The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1906-05-11
CULIvAT| I R.E|P0SE
FRIENDLY ADVICE TO THE F1D-
GETTY SCHOOLGIRL.
Serenity One Of the Most Charming
Of Giri;s.. Traits-Anger Foe to
Health and Happiness-The Art of
Sitting Still = Gentle Courtesy
Robs Life of It's Friction-As Ma
tion, We Are ALI Marching on the
Double Quick,

| : uOoOI Vcly uuCu WuStueT girls Ue.
| tween Ii and 16 ever appreciate the
Importance of knowing how to sit still.
This is one of the lessons we learn at
school, and 1t is fully as valuable as
any lesson in science or literature, or
any other department in which we arc
instructed. Girls are often fdgety,
jumping up and rushing about when
there is no need for restless activity,
and changing their posture until look
Ing at them is fatiguing to other peo-
pie. Unless we learn how to sit still
| when we are young, we seldom master
the art successfully when we are older.
can think of a famous man whose
name is honored wherever it is heard.
He has one fault of manner that he
has never overcome; he cannot sit still.
In a drawing room he wriggles and
hdgets and actually when excited
bounces up and down like ball, and
wise hostesses invariably take the pre-
caution to seat him in their strongest
chairs. In church he slips down III
front of the pew, leans his head on
the railing, comforts himself in queer
for his neighbors and annoyance to the
minister. All this could have been al
tered had anybody taken pains to teach
the man how to sit still in his boyhood
One of the most charming things iii
girlhood is serenity. 1t would pay
father should he spend much money
In having his pretty daughter laugh.
outward repose.
"How can be calm and placid?"
asks Josephine, when l am bubbling
up and effervescent inside? How cau
l look tranquil when I am angry AMI
disturbed?"
The questions are we'll put, although
they touch opposite aspects of the case.
1t is natural that girls should be bub-
bling up with gaiety and high spirits.
A dull, stupid girl, who has no fun in
her and who does not care about good
times is so exceptional that we are
sure she is i'll and, if we are sensible,
send for the doctor to look her over
and tell us what to do. But one may
be bright and cheerful, may laugh AMI
be merry, and yet be SO self-restrainei
that she will not let her fun break In
upon the quiet of her friends, or so ia:
forget herself as to force it upon them,
If they are in different mood A girl
who has learned to sit still controls
her fun just as she does every othe-
act and state of body and mind.
AS to being angry and disturbed, I
must say plainly that such tempers in
girlhood are very unwholesome. Anger
in most circumstances is foe to
health and happiness, and is like q
snake in the grass or an enemy within
the gates in its effect upon character.
Very few people can afford to indulge
anger. 1t is the most poisonous and
upsetting of passions, and leads to no
end Of misery. Neither should a girl
let herself be disturbed when things
go little wrong. They are bound to 20
wrong now and then, and when they
do we must be philosophical and make
the best of it, You remember Charles
Dickens and his "Five-and-Twenty
Tattycorum" The absurd name be-
longed to a charity child, who lived in
the house of philosopher, and when
she threw herself into a fit of frenzy.
as she sometimes did, the good man
told her to count five and twenty be-
fore she said single word. Some Of
us would have to county five and twer-
ty several times before we had quite
conquered our vexation, especially if
we had never learned how to wait and
be patient. The wise man said in the
Proverbs, Better is he that ruleth his
spirit than he that taketh city," AMI
no truer word was ever spoken.
One advantage given to girls who
learn to dance and to boys who are
taught military tactics is found in the
control they gain over their muscles,
and the flexibility and poise that come
through movement in harmony with
rhythm and law. An equal advantage
would be gained should girls and BOYS
practice sitting still. AS, however, we
hardly expect so much repose in the
brothers as in the sisters, the latter
must try to set the finer examples.
In the art of sitting still may be COM
pretended the low tone that is so de-
lightful thing in speech, and the
gentle courtesy that robs life of fric.
ton. l am constantly hearing people
say that they are too busy to do this
or the other thing, that they are so
hurried that they cannot get through
the days tasks, and that they are tired
before the day begins with the mere
thinking of what they have to do.
Hurry has intruded into the air VIZ
breathe, and we go whirling through
the world as If we were horses on =
race track. When ferry boat is abour
to arrive at the dock, or a train an
proaches the station, the passengers
spring to their feet and hasten out nell
NELL, as II life depended on their
crowding out together and not losing
an instant's time. AS a nation we are
all marching on the double-quick. Il
is fortunate for school girls that thew
are Obliged to enter and leave class
'rnAma ,vifI Ordor ouH ,,,oS3n.o k1o. M. .