The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1904-09-15
Copyright 800, by tho New York Society of self Culture All rights reserved



You never know how agreeable yo'
eau be until you try, and 1 wish to con
clude this subject on agreeubility b,
advancing his strong argument that i
is your duty and our business to try
My position not only now is, but q!
ways has been and always shall be
that charm is a mere matter of gOoC
manne that good name is an art
and that this art, in common With al
others, is to be acquired by Slmpl'
force of diligent study.
During the years of medieval dark
ness in Europe nobody was TO blame
for downright illiteracy, because book:
were few and schools were far between
but in this day and generation VIZ
rightly feel only sovereign contempt fOl
the men who cannot read or the women
who CannO write. If they come to us
%deploring their lack of information. WE
disgustedly advise them to so TO school
or. if they are too big for school. We
suggest That they buy good books tul
of learned lore, and educate themselves
We no longer live in a century where
knowledge is considered u strange and
mysterious power, proceeding partly
from the evil one himself, me we are
fast getting to view the acquisition OF
social charm in quite the same light.
A Common Sense View.
Just make up SOur mind that youI
manners are bad, indeed. very bad;
just come to q realizing ems that you
don't seem to attract and hold people
as you. should; arrive fairly and square
ly at the point where you can see, with
quite painful distinCtness, that for
want of charm you are failing to make
the successful career o planned out
for yourself, and then sit right down
and take Il ~mon view of the
situation. Waste no time losing your
confidence or courage, but look the sit
uation directly III the eye and say: 81
will study this art of agreeability just
as I would study electricity. OF a
language, or ~dreSSmaking.
II can't get on any longer without
it. and I find that there are first and
foremost excellent G books upon the
subject to be studied, the rules and in
formation In which will be to me of
inestimable value"
Having got this far along the right
and royal Dad to the attainment Of
your desire, dOn't be either ashamed of
afraid to go straight out and purchase
some excellent volume on correct social
usage. You can no more succeed With
out it than you Can learn to discourse
sweet music without notes, or prepare
Gelectable dishes without the assis-
III VI 60 HNN NNAli u Ssk'-
proved receipts.
Select carefully compiled Il per-
fectly up-to-date works on the best
and most modern etiquette by we'll
known authors. and dc not be in the
least deferred from your study of rules
because you may be passing over first
youth or because you do not live in n
Fashionable community, where there
appear to be large opportunities for
practicing what you learn.
There is literally no time of life when
it is too late to study and adopt the
principles Of exquisite ~politeness. | am
proud to count in my list of friends a
man who made his money in Colorado
gold, and q large part of that gold he
dug and blasted from the rock with his
OWn big. strong hands. At forty-live
he had a fortune, and he gave up the
mines, came east, bought a house in
New York, and began to fit himself for
the enjoyment Of a social life.
Il earned my money by some hard
licks," he bravely said, land now I am
going to earn my social position by
some more lard ticks"
He was as good as his word. The
hard ticks he put in While earning and
winning the society of cultured men
and women were devoted to the study
of etiquette and q gradual application
Of all its best rules. Today he sits at
the head of his W table, whereat he
entertains the best In the land, and his
kindly, graceful, genial and correct
are as great q credit to his
pluck and sound common sense as are
his millions.
Some Gratuitous Advice.
Now, if you wish to achieve as excel
lent results as my millionaire acquain-
lance, take your work on etiquette
seriously and study it with cheerful
diligence. Il guess it isn't any harder
to win a sound reputation for good
manner h 1t is to win a solid bank
account" l once heard my enterprising
friend from the west say, and if you
just keep that same philosophy in a
tice, you are bound ultimately to be
numbered among the well-bred ones
of this earth.
l advise you to remember. If you can,
that you do not take up this study, of
a book that helps you to the attain
ment of a~greeabiiity, just because it Is
a fine sort of accomplishment to pos
sess. Keep we'll in mind hat you study
your etiquette authority just as you
study algebra, or geography, or his
tory, because it contains information
that is going to be soundly and practl-
cally helpful to you all YOU days, in
business and out, by day and by night,
or wherever o mix with your kind.
Again, | am going to quote my friend
from Colorado, because on one occas-
sion, when we both stood in his library,
ne took down a w~ell-thumbed book
and regarded it CAREFUL
and regarded it half sadly, half ad-
miringly.
III is my authority on social usage"
he said. "and l wish very much l had
begun to study 1t and apply its rules
when L was fourteen instead of forty-
five. 1 would nav made my fortune
more rapidly and with less difficulty
Il I Gid had l only known what a
help could be our in a little know
ledge Of etiquette. I'll give this rraru-
ltous ADVICE to any young man. whether
he starts his career as q newsboy or as
a prodigy of oratory, that the best
friend he can have in the making of his
career is a lot of safe information on
the good rules of etiquette
How to Study the Art,
In manners, as In mathematics if ;s
nearly always details that count, and
as in which, you can never go far off
the track of true politeness If YOU nav
strict attention to what others are
doing, II you keep your temper and If
you Follow the cut and dried printed
regulations as close as possible to the
letter. -
Don't eve attempt to take any ljb-
critics with the good social laws as vOur
CHOSEN authority on etiqueFse has set If
down, n don't get impatient with IFS
sometimes seemingly stupid restric-
lions. There is always a good reason
Tor leaving two cards or one and there
rests a significance in where YOU sit