New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-08-11
IS COURTESY A LOST ART q
APPLIED SOCIOLOGY" is NOT OVER
BURDENED WITH 1T.
WHY GENTLEMAN" FOUND 1T ADVISABLE TO

LEAVE A WOMAN HE WAS EsCORTING
ALONE IN THE RAIN.
III was poor and an object Of applied sociology
you know should have felt hurt badly hurt
you AS It Is. above II all: still. II has
set me thinking Of the divers ways modern pniian-
thropy has OF imposing upon the finer feelings OF
the poor"
She was dainty little woman. Her long clever
fingers cnched the object OF her grevance-a
postal card. Distressed by the enforced idleness
Of the summer months. she had enrolled In the
employment bureau OF of the best-known
philanthropic organizations. The card was her
first recognition. II read: Call at o'clock Tues
day. Bring this card with you. and announce your
arrival"
And what did you expect?'
Il | don't know" blushed the little
woman; but don't you think they might have been
a little COURTHOUSE
''If you had gone around the metropolis much
as your humble servant" was her friends smiling
rejoinaer. you would have learned before this
that courtesy Is dead. Whatever may be the moral
ellipses OF the Latin races. they have good man.
ners Witness the manners Of the immigrant be-
fore he has encountered TOO closely the American
reformer II is mooted question In my mind
whether applied sociology in washing the I'M
washed will not eventually cleanse them OF their
cardinal vrtue-courtesy. Example told
Is the powerful force in dealing with the
poor. II the average misunderstanding excep
lions are 70 be colsdered-brings better
manners into the Sums than he exercises In the
society OF what he considers his equals his
peers will do little good. | have often thought
H. while teaching the poor home and physical
sanitation, modern philan,hropists would only
ciprocate by assimilating something Of the rarely
failing courtesy of the poor. how much easier up
town living might be"
But are not philan,hropc workers largely COL
ege bredg'
Fully one-half. should think"
Then how Go you account for lack Of courtesy
In their dealings with their less fortunate neigh
bors?"
II; has been varously asserted that college-bred
people a class utterly manneress. Did you
go to a collegiate tea? OF all the dismal per-
formances, Women clever in theory. but utterly
wanting In knowledge OF human nature and the
indehnable little things that make up the flower OF
courtesy They are prone 10 be unresponsve
a sphinx patronizng beyond endurance.
Fancy what they capable of being when they
force their way into the homes OF the poor. where
there is possibility of confronting the only
power they seem TO consider worth polite consid
eration-a who holds an equal a
higher degree than they themselves"
"A college degree Is not without its advantages"
interposed the little. sensitive woman Not long
ago in OF leading cities. ! applied at
clearinghouse for accommodations. The first
question the landlady asked Are you
Phi. D.? Ny guests would no. tolerate anything
less presume you are an NJ. A? No? Too bad"
and with condoning culver in her lachrymose
voice milady bowed me OUT
We'll. higher education has certainly made rapid
strides when it requires. degree to get into
boarding house said he little Woman's friend;
restrict her house 70 Pm. D's, Their bad manners
was tod; forced her degreeless boarders to find
Lack OF courtesy Is not confined to the college,
bred" remarked woman who had been an inter,
the poor. Society. in the accepted FORM classes
AZ women who work for living among the poor
It is more convenient to avoid than to cultivate I
am still smarting from q recent dscourtesy. so
spend from Saturday to Monday at a country
house where l was an honored guest. They were
gentlemen was a weiI-known New-Yorker During
hs en a s he nf her ws or
anything Of that sort still he showed decided
eether to the city AS the train neared the station
he asked which direction ! was going gave him
which was not far from his office.
81 thought you said you lived near Central
81 do | replied but belong to the great army
Of New-York working women and my business is
winkng OF n, eye b his whole or
@ ace Unless 5rcsd o ' mot ashamed OF
4. but consider my friends IL might snoar l,,,
into their social conversation and why should a
May ask your occupation? he said at length.
The atmosphere by this time was decidedly chilly.
II explained II briefly. and I, is unique. he lis
tened with apparent interest.
Very commentaries very commcndaole.' he re-
peated
" Not at ALL, said; IT'S simply matter Of
bread and butter -
When we got or the car Il raining. had
no umbrella He had We walked to the Broad
way car. he sharing his umbrella. When we
reached the corner. he stopped II was still rain
Ing
- Well. you have only block TO walk. ne
on o car W and was Sft to make my way as best
could In the rain. DO You suppose FOR an instant
ne would have treated me in that discourteous man,
ner had | been what he took me for, woman or
elegant leisure. living in some fashionable uptown
apartment? Call him snob, II you VIII. society
Is full 81 them. A. bottom II Is socety's feeling
toward the woman who works.
Miss Jennings the nurse OF tho Seneca said: 1T
was beautiful to see the courtesy with which sew
era Cuban officers expressed To Miss BARTON their
appreca ton Of the service she rendered the CUBAN
soldiers In their full regimentals they called In
body the hospital ship.
well II the war does nothing else. II Will have
accomplished much II our soldiers assimate some
thing OF the Dons' inherent courtesy.