Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-10-12

nerves were worn to a wire edge before he
left me in possession of that end of the car.
In the first place, there was something the
matter with the cushions of the section as
signed him. He tried both seats, bounced
up and down, punched them, and poked
them. Then he wanted the pillows got out
for him. The porter smilingly dressed the
imitation postage stamps in muslin garb
and piled them invitingly in the corner
next the window. The pillows settled, the
curtains next received his attention, and he
had one of the heavy spring shades tum-
bling about his ears in half minute. He
began to fret. because the Pullmans in
their grasping monopoly were putting up
inferior cars. The porter smiled. but said
nothing, and I smiled, too. He was riding
in Wagner car! The curtain fixed, Mr..
Fidget ordered his grip" brought from the
end of the car, describing it carefully, as he
had two big ones there. The porter brought
it, but it was the wrong one, and Mr.. Fid-
get dear deared'' and fretted till cross
baby behind him stopped shr:eking in sheer
despair at being outclassed at it's own
game.
When Mr.. Fidget had fished out hand
somely bound copy Of Bacon'S essays, and
doubled up in his pillowed corner to read.
he began to tap the window with his ring
ed hand, and the clicking Weakened the
cross baby, whose head was close to his
own. Then he nervously tapped the book
through his left hand while he read away,
holding the book with his right. He had
metal paper knife, and he began to beat a
tattoo on his strong white teeth with it.
He laid his book down and busted his shoes
with his handkerchief. Scarcely had he
picked the book UP when he laid it down
to ring for his other valise, which he rum
mayed for clean handkerchief, to find it
in the first one brought to him.
At the place where We stopped for din
ner l had to sit opposite him again. He
played with the salt till he spilled it. He
worked geornetric designs on the table
cloth with his knife balanced his knife and
fork, broke up his bread and rolled it into
round wads while he nervorsly talked pol
itics with his ieXt neigthor.
The Female FidSct.
The female fidget is holy terror. Both
dentists and doctors say that women en-
dure pain with a great deal more forttude
than men. but when woman does fidget
she is worse than Il nest of hornets for
stirring things up. There was fidgety
woman on the car, too. She was attract
lively attired and rather pretty, but her
dress skirt troubled her, and she spent
most of her time adjusting it that it
would not get crushed. The waist was
also source of trouble, and she kept pull
ing it down. She arranged the fringe of
blonde hair ever her forehead at intervals
of five minutes. in the long, narrow mirror
beside her, and pulled her gloves on and
off till she tore off the fore finger of one.
She busted her hat every half hour. always
calling the porter TO take it down from the
hook for her, and she. ostentatiously rear
ranged at frequent intervals all the silver
bottles and hric-a-brac of her brand new
toilet case.
The lady looked 20 be real one. and the
man a gentleman, withal, yet those two
persons were annoyance to the dozen
others who were forced to travel in close
contact with them for one whole day. Cen
1,,J, how,
broke every minute some little law of ETH
quette, for the first and great law of So
ciety is "repCSe.''
If the fault is one of training and most
likely it is, one ought to rid himself of it
before INJECTING himself on the public. 1t
is simply objectionable fer a lady to make
her toilet in full view of the public, and
quite as objectionable for ner to keep adj
jUsting it, when there are toilet rooms
especially provided for that purpose
bad Habits Should BE Checked.
1t Is not always the nervous person who is
fidgety-if it were one might forgive the
sorry breaks that some of them make-but
it is the man or the woman who ought to
know better, and would know better than
to grow so insufferably disagreeable if only
warned in time Of the habits taking such a
strong hold upon them. They are habits
which are formed in youth and should be
pruned and Topped off in their incipiency
by those who have the rearing of the boys
and girls who develop such disagreeable
traits. 1t is unpleasant to sit at table with
a child that eats soup audibly, yet it Is ten
times more aggravating to have to endure
the same trial when the child has grown to
a man or woman.
When a child shows disposition to be
''finicky," or over nice about it's belongings,
or gives itself over to passion when de-
MED qualification of its absurd whims, then
t. nx1 tit,an TO hooi on
good 'horse" sense. All mannerisms should
be rigidly suppressed, because they grow
into eccentricity with age and absurdities
with gray hairs. Instead OF continually
saying before the child that it is 80 odd"
and so "pernickity,' and peculiar, and
headstrong, and a dozen other things that
are simply tolerabie in child and detest-
able in an adult, if you were to coerce it in
some way or another into doing the right
thing you would be making your own path
smoother and that of your ward as well.
1t is the finical child who makes the fdgety
adult
In the case of the man who made a whole
day miserable for carload of people with
his old-maidish fault-finoing, it is more
than probable that his mother fed him on
the idea that he was superhumanly dainty,
and that he should be pampered and cater
ed to till he actually came to believe that
the only mission in life of those who sur
rounded him was to cater to his wishes.
The young woman had doubtless been told
thing alive" the Sweetest thing on Garth,
the pet and pride of an aGoring family, and
pushed forward by admiring friends, and
in order to display all her charms at one
sitting she has become a fidget.
The Fidgety Mother.
A man said to me the other day that of
all the wearing manifestations of fdgeti-
ness the fidgety mother was the most try
ing. He said that his mother fretted from
the first cold Of her first baby to the last
time her youngest son sneezed just before
he was married, perfectly positive that
death was shadowng each and every one
Of her nine children, every one of whom
was gray-headed and hearty when the
really devoted mother passed into rest.
she fdgeted about our dress and
studies" he said, "our companions and
amusements. Then she fidgeted about our
lovers and sweethearts, husbands and
wives babies, housekeeping, our outgoings
and or incomings, and the dear old soul
would be fretting today over her great
grandchildren just as she did over US If
she were living"
Mothers can break themselves and their
children of this habit If they will, and
they ought to. SONORA SARA.