Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-09-28

I came 80 near being Seasick
in my life as ! did las,
"Wednesday night The boat didn't exactly
pitch. you know but Il made that funny
motion. up and down and back and
/ forth. And every once In a while we
could hear queer whir, and that, the of
fcers said, was the screw going around
out of the water when the boat pitched
forward. And the deck steward
| brought me the incest BIT OF grilled
i'chicken. and 1 just couldn't touch IL.
/ didn't eat q thing for two whole
, days hut an orange and some beer
tea"
Do Not Boast.
And the friends look politely inter
ested. But they are not. Who would
| be? They are simply bored. IL they
have travelled they want to discuss
hotels and towns and routes and PEG
pie: il they have nor Travelled they
want you to tell them something thai
will give them n real idea about what
| Europe is like-not about what you
were like. in Europe. and on that
pitching trip homeward.
Few persons care to hear about the
| time you beat the Assyrian on the Rue
| de RivoH down a franc on the price
of the pink gauZe scarf you are bring
| ing to: Helen or Jane Few care TO
know what you had to eat in that
1 wonderful garden of the hotel on the
4 Lake of Geneva. Few care whether
! the ships doctor going over had gray
or blue eyes. And nobody wants to
know how near you came to being
| seasick.
y Remember these things when you-reach
| home again. OF course, if you are nor
NAL, you are interested in every event
/ of your trip to Europe. The little shop
tla.a1 ix-a1x Dor iSi1
| oughfare can never be equaled, TO your
| thinking, for interest. The luncheon on
| that Genevan terrace was a feast FOR
| the goddesses of Olympus, In your mind
| Juno and Venus and all the rest Of
| them.
Remember the Fun.
And the ships doctor-well. who
wouldn't have been interested In any
one as kind and clever and charming as
| he, especially when his eyes were such
| wonderful shade Of blue-or was Il
| gray, after allY And as for that Wed
| nesday nght-no one who has not lived
| through it can ever realize. of course
| what an awful night 1t was.
| Granted, all these things. But keep
your precious knowledge OF them To
yourself. or else talk them over wit
| some one who travelled with you.
All this advice does not mean that It is
good policy not to talk about your trip
| TO Europe Every one VIII De 1nteTeSteg
| in it-in some phases of it,
| Remember the jokes on yourself. and
| tell them. Things like that always in
| tereSt your friends. The time that the
| Berlin cabby drove you around and
! around the same square for half an hour
| because you did not know the city and SO
| did not know where you were going. will
| interest some of your friends.
| So will the story Of the inn keeper IN
| England who charged you a pound too
much, and the story OF the time you or
| dered cabbage for dessert in a French
| restaurant because your French vocabu
| larry failed you at crucial moment and
| you thought ''chouX' must be some thing
| light and fluffy; else. why We're the cab
! bage-like rosettes of tulle ever called
chouX?
Gift Giving.
There is one way of boring your friends
with your trip beside the telling OF in
significant details concerning ii. That is
in the giving of gifts.
The habit that has grown up of giving
a little memento to nearly all ones
friends. and even to some OF one
enemies, is bad one There is rea-
son under the sun, of course, why
should burden ourselves with the buying
and carrying of gifts for every one We
know, just because We are fortunate f.
enough to go to Europe while they stay
at home. But the habit has grown up.
in spite OF the arguments against it, and
we are all bound to some extent b.
habit
But remember. before it is too late.
that ii is better not to give any gifts
to your friends than to give unaccepr-
able ones. Don't give away the odds
and ends that you would not like your
self-the little nicknacks that you would
never buy for any purpose, but the ill
ing of an unwelcome obligation.
There is no necessity for expensive
gifts of course. But a framed postcard
of some beautiful bit of scenery or inter
esting building makes a much more ac-
ceptable gift than a little memento made
of shells or bark glued together and
labeled with the name of the place from
which they come.
So IL you have any OF these dust-col-
lecting perfectly useless and hideous
mementoes throw them away or else
give them to child who has a mu-
scum" or is making a collection OF any
thing under the sun from anywhere And
instead. give to your friends a cheerful
greeting and an interesting description
of your trip.
They may feel sighted because they
receive no gift They will not feel so
badly as they would feel l. you brought
them an impossible keepsake that for
courtesy's sake. they would have to Keep
fx,r fau a