The Washington times., 1905-10-29

street. VI course you dO- NOBODY
could forget that stately figure and
that ceremonious bow with which
he punctured every greeting. Old
Perkins is dead now. but I'll bet a
horse that he's doffing his crown
every two minutes; that is, if he's
gone to place where crowns are
supposed to be a necessary article
OF wearing apparel. He was the
most painfully polite man I ever saw.
His genuflexions and beg pardons'
used to get on my nerves until
could hardly refrain from a protest.
He wouldn't wear his hat in the
presence of ladies, and I've seen him
standing on street corner barehead-
ed, in the broiling sun. for an hour
at time while he talked with a fe-
male acquaintance.
l am reminded of Perkins by some
actions of yours that noticed while
you and Annie May were visiting us
last week That old hypocrite was
the embodiment OF exaggerated
courtesy to everyone he met. with
the single exception of his wife.
Unless he had company he would
drop his manners On his front porch,
and on the other side of his thres-
hold become the most disagreeable
reprobate that ever wore a long-suf-
fering woman to the grave.
| don't mean to intimate. my boy.
that there is any resemblance be-
tween yoa and old Perkins, but
saw, when you were here, that you
were already beginning TO follow the
general tendency of persons who
wear trousers snd forgetting at home
some of the amenities you would
never overlook outside. It's SO easy
to do. We are ali naturally savage,
prone to drop the social graces
whenever we think nobody's look
ing, and our families are supposed to
kindly shut their eyes. Yet the little
ceremonies and verbal expressions
which constitute our everyday code
of etiquette were designed for the
sole purpose OF smoothing the rough
edges of our intercourse with the
world, the flesh and the devil, and
keeps us from flying at one another's
tEroats as we would like so much to
do. Next to the Christian religion
politeness is the most potent force
in the world today, and it is just
as effective in ones own home as
II is in the house across the street.
Now, without any more beating
around the bush, want TO say few
things to you on this subject, and /
want to put 'em to you straight,
When you have read this letter once,
read II over again, and get it stuck
into your head, SO Ii won't Slip loose.
l wasn't around when you were
settin' UP TO Anna May, but I'll bet
pile of good hard dollars that you
were almighty particular how you
acted when you were in her pres
ence. There was nothing IN the
shape CT courtesy7that was any too
fine for her when yol come a-wooin'
You had all yonr graces, and some
out for her inspection. You had cid
Chesterfield beaten SO bad you could
see daylight bet.%geeeea. ye.i.. yi Yes, you
did. ] wasn't there, but I know.
That little girl you were exceed
ingly careful about then is your wife
now. but in the change she has lost
none OF her rights. She is Just as
much entitled to the observance OF
the forms of courtesy as before
More than then, for as your wife
she should hold a higher and more
honored place in your life than as
your sweetheart Yet | noticed last
week that you cid not lift your hat
when you met her downtown.
noticed that you allowed her 10 pick
her own way along the street. to
step up TO the curbstone without
any offer of assistance from you. |
noticed when we diner at the hotel
that you left her to grope through
the mysteries OF the menu unaided.
while you contemplated the most
desirable dishes for the satisfaction
of your own precious stomach. The
old man isn't asleep, my son, IL he
does nod occasionally after his
meals, and when | saw these little
signs of ingrowing seifishness It
worried me. Reminds me of a colt
my father used to own down on the
old farm. II was frisky critter,
as all colts arc, but father was very
proud OF IL and delighted in show
Ing IL to visitors. AS q rule, when
he wanted to exhibit the colt, it was
In the pasture, and one Of the most
vivid recollections of my boyhood