Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1896-04-17
TACT.
BY Anne NJ. Prescott.

/ hppLoSldllOu Judu our ldIue pen 10
capable of giving. Tact is like
the perfume of the wood-violet,
like the Whit of mignonette
throughout the theatre after the
little French woman has trapsed
up and down its parquet, its boxes
and balconies; it is as grateful as
the smell of the box and the pine
at Christmas-tide; as acceptable
as the aroma of boiling coffee at
breakfast meets with pleas
ant grace the young and the old,
the rich or the poor.
"Tact." The knowing just when
to speak and the right word and
in the right place; when to be
silent; when to offer our services;
when not to intrude; when to give
a gentle hint, a word of counsel;
when to see and when to be blind,
"stone blind"-and entirely deaf.
IL we knew how always and if we
had the ready tact to make the
awkward squad" feel perfectly at
home; in short, if we knew Just
how, where and when to perform
all the graceful and winning
courtesies of our daily life-that
school from which we graduate by
the one gate, only-death. Oh,
for the all-discriminating, Unborn
fairy gift, tact! "a tact which
surpassed the tact of her sex as
much as the tact of her sex sur
passes the tact of ours"
What, then, is tact, we ask, but
the spirit of true Christian charity
at all times and in all places
love ?
Any man who is the owner of
horse, poor or good, fast or slow,
valuable or otherwise, knows if he
has even three grains of sense
(but too many men have not even
one and they are the ones too Of
ten who can own a horse) that
setting the law of mercy to one
side, it is specie loss, hard cash,
to illuse his beast of burden; that
it will not draw so we'll nor drive
so we'll as when decently fed,
groomed and praised. No living
animal relishes and understands
commentator better than the
horse or misses it more. And
what does it cost to give him a
caressing word and stroke of
praise after a long and wearisome
drag or ride. "Tact!"
We had a fine example IAN OBJ
ject lesson) of the sensible man.
Now it happened on this wise: A
goodly piece of ground with ups
and downs and not a few stones,
land that had been entirely un-
improved for score of years, fell
to his lot to redeem and straighten
QUITO plough and to level. For
many days under our eyes and
close to our ears we saw without
looking, and heard without listen
ing, the progress of that work.
Paradoxical, but nevertheless
strictly true. "Tact!"
swell, what was the work."
"Wait my friend minute, pray
use little tact in your curiosity.
A rude plough, a good, strong
native horse, and two pea
SAINTS. All, but they were the right
men in the right place! On an
average of once every ten minutes
throughout the day we heard pre-
cisely the same words: $50 along
Billy! Get up there; what's mat
ter your" in tones more or less
emphatic as the urgency of the
moment seemed to demand. Some
times the stress was on one word,
only; often on one clause-rarely,
and than late in the day, strong
on the whole SENTENCED! "Tact."
Whenever the horse Jagged that
was his spur-the sharp or sud
den or surprised tone of his mas
ter's voice at his forthcoming
never an ugly tone, never a blow;
simply "tact." 1t was amusing,
very, coming in as an under
current all the day when we were
busy at another kind of ploughing!
The work was very hard on those
men; the days were at their longest
length, the sun unrelentingly hot;
but not once did we hear com
planning word in digging down,
ploughing and levelling that land.
And a prettier, neater or more
complete piece of work we never
saw done.
AT noon these men would un-