St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1899-09-30
ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR.

passways to and from the trains nnob-
structed. Ben. Franklin said that idle
ness was the parent of vice and crime.
The young bucks who songregate at
this den are either living Off Of some
hard-worling man or some cook or
washerwoman, or they are stealing
from somebody. Every yagrapt should
be arrested and put to work or we will
soon hear of some outrage and have an
other lynching. These are perilous
times. The old devil seems to be un-
chained and is going to and fro upon
the earth and walking up and down in
it, The daily papers are full Of crimes
White and black seem demoralized,
and we are getting hardened to the sin,
full and bloody calendar that every day
meets our eyes. When will this thing
stop?
started to write little essay ON po-
iteness. The lack of it among our
young white men is painfully observ-
ant. Last week, when the day was hot
and the dust was deep, a young man
with his best girl dashed by two Of our
ladies in a buggy and almost stifed
them with dust. They had to stop, for
they could not see. He made no apol-
ogy nor said please excuse me, and yet
he was from neighboring city and
Polls means city and politeness comes
from Polls. Not long ago was coming
from Atlanta and a Marietta man who
sat behind me elevated his dirty shoes
to the top of the back of my seat and
kept them there within six inches Of
my head while he gassed away to his
companion until the cars reached his
town. looked daggers at him, but it
did no good. leaned as far away
as / could and felt like treating him
like did a cowboy once in Texas. The
cowboy stuck his big boots and spurs
on the back Of my seat and I deliberate
-ly got up and-Went over to the other
side. j would have done this tough, ill
hammered rough the same way, but the
seats were all full. Young men can
show their breeding anywhere-in the
cars or at church or at the post office
while waiting for the mail to be opened.
A true gentleman will fire and fall
back and while waiting for his mail
give somebody else chance to look
into their box, but a selfish, in-bred
man wont. He will stand up close and
cover half a dozen boxes and peep
through the glass at the postmaster un-
til he gets his own. The best hammered
man at the post Office in our town IL
the oldest. There are few well-raised
lads III our town whom it is always a
,1ex, Ia
bow and tip the hat and smile q pleas
ant greeting. There was rich old
bachelor who died in jefferson some
years ago, and he left $4,000 to q poor
young woman because, as he said III his
will, "She always gave me pleasant
smile when she met me. The Irish, as a
race, are naturally polite. Pat" said
good lady, you passed me on the street
yesterday and never even looked at
me- ''Ah, me sweet lady, I was in q
great hurry and knew that if looked
at We I couldn't pass you My good
father was an old-ti1ne schoolmasterin in
the days when manners and morals
were taught as we'll as books. The first
day of his employment down in Liberty
county he made the boys and girls a
talk and said the boys must make a re-
spectful bow and the girls q curtesy to
him before they took their seats ID the
morning. All complied pleasantly ex-
cept the biggest boy in thesschool, who
said he be dogond IL he was gwine to
make bow to anybody. Father gave
him a talk next day, but itdid no good
and two other boys quit bowling. That
eveningat the close Of school father told
him to wait few minutes. He relue-
tantly waited. After the other schol-
ars had all gone out father closed the
door and told him he had to either bow
or take whipping or quit the school.
He studied awhile and said: I'll be
burned If I'll do either" Then the row
began and 1T lasted quite awhile, They
were pretty equally matched. They
them and turned over the water bucket
and raised a mighty commotion, but the
hickory was going all the time and ali
the outside scholars were peoping
through the cracks of the log school
house. After d long struggle the boy
gave up and bel1ered his way home.
That was the end of all rebellions in
that school, and my fathers reputation
as a teacher was established.
As polite as Frenchman' has
grown into proyerb. The whole ma
tion is polite, men, women and children.
! 1T ~ chiefly artificial, for IL is taughtin
the schools; but II is pleasing and seems
to be sincere. IN Mexico the poIitenesst
of the higher classes is painful. When
two persons meet at the hotel door one
will decline to go in first and the other
willdecline in like manner. and II takes
minute or two for the question of
precedence to be decided.
TN England the courtesies Of socialin-
tercourse are never forgotten; no, not
even in a quarrel. Two Englishmen
had bitter quarrel here in our town
while / was present, and each addressed
the other as .tmy dear friend and
'.pray excuse me- all the time they
were quarrciing. But still that was
better than our American style OF you
are an internal liar and .syon are an
Other" and then blow or shooting
serape. Englishmen quarrel, but they
never fight. Americans fight, butrar
IL quarrel. With them it is a word and
a blow. or what is worse ball from a
pistol drawn from he hip pocket. I
have no respect for the man who habit