Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1913-01-03
MANNERS OF AS.
Etiquette as 1t Was Explained b,
a Society of Gentlemen"
PUZZLED OVER ONE POINT.
This Was a Satisfactory Definition
That Would Apply to the Art of Con-
versation-A Unique Primer on Good
Behavior.


versation-A Unique Primer on Good
Behavior.
There are those who sneer at the nice
ties of etiquette. but at no time in the
history of the world have these been
regarded as unimportant. Social Gus
toms and usages have greatly changed,
indeed. even in the brief space of q
Journal observes. the twentieth CEN
fury should suddenly by pumped down
i'll the middle of the thirteenth few
would know how to behave.
a little book on THE Art of Convers-
ing was published in 1916, and in the
brief space of ninetyfour pages con-
veys remarkable amount of social in
formation. The title page informs us
that it was written for the instruction
of youth in the polite manners and Ian.
guage of the drawing. room by a society
Of gentlemen" The society Of gentle
men remains anonymous, but none the
less worthy of respect. To read the
volume is to convince oneself that
these were real gentlemen.
No essential consideration bearing
on the subject is overlooked by the
compiers, who seem to have been in
novators i'll their day. They say that
they have not been able to find a sat-
isfactOry definition of conversation.
I'VE have sought in vain for q Salts
factory definition; we have sought in
vain for a code Of regulations, adapt
ed to instruct in the exercise of this
strangely neglected branch Of human
influence. Such may exist in the Chi.
nese language or in some dialect of
Hipdustan, but we are ignorant of
any European authority to which ref
erence can be made as guide to the
art Of conversing."
Their ignorance is plainly not due to
lack of reading. They give a transla-
ton of scene from Moliere to show
how a gentleman should conduct him
self in an interview with a creditor
surely one Of the most difficult forms
of conversation. This scene furnish
es good lesson for one who finds
himself in that most uncomfortable
of all situations, the being dunned
without the ability to pay and who
wishes to rid himself In a polite man
ner of the inconsiderate opportunities
of certain persons who outrage all
rules Of propriety by presuming upon
their fancied superiority over an I'M
fortunate debtor" Why should low
fellow speak rudely to you simply be-
cause you owe him money? TO the
Society of Gentlemen the idea is we'll
nigh inconceivable. 'Suavity and mild
language is equally as effectual," the
ingenious authors add. with some
slight disregard of grammar, "as an
angry or sullen Tone in escaping from
disagreeable visitors"
Upon less occasional subjects the
manual is admirably explicit. polite
ness is a social passport all over the
world" THE finger should never be
used to point at any one whom you
may be speaking Of to another" or,
as the heroine Of "The Gondoliers'' put
the case, ITS very impolite to point"
Measured and formal movements Of
the hands are altogether out Of place
in conversation" The habit of Selling
person by the coat or slapping him on
the shoulder is justly reprobated. We
like, too, this advice upon the matter
of reading:
'It will be necessary to repair by
reading the daily losses made in the
world by conversation and to select
those writings alone which may be
made the most available.
Nearly all of the novels and ro-
mances, particularly those laid upon
the shelf, are unsuitable for perusal,
serving only to cucumber the mind,
but an acquaintance with those which
are for the time fashionable, with some
knowledge of the author and Of his lit
erary existence, would not be useless.
Information contained in the daily
journals, although in many cases OF
but little substantial value, is Of gen.
eral interest and should not be neglect
ed, and particular attention ought to be
paid to the records Of marriages and
deaths, as ignorance on these subjects
has frequently led to awkward and I'M
happy errors"
In these days, of course, the records
of divorces ought not to be ignored. 1t
may be very awkward and unhappy in"
daod nor to know of these
On such delicate subjects as convers
ing with women, with strange travel
ing companions, with persons one
meets in the street, there is also abua-
dant information.
Afraid IL Miuht Miss.