Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-13


three smokers seats present an envlabis
and irresistible opportunity for progressive
women to advance the interests OF their
sex. The point of view of these women Is.
and OF course should be, that the ruffians
OF men who occupy these three rear seats
for smoking purposes have no conceivable
right On earth to so indulge themselves.
The question naturally presents itself to
women thus inspired with the idea OF ele-
waiting their sex In the opinion of males.
why should any particular section OF a
car be reserved for men. when no particular
section Is correspondingiy reserved for
women"
The logic Of such a question being ire
futable, 1t is in the highest degree proper
and In the very choicest OF form for women
to totally neglect the virtually unoccupied
seats In the forward part of the open cal
and squeeze themselves in alongside the
men in the smoking seats. This having
been accomplished. II is etiquette for them
to begin to sniff and scowl at the smoking
loafers. who will. 1t has been shown. al
once proceed to look humble and act un-
comfortable. The men will look hangdog
and guilty and skulkish, and some OF them
will attempt to hide or conceal from the
general View whatever they may be smok-
ing. contenting themselves with only oc-
casional furtive puffs. When. In such
circumstances. the woman who has squeezed
herself deliberately in among the smoners
succeeds, by glarng and glowering. in
making man with a quite expensive
freshly lighted cigar toss the same away
In very shame. such a woman may well
preen herself with having achieved a no
inconsiderable moral victory.
1t Is not considered exactly out OF form
though Individually slightly ultra so to
speak-for women of a more emancpatcd
character who deliberate nudge into the
smoking seats to make verbal comments
as If to themselves, upon the disgusting
character Of the practice which causes thu,
occupants of the three rear seats to herd
therein. This, however. is somewhat liable
hn dol hpal oh.
pare. in their minds. such emancipated
women with Mrs. Carrie Nation.
In spite of the quite prevalent notion that
the activities of Mrs. Carrie Nation are
sufficiently inclusive TO make one exponent
of such activities a-plenty for one hcmi-
sphere. 1t is nevertheless within the prov
ince of women purposely invading the
smokers seats to take their own View in
a matter of pure taste and purpose such
as this is. Nor should the mere fact
that this invasion of the smokers seats
by women for the willful purpose Of max
ing the men uncomfortable has a tendency
to make the ruffians grouchy and somewhat
less inclined to be respectful to women In
general be taken into consideration at all.
Males who occupy the smokers seats there
by forfeit the right to think thinks Of this
or any other kind, and this fact should he
closely borne in mind by individualistic
women who decline to sit where they be
long in the open car because they don't
have to.
Move Up, Please"
The fact that the seats of the open car
are built and devised to hold five persons
shouldn't be taken into consideration at
all by those who have already obtained
seats. For example, when there are only
four persons seated In one of the seats and
some tired looking person. who has been
waiting for a long time at a street corner.
glances wistfully at the vacant seat. no
aft hat Ia DO lk-
four persons already ensconced to make
room for the wistful one. The fifth person
Is an interloper. anyhow, and should be so
considered He doesn't belong. In such
instances all four occupants of the seat
where there is vacancy should initiate the
invariable conduct OF the end seat person.
That is to say. they should sit completely
rigid, staring straight in front of them.
If, in the face of such Encouragement, the
tired one DESTROYS of getting home or
somewhere else, persists in attempting To
squeeze into the seat. all of the four al
ready pumped in the seat should con
duct themselves to make 1t perfectly
obvious to the mentality OF the flfth one
that he Is very intrusive and disagree
able person, a sort Of combination of but
tinski and social pariah.
No effort whatever should be made To
give such one any part of the room which
Is really coming to him as the purchaser
Of seat. The other four should remain
just as they were, the women with their
the sides of them, and the men with their
le-er-limbs wide apart thus forcing the
fifth one to sit upon a space about three
inches wide, and upon the very edge OF the
seat, at that. The idea underlying this Is
that the intrusive fifth one should really
wait for the next car, or the next one. after
that. 1t shouldn't make any difference to
the other four in the seat IL the prospect
Is that he might have to wait till next
Thursday week for a seat. They are al
ready in their seats. with plenty of room
for themselves, and that ought to be all
there is to 1t.
German Cologne all over herself before
leaving home and the man who gets his
hair soused in some rancid sort Of bay rum
at the barber shop, should always strive
to get places In the very forwardest seat
Of the open car, and the man with the
bay rum-soaked hair should invariably
hold his hat in his hand throughout the
journey. The effiuvia thus shed upon all Of
the passengers in the other seats fills them
with visions Of the islands of lotus and
of crime.
Turn-Around Conversation.
When you espy somebody you know In
the seat behind you and desire to engage
that person In conversation upon a multi
tude of wholly personal and indeed inti-
mate topics, 1t is the correct form for you
to twist around In your seat, thus scoonch
ing UP the persons on either side of you.
and then bawl your conversation at the
top of your voice at your friend In the
rear seat. This gives the rest of the pas
sengers something to think about. and you
need never have the least doubt that you
are that something.
There are, Of course. a number of other
features of open car etiquette that might
be dwelt upon, but these are the main
ones a careful observance of which will
cause the patrons of the open cars to have
all kinds of a nice time with themselves
and their neighbors during the long.
dreamy Washington summer.
CLARENCE l.. CULLEN.