some Sensible Suggestions for Youn
Girls. N
That women fritter away deal O
time is unquestionable. Born with tn
gift of patience far greater than tina
possessed by men, so many seem t,
lack sense of system by which man,
things can be well done, or the sens,
OF application to any one particular
thing. Take the amount of time, fol
example, which girls fritter away, yes
really waste on music. Every girl has
a desire to play the piano, and every
girl who can makes the attempt tc
learn the art. But how many succeed
IN becoming good players? Take any
gathering of girls, either in winter
company or at a summer resort, and
the case is rare where girl is found
who really plays well. 1t is more FREE
quently the case where not girl is
found who can play even fairly. They
can all drum on the piano and play a
Few popular melodies. In fact, one is
forced to believe that this latter is the
sole end of most of the girls who study
piano-playing. The real reason is,
however, l think, that girls, for the
most part, take up piano-playing
simply because they consider that they
must know something about it, be it
ever SO little. And, for the most part,
it is ever SO little. They consider it
necessary to be able, at least, to sit
down and play a waltz perhaps-and
play 1t badly and out of time AS rule
or one or two of the melodies of the
day. But beyond this they do not go.
They fritter away their time in acquir-
ing part of an art, instead of invest
ing their time in acquiring the art
itself
French lessons are taken the same
way-the French spoken by some girls
being enough to give Frenchman
creeping chill. China-painting, needle
work and all the other accepted ''ac-
complishments" of girl are treated |
much in the same way. Either two or
three are taken at the same time, or
one is dropped in order to take up the
other. But not one is learned
thoroughly. The result is that the
average girl can paint, play and sew
one about as badly as the other, but
not one of them can she do well.
Too many girls nowadays have a
wrong notion of what it means to be
accomplished. They seem to have
the idea that it means to distribute
themselves over all the different at
and graces of society, for
getting that an Accomplishment is
only what the word implies and means:
An requirement, an attainment, some
thing which is perfected. The trouble
is that we are too apt to speak of a
girl having Accomplishments if we
used the word more in the singular
'ense we would come closer to our true
meaning.
presume that the many girls who
'ead me will think am severe in saw j
ng all this. And perhaps / am. l {
wish the acutal conditions were such {
hat could be less severe with any re- {
'pect for the truth. But if one wishes {
o be candid, and really criticise the {
American girl, not for score of fan :
led faults which are not hers, but l
or fault which is peculiarly hers, it '
that she fritters away deal of time '
n many things, and does not give {
nough time to any one thing. One
dvantage which this fault has is that 4
he can overcome it. And she should. 4
he should learn the art of application. C
Whatever she starts out to do let her C
o it we'll. If she wants to play let her v
earn to play, not indifferently, but f
yell. If her taste is for china paint n
lg let her concentrate her mind to a
hat, and learn to paint we'll If she is S,
md of needlework let her train her. b
If to be an expert of the needle Ii h
err tendencies lead her to language Il
It her take up that tongue the study W
which attracts her most. But if she o.
lkes up French let her content herself Il
18th French, and not study French one
~ and German the other. Nor
lould she forget that to know the
nglish language well is her first
lty. Whatever she attempts to do let
IT do it thoroughly, not content with
arning halt, but all.-Ladies' Home
'urnal.