Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1908-08-28
where Courtesy Reions

The brutal treatment accorded the
four women suffragists who trespass-
ed upon the sacred puriiens Of Wall
street led to the widespread reflection
that this was an age which would see
the death Of courtesy, as the genera
tion now passing cav the decline of
chivalry. In the eager rush for money,
1t was observed, men were leaving
their manners behipd. Courtesy an d
chivaIry take time, Ind in a day of
rapid living time means money!
thing too valuable to be sacrificed to
personal feelings.
Let any one who hold this pessimis-
tic view of the time take little trip
southwark into that traditional land
of romance and hospitality and gentle
manners, some time lovingly called
the Old Dominion He will gain
broader knowledge Of some of the
ideals that pertain in his own time.
He will find his optimism revived. He
will discover that the milk of kind
ness still flows in human breasts and
that the struggle for money does not
dry up the stream. Though chivalry
in the southland no longer faunts IL
self in glittering apparel, nor makes
its old extravaganza display, difference
toward woman is still reality.
Woman has not yet, in Virginia,
sought to usurp the place of man, and
she is still accorded the homage man
has ever loved to pay the gentler sex.
But the courtesy of virginians is
not confined to their conduct toward
women. Nor is 1t an attribute sacredIy
kept by the gentlemen of the old
SCHOOL, and the upper classes
Courtesy seems TO be the unfailisg
pleasure of the humble and the exalt-
| ed alike. 1t is universal. The stranger
receives it, the old beggar,woman, the
simple citizen, the barefoeted child IN
the streets, the hustling drummer for
Northern trade and the watermelon
huckster-all are given kindly thought
and courteous treatment.
The traveller is especially impressed
with Virginia courtesy. The railroad
employees are eager to minister to his
comfort. The street-car conductors
hasten with urfailing cheerfulness to
render him personal assistance. The
BARRIERS, the bell boVs, the newsboys,
and the serving women at the stations
smllingly go out Of their way to oblige
stranger. And-mirabile dictu!-
the waiter is infected with the same
epidemic Of courtesy. He who In the
Northern hostelres leaves no meaning
gieam of his baleful eye. undone in his
determination to exercise a tip from
his helpless victim, apparently does
what he does for the comfort of Vir-
ginia's guest because he loves to do it.
He does not refuse the tip, but DIS
whole manner says plainly that the
small bonus is ne pay for what he did
only through good feeling. 1t Is truth
as refreshing as it is startling that the
favors so graciously and even eagerly
bestowed upon the sojournsr by the
serving people are all offered, with that
spontaneous cheerfulness which dis
claims any such expectancy as money
in exchange for them.
Such courtesy is an unfailing de-
light to the traveller in Virginia. 1t
accounts to him for the cheerful social
instinct found in the State, tor the al
most sacred love of home and home
folk found among Virginians. 1t
makes amends for many little incon-
veniences he also is likely to come
across. Above all. it leaves him better
for the influence it has upon his own
spirit. The growing industrial life Of
the State convinces him that courtesy
as = universal custom is not at all In
com patible with Incorporating and
business pregress-Washiag ton Pest.