Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1896-03-25
FRITTERING AWAY OUR TIME.
A Fault That Is Peculiarly Prevalent In
America.

America.
That women fritter away great
deal of time is unquestionable. Born
with the gift of patience far greater
than that possessed by men, so many
seem to lack, a sense of system, by
which many things can be well done,
or the sense of application to any one
particular thing.
Take the amount of time, for
example, which girls really fritter
away-yes, really waste-on music.
Every girl has a desire to play the
piano, and every girl who can, makes
the attempt to learn the art. But
how many succeed in becoming good
players Take any gathering OF
girls, either in winter company or a
summer resort, and the case is rare
where girl is found who really plays
we'll. 1t is more frequently the case
where not girl is found who can play
even fairly well. 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,
I think, that girls, for the most part,
take up piano playing simply because
they considerit necessary to be able at
least to sit down and play q waltz,
perhaps-and play it badly and out of
tune, as rule-or one or two of the
melodies of the day. But beyond this
they do not go. They fritter away
their time on acquiring part of an
art instead Of investing their time in
the art itself.
French lessons are taken in the
same way-the French spoken by
some girls being enough to give a
Frenchman a creeping chill. China
painting, needle work and all the
other accepted Accomplishments" of
a 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
not one of them can she do
we'll.
Too many girls nowadays have
wrong notion of what it means to be
accomplished" They seem to have
the idea that it means to distribute
over all the different
and graces of society,
that an Accomplishment"
is only what the word implies and
requirement, an attain
ment, something which is perfected.
The trouble is that we are too apt to
speak of girl having accomplish
menGs :" if we used the word more in
the singular sense we would come
closer to our true meaning.
But if one wishes to be candid and
really criticise the American girl, not
for q score of fancied faults which are
not hers; but for a fault which is
peculiarly hers, it is that she fritters a
deal of time on many things and does
not give enough time to any one thing.
One advantage which this fault has
is that she can overcome it. And she
should. She should learn the art of
application. Whatever she starts out
to do let her do it well. If she wants
TO play, let her learn to play, not
but we'll. If her taste is
for china painting, let her concentrate
her mind to that, and learn to paint
we'll. If she is fond of needle work,
let her train herself to be an expert at
the needle. If her tendencies lead her
TO languages, let her take up that
tongue the study of which attracts her
most. But if she takes up French let
her content herself with French, and
not study French one day and Ger
man the other. Nor should she forget
that to know the English language
we'll is her first duty. Whatever she
attempts to do let her do it thorough
ly, not content with learning it half,
but all.-Ladies' Home Journal.