Morgan County democrat. (Versailles, Mo.) 1900-1906, 1905-04-07
BY MARGARET l.. SANGsTER.

Amazing as the statement may be,
considering how glibly most feminine
creatures chatter, there are tongue
tied girls. Their conversational en-
are limited and they have
no stock of ideas on which to draw
when they meet strangers or are away
from the sheltering orbit OF the home
circle. 1hey realize their limitations
ana grope about to find the reason,
only to become constantly more dis
couraged and less confident OF them
selves thar before.
'How can | conquer my oisinclina-
tlon to talk in company? how can |
learn what to say? how can | make
myself popular and entertaining" are
questions often and sorrowfuily put by
the girl who owns herself ~tongue-tied
II deplores the fact. Some girls can
talk very well on a large subject that
has interested them and with which
they are familiar. But in order to do
this they must have time, place and
opportunity. There must be somebody
else to whom the large subject makes
an appeal, who likewise has given
it sufficient study to talk about it with
intelligence, if not with enthusiasm
A girl of this solid, subs antial type
is very much in the 20 ition Of a per-
son who has bills of generous size in
her pocketbooh, but has TO small
change. Occasions arise WI en- small
change Is indispensable to comfort and
when II cannot easily get about the
world without its convenient aid. In
n street car, for instance. a ~ffty-dollar
bill might be useless, when a nickel
would carry one miles on her journey.
The small change of conversation
enables n to say a light and cour-
tous thing quickly; it implies some
talent for banter and reparicc, and it
is a little dependent on use and wont.
on knowledge of the everyday circum-
stances of those about us. and on SYM
pathy with the m cd O. those we meet.
The girl who knows herself to be
tongue-tied, though she regret It, need
not despair of popularity. Nobody is
socially more disagree b @ and more
dreaded tn n woman who talks to
much, monopolizing the conversation
taking the floor herself and firmly hold
ing it and giving no one else a chance
to speak. People fly from this over
gifted and aggressive talker. A mere
chatterbOX is equally disliked.
A good listener Is always sure of
appreciation. If you can but master
the fine art OF listening to each person
with an air of deep interest, just as if
there were nobody else at the moment
in the wide world, and as if your great
est wish wee % under tand what the
other is trying to tell you, you will
have the effect of talking well. All
that is really necessary is nos to let
your attention wander, and at the right
moment, in the right places make
some brief reioinder or Affirmation.
You nccd never fear that You viii be
thought too silent if you listen well
and say yes or no at proper intervals.
A good listener is never a bore, while
a great talker frequently gains that
unhappy distinction.
Girls are sometimes tongue-tied be-
cause of Indifference. A bashtul man
ner, up to a certain point, IS attrac-
1--WE. bht TX II Huo v Ibpl III IL
hampering self-consciousness which
makes one awkward and clumsy or
surly and defiant, it is a fatal handi-
cap. Whence springs the OverInwer-
ing difidence which lays its weird
spell on some girls | cannot tell. Cir
cumstances have little to do with it.
Heredity may have much, one finds a
girl brought up in a town and accus-
toned to meeting strangers and kins-
folk all her life. a victim of this
wretched bondage, while a girl of the
same age, coming from a country home
and a background of solitude, may be en-
tirely free from 1t.
IrenImbe o CO in a visit TO a noun
tain land of the south to have seen a
beautiful girl ride up a steep L'll path
and dismount at the doc Of the house
where | was staying. She entered a
room which happened to be filled with
a throng of people most of whom were
unknown to her, and, standing within
the doorway. in a clear, sweet voice
without a shade of embarrassment, she
gave a message from her mother. Ad-
dressing the mistress Of the house she
said what she had been sent to say
and then, with a graceful and sweeping
.,urtesy, took her leave, mounted heI
horse and rode away, That said one
of the ladies', lis the prettiest thing
eve saw"
1t was pretty because the young girl
a., onaattnp uho had ppyer In har liff