The Savannah morning news., 1904-07-24
THE ART OF BEING A SISTER.

Lady Helen Forbes writes to the
Chicago Tribune from London on THE
Art of Being a Sister" as follows
Poets are born, not made, but you
may be born into the probervial
clergymans family of fifteen, and yet
not be a success as a sister, for d
good sister is essentially a thing which
cannot be found ready made.
1t is true that the clergyman's fam
lily of fifteen provides better school
than the family of two or three, but
the best opportunities are thrown
away on some people. 1t is easy
enough to be a sister to sisters. Wom-
en- have an esprit de corps. in spite
of their supposed rivalry, which holds
them strongly together.
A woman, nine times out of ten, will
side with another woman against man
as a common enemy. Women mostly
understand their own sex fairly well,
and prefer to go with it on the principle
that it is better to stick to the evil that
you understand than to fly to others
that you know not of; and if they do
not understand their sex, as many of
them do not. they stand by it all
the more because they believe IT
to be so much better than it really
is.
A sister can be, and often is, the
most delightful of relations She sell
dom gives the anxiety the brothers do,
and like them she shares her child
hood with you. She has not occupied
the pinnacle of the elder generation,
and therefore has never fallen with a
crash, as they did when you grew old
enough to discover that they were
mortals and not gods. Several un-
married sisters over twenty may find
their home to small for them. and
tumble over each other. to much tenn
porary evaporation; but later in life,
when they are all married, the old af-
lection returns, and experience in COM
mon knits the bond closer than ever.
Two sisters frequently do not get on"
with each other as well as a greater
number, but in any case they are al
ways easier to deal with than any other
relations.
But the whole art of being a sister
lies in a woman's attitude to her
brothers. To be a success in this field
needs an intimate knowledge of hum
an nature, and, if this is lacking, an
exceedingly delicate perception of the
thoughts and feelings of others. Many
sisters regard their brothers as a sort
of errand boy given them by nature.
They expect their brothers to fetch and
carry for them, to chaperon them to
balls and parties, to wait patiently
on IneG sovereign Will ana PLEASURE
and never expect a word of thanks.
The idea of putting themselves on
one side on behalf of their broth
ers never enters their heads.
Some sisters even carry this to the
length of a sort of resentment against
the existence of their brothers, which
they regard as defrauding them of
pleasure or profit. This sounds in
credibly sordid, but it is absolutely
true.
While this is the attitude of many
sisters, that of all brothers in invari-
ably the same. To a brother, his sis
ter is the last woman on earth. If
she is strong minded he looks upon
her as a sort of Valkyrie. not to be
judged as other women are, because
she has mo feelings like them" If
she is weak minded, he considers her
species of idiot. If she is devoted
to him, he accepts the fact as Iis due
If not, he is perfectly Indifferent. But
in the former case he will tole-
rate no rival near the throne.
Sisters would do we'll not to be sur
prised that though their brothers place
all other women before them and ridi-
Guile the idea of the sister being jeal-
Gus, they do not by any means relish
any other man being put before them
selves in the estimation of the said
sister. l do not mean for a moment
to infer that brothers are never fond
of their sisters: on the contrary,
sister who has mastered the art can