Omaha daily bee., 1914-12-23

girl should know how TO read-not elo-
cute. Heaven protect us ell from the
young woman who arises in company
and recltes' There arc few greater pests
in the world than she, but, on the other
hand, there Ia nothing more delightful
than the companionship OF one who is
able 20 read aloud TO you intelllgenuy
and sympathetically a passage from some
book or a news story from a paper. This
accomplishment is a very rare one. Not
one woman in a hundred can read aloud
so that you can understand what she Is
reading about. She doesn't understand Il
herself. and that's why so few have the
<reading habit.
Second. an accomplished girl should
know how to write. She should be taught
20 write a legible hand, and an interest
ing letter Nothing else in the world
does more to predispose US In a woman's
favor than for her to be a ready letter
writer. one who sends us a line of con-
gratulation when good fortune comes ouI
way, or a word of sympathy when sor.
TOW knocks at our door; who writes US a
graceful little note OF thanks for any
courtesy. and who shows that she keeps
our memory green when she is away
from Ills by an occasional letter.
Most people are guilty OF silences that
arc nothing less than brutal just because
they have never been taught how TO write
a letter, or skilled In the gentle art Of
notes. No attention is paid TO this in the
ordinary school. and yet how to write a
letter Is one OF the most important things
that a woman can know.
An accomplished girl should know how
to talk. Her voice should first be sand
papered and manioured or whatever /,
necessary to make IT agreeable to the ear
She should be tsught how TO laugh in
stead of giggle, and then she should be
taught how to talk. OF course. in It's
highest essence. conversation is as much
an inspiration as poetry; there are two
or three great principles that any girl
can master that will make her an inter
sting and agreeable companion.
she can he taught not to talk about
herself, her family her little amuse-
ments, the places she has been and To
always talk to other people about them
selves and their amusements, and their
families and their interests. Between
talking about my own golf score and
your golf record is the difference be-
tween being a bore and a brilliant con-
versatIonalist.
She can also be taught to listen in
diligently, and 10 think before she
' speaks, so that she will keep Off OF other
peoples pet corns, and will not converse
with a divorcee about matrimonial in
felicity, or ask one-leggcd man IL he
dances the fox trot
An accomplished girl should know
enough music to be able to play and sing
sufficiently well for parlor consumption,
which isn't high-browed in spite of all
that we pretend to the contrary She
should also know how to play a good
game of cards, so that she will not be
the despair OF hostesses, on lncite muir
der in the breast OF her partner when she
has TO fill in at a table OF bridge.
Talleyrand said long ago that every one
should learn to play a good game of
whist in their youth. so that they might
not pass a miserable old ago. Every
girl should learn to play good game OF
bridge nowadays, so that she may not
pass a miserable present as a wall
flower.
Finally, an accomplished girl should
know how TO cook and sew Whatever
else a girl may need OF not need to know
she is sure to have use for all the house
wifely accomplishment she can attain,
II she is rich she will be able TO run
her establishment better II she is 2
practical cook herself, and she can come
the nearer to getting the kind Of effects
she wants from her dressmaker IL she
knows how to make the garment herself
II she is poor, her ability to keep a good
table and dress wen depends entirely
upon her own skill and knowledge OF
how 10 cook and sew 1t is art that turns
a stew into a ragOut, and two dollars
worth of dry goods into a confection. and
no woman has a right 10 consider herself
an accomplished woman who can't CO
this.
It's a great thing TO he an accom-
plished girl, and It requires much knowl-
edge but the results are worth the ef-
fort.