The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-08-25
ABOUT GOOD FARM.

The thought OF Dickens rolling around a
drawing room floor. in the exuberance OF
his youthful spirits, as we learn from
good authority ne upon one. occasion did. /
is not pleasant 10 an admirer Of his gen
ius and OF what he accomplished in the
world II was not good form. Coed form
is not q term indicative Of mere affec-
ton or of conventional propriety. GOOd
form on its opposite makes the very life
aspect OF all human beings. IL Includes
more than manners. for IL IS an Indicative
Of degree Of reduiment. whereas man
ners are an accomplishment either ac-
QuiTed by study or by unconscious imi-
tatiOn. he relation OF form 10 life is
profound. for what might be fitting in
certain places, what might be fitting az
certain times, might be detestable IN
other places and at other times.
Even persons who would through train
ing seem 70 be by every right entitled &c
supremacy in good form may be- in IL
lamentably deficient Witness that OF
the present Edward VII. from his youth
TO the present time. He behaved pettily
in Philadelphia on the trifiing occasion
when his hat was injured by accident
Has he since shown himself above that
commonplace level until now, when he has
freshly earned the title of Monsieur Eta
quetta?' And what. down TO the present
time, has his mentally superior German
nephew shown the world that would out
weigh him for richly earned title as
Monsieur Gasconada-" Potentates of
high rank though they are, neither OF
them has shown good form. on The con-
trary they have both shown COnspicu-
ously bad form in many relations of life
Shakespeare says that the very angels
wept at some OF mems fantistic tricks,
but one might rather suppose that in
some cases they laugh. There IS no i'm
munity from constant folly, but in the
largest natural endowment OF sincerity
land Of common sense. and these are pos
sessed in abundance by only a small mi
nority Of mankind. Your commonplace
acquaintance may go to Europe and at
once become cOnnoisseur in art, punch
you in the ribs as he shows you one OF
his pictures exultingly. and says, You
have no idea how much that cost me
We have known even color-blind man 70
become suddenly endowed with delicate
perception Of color values. But what can
YOU do about it? 1t hurts not him, but
YOU TO witness such falsity or self de-
ceptiOn, but YOU can do nothing for him.
for yourself nothing but fee. He may be
otherwise a very good fellow. The misery
Of it is that he inhicts so much upon
/ other persons uncOnsciously. impossible 10
correct without greater violation of good
form than his arrant pretense OF art
knowledge summed up in terms OF dol
| lars.
The greatest infections of bad form are
| to be found in travelling. There IS a class
| of men who seem never comfortable I'M
less their feet are elevated upon some
article Of furniture Dickens says that
Americans are the only people who know
what 10 do with the small of the back
/ they sit on it''-but the practice is by no
| means confined to Americans. It is pre-
valent especially among men who have
not been used TO good furniture and who
attempt TO show their familiarity with II
| by contempt OF the most elegant and cost
| " kinds Others again. OF the same sort
| of persons. put their feet on tables and
desks by way of asserting their equality
| or perfect ease in personal bearing, or o.
/ showing that they are not unused 10
| elegance or oppressed by the sight of it.
| We once saw a man comb his mustache
| with a fork at a hotel table. and for sew
! eral days, at another hotel table in an
| other state, a man who invariably haisb-
| ed his dinner by unfolding his unused
| nakpin and blowing upon il a blast loud
| enough TO have charmed Robin Hood him
self
These are, Of course. extreme cases or
bad form witnessed in travelling. But what
! shall we say of daily experience in trolley
/ cars2 Despite the warnings in newspapers,
/ medical works and placards posted in the
| cars themselves. eXpectOrati0n on their
floors has not by any means ceased. At
| all times of the day, but especially IN the
early morning. numbers Of men go
! through toilet operations which are prop
! erlv reserved for privacy by both sexes.
] The cOmmOnest of these consist in a man
! whipping out his penknne and methodic-
| ally cleaning and pairing his nails. often
! at a time that proclaims that he has LETT
| them untouched before breakfast.
OF course. it would be highly irrational
| not TO expect and TO condone certain dlI-
fereuces in personal habits resulting from
less opportunity for knowledge i is as
natural for persons of certain sort 10
dispense with handkerchief as It IS Tor
these Of another sort TO be uncomfortable
! without one. But there is unhappily a GER
| tain imposition of the habits Of the for
rner set upon the latter. No one Is 50
obtuse as not TO know that certain atti-
| tudes and acts make travelling companions
/ uncomfortable, or II some one Is OCCASION
ally so obtuse, the majority are not
Reaching certain depth Of brutality
| there are some persons who find a posi-
| tive pleasure in making others uncom-
! Portable Witness the conduct OF band
| of hoodlums. late at night when entering
| a car chiefly filled with ladies and gentle
men. On the contrary, the latter always
| seeks to make everybody as com
| Portable as possible. The rough makes
/ himself as big and bOisterOUs as possible
BY way Of asserting himself. the gentle
| man, as unobtrusive. under the same cir
| cumstances.
1t would be extremely unfair 10 judge
one class by the standard Of another. II
| anyone desires TO know what innocence
| may be coupled with profound ignorance
| Of good form. he has but 10 look at the
! columns of any newspaper IL which cor
| respondents of both sexes ask the most
! extraordinary questions about lines be-
tween propriety and improperly There
| may be people, there are people. who
| never have any social training. There are
| social Observances that may BE- learned
from books. but good tone only from good
| society. Oliver Wendell Holmes well de-
fined the conditions that 60 10 make 4
1 gentleman. Among others ne said that a
/ gentleman should be 'caim-mouthed.
/ Tennys0n says Of a certain person she
I had norN1he repOse that marks the caste
4 Of We're a. We're" lie cid not mean list
! lessness OF being. but that poise which
makes both mental and bodily force most
/ effective Ia concentration of faculty. The
/ girl that laughs IN a way 20 show her
/ palate. ending with q shrek is not un-
/ sexed IL IS true. hut she IS FAR removed
! from feminine charr~v which S. largely in
! dependent even ~ beauty Even in forms
] ot speech she may destroy tA -s-'iiH- ~ =
/ recall the case Of the almost frantic cd
| mirer. whose ladv-loFe would persist On
| saving 7 don't kuow as did, Boz wnat
/ IS this To the duliing repetition ~ lz tFat
| SOP Trflug IS such things comparative
| ly are. as violations ~ good forms ff7r
/ good forra includes language. morals
! worship. marriage. divorce ard the whole
! round q lfsi. t1eT Jar ~ frequent reI,>-
I titi0u Ike bells tangled olf q tune
/ ~ u : r