El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-27

{" He third slgnbOard on the road 10
popularity is marked Tact. and
only those who follow the point
ing finger on it may hope to ever arrive
at the goal of their desire.
All of Us have our personal preserves
hedged about with placards that read
Keep Off the Grass" and our fellow
creatures ignore these a their peril. 1t
is possible to forgive an enemy who de-
liberately does US an injury, but no
body has grace enough to forgive
friend who wounds his tenderest SuS-
capabilities through sheer laundering
carelessness.
OF course, the tactIess claim that an
instinct for doing and saying the right
thing at the right time comes by ma
tuEe, as DOgberry thought knowledge
Of reading and writing did. Perhaps IN
its finest form tact is genius, but any
body who wiz take the trouble can ac-
quire a reasonable working capital OF
it.; that viii be enough to insure the
liking Of all Of those with whom
they are thrown in contact
As q matter Of fact, there is no eX-
cuse for. anyone. who is not a cOngeni-
tive idiot, or afflicted with paresis. not
being tactful, for in its last analysis
tact is nothing but taking thought OF
what viii be pleasing to the party OF
the second part.
What apology, for instance, can the
bull in the conversational china snOp
offer, even 10 himself, for asking
and in a penitentiary, where her boy
is2 He viii say that he didn't think,
but it was his business to think. PeO-
pie who are incapable Of coherent
thought should be locked up in padded
cells, and not be permitted 10 ravage
The Clumsy Person.
This is scarcely an extreme illustra-
ton. All Of US know people who have
a fatal facility for putting their clumsy
fingers right on the sore spots in our
hearts. If there is anything unpleas-
ant or disgracefuI in your family life
you can count upon their making it
the subject Of their conversation. If
there is a secret sorrow, so terrible
to look upon that YOU only open your
closet in the darkness Of the night to
gaze upon it, they are dead sure to
ruthlessly drag it out in the first crowd
in which you happen to meet
If you are trying to blind yourself TO
a husbands unfaithfulness they feel It
their duty to come and tell you that
they saw him out with peroxide
blonde who looked young enough to be
his own daughter. If you have a child
whose afflicuon you deny even to your
self, they ask you if you don't think
that little Johnnie is very slow learning
TO talk, or If you've ever suspected that
little Mary has curvature Of the spine.
II you are struggling to keep up ap-
pearances and make one dollar look
like five, they compliment you on how
cleverly you have disguised your year
nELDL H-4ebL nat ana AlQQen LLG MDEn
spot in the rug under the sofa.
It's no use telling yourself that these
people are not malicious, and that they
did not deliberately stab you in the
most vital point on purpose. It's no
use in trying to convince yourself that
they are really well meaning, kind
hearted. dull blunderers, who. as the
lrishman says, never open their mouths
without putting their feet into them.
1t cannot possibly make any differ
ence to a corpse whether it was shot
by accident or design. Nor does Il
make any difference to your wounded
and Iacerated feelings whether they
have been ground to a pulp by a fool
or a villain.
Use Common Sense.
Unless man or woman has enough
intelligence to know what to talk about
he or she has no right to intrude in
civilized society and inflict himself o.
herself upon innocent and defencelesz
people. Common gossip keeps all Of US
reasonably well informed about the pri-
vate affairs Of our neighbors, and IL we
wish to associate with them it is our
duty to bear in mind what subjects
are taboo to them and what topics are
pleasing.
This is the most elemental form Of
tact and yet IL is amazing how few
people have ever acquired the first |
principle of this kindergarten diplo-
macy.
If we would be liked we must also
use tact in dealing with our friends
opinions and prejudices. Heaven alone |
knows why some people can't be salts /
fled to have their own religion and poll |
tics and tastes, without being perfectly /
insulting to everybody who differs from I
them.
Nevertheless such is the case and /
there is nobody that is more cordially /
hated than the man or woman who feels ]
called upon to sneer at our religion and /
deride our views and sniff at the things /
we like 10 do.
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to the |
use Of tact is that many people consider /
1t witty to say sharp, cutting things l
that put other people in the wrong. OF /
make them look foolish. To make 1
bon mot they would ALLEVIATE a friend. j
and to raise a laugh they would wound /
the most inOffensive person in the 1
world.
Such people delight in being thought /
original. and unconventional, and pecu-
liar. They always take the opposite side !
of every subject under discussion. and ]
never fail to point out to anyone who {
has made a mistake where he Numbered,