The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-21
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
PoIiteness In Elevators.

1
 liteness in Elevators" in the Hotel Lob
 bies column of Fridays Age-Herald
 should be read, and passed without fur
 ther notice, by well-bred people of this
 community and request that you pub
 fish this communication, declaring the
 resentment of such agitation by at least
 one person.
 "In the first place the use of the word | never" Is little too broad. in the
 sentence Masculine natives never un-
 cover in an elevator in cities of the
 north and east" I was raised in one of the large cities of the north and yet
 I was true to the teaching of mother
 bred in the good old Blue Grass region , and the presence of ladies called down my cap whether in the house, at the
 threshold, in the office or in the ele vator.
 Admitting, however, that to a great ex- tent this custom obtains as also does
 the custom of keeping his seat in a l crowded car with ladies standing, yet
 the south may well mourn the day when
 such i'll manners are advocated here. It | Is this same spirit of selishness and disregard of others that has grown to such an extent in New York city that | 1t IS often necessary for patron of | the street cars to hold up in his fingers a piece of silver in order for the motor
 man to stop for him. Right here I wish
 to say a word in appreciation of the kindness and politeness of the motormen and conductors who were employed by the Birmingham Railway, Light and l Power company, up to the time they were | locked out by that company.
 The aggravated impoliteness above men toned is practiced in these large cities
 in the name of "business." The average
 New Yorker is actually ''too busy" to say No, sir" in place of the harsh No" and the word please has been i left out of their vocabulary He is thus | too busy to have any reverence for his 1 mother and sisters. It cannot be denied 1 that much of this spirit comes from the terribly mixed population of these great cities and in a great many cases the im- migrants who have made up this popu- i laton are from families whose ideas of good manners are much below the aver
 age of their own country. It is already |
 tho good manners of this section by the
 habits and customs brought from the north and east ince the Influx from those north and east since the influx from those 1 let the noble manhood and womanhood Of this section rise In resentment of these customs and let us perpetuate the far famed reverence for womanhood of the 1 southland. Let not the excuse of "busi- i ness" be so elastic as 10 cover so man | fold indignities as it covers in the sec | tions above mentioned. 1 fail to recall
 one instance where politeness ever lost
 anything in a business transaction.
 In the article in Fridays paper 1t was | stated that the lady was young and
 handsome" Now with all due respect to 1 the gentleman in the case I will say | that it is remarkably ridiculous how men I wil remove their hats in elevators where
 is present a young and handsome lady, yet a dear old lady with worn face and : attire without the presence of her young ] CT sister. finds TOT some reason the same l gentlemen with their hats tight on their | heads This is certainly amusing. | would like to say further that it
 
 the man in the case to have waited for 1 the next car and not overcrowded that i one to that extent. and knowing that
 he was to go within three stories of the
 top of the building should have taken 1 up his place near the rear of the ele-
 vator, and I am sure the person with
 whom he had an appointment would have l excused him the extra minutes delay upon
 becoming acquainted with gentleman cf
 such forethought and unseltshness. There | seems to be a growing tendency for peo- I pie to hang right on to the front portion | Of the elevators. and in view of the fact l that several more skyscrapers are plann-
 ed for Birmingham, we should get the
 habit of taking up our places in the ele- vators according to floors so that all car get out with as little discomfort as pos sible
 At any rate preserve the fair name oi | noble womanhood and gallant manhood
 of the south A. c. SULLIVAN. | Birmingham, Ala, September 20. 1907