The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1917-02-20
THE IDLER.

er DAY NQal IS put uONu dS OIuoI
No. | by the Southern Railway, and
it is a thing that | have thought
about whole lot. Courtesy is Rule
No. l." Instructions to railway agents
and all employees of the company
contain the following:
"a railroad is first of all public
servant. 1t follows that the success
of a railroad as a business enterprise
depends, in a large measure, not only
upon the efficiency of the transporta-
ton it affords, but upon the personal
treatment which thuse doing business
with the railroad receive at the hands
of it's officers and employees
Now, that is true not only Of rail-
roads, but of every other public bu-
siness. You have seen men in pub
lie business, who seemed not to know
the first part of the rule of courtesy.
| have Sc, i them, and | have thought
that they should be plowing a mule
in a "new ground and then it woulu
make very little difference to the pub
lie, though the mule might suffer.
And that reminds me that some time
when l am feeling real good | want
to write an essay on efficiency. There
are lot of people who do not know
what that word means. l am goins
to take time some of these nights
when l am not sleepy, and take my
typewriter-my machine I mean-ill
my hands, and I am going to write
that essay, and 1 want every one to
read it, because it is going to worth
reading and preserving too.
Courtesy-What does that word
.,lean? Uld man Webster says: "to-
liteness; civility; urbanity; courtll-
ness. and then old man Milton uses
it in this connection:
And trust thy honest offered cour-
tesy,
Which oft is sooner found in lowly
sheds,
With smoky rafters, than in tapestry
walls
And courts of princes, where it first
was named
And yet is most pretended"
And | reckon old man Milton IS
pretty near correct, but it should pc
found everywhere, and it is 50 easy
and so valuable And yet, you know
these people who serve the public
have a pretty hard time keeping an
even temper, because there are b
whole. lot of people with whom they
have to deal who are not themselves
courtesy provoking. The man Or
woman in private life should be just
as courteous and polite as the man
in official position Take a railroad
station agent, and he has to answe;
a lot Of very silly and very foolish
questions, but if he is going to keep
his job he should expect such ques-
tions, and should always answer
them with politeness and so as To
make the questioner feel that very
important question had been pro-
pounded. For instance if one should
ask the agent, What time is your
2:40 train due?" it should be courte-
cusly answered, because no doubt the
question meant to be asked is, "Hhar
time is your 2:40 train eXpected?' or
"Is your 2:40 train On time?' AS d
rule, in what little travelling l have
had to do, l have found the people
who work for the railroads very nice
and courteous, but always try to be
courteous and polite myself That's
it. If you are polite the other fellow
will generally be courteous. After all
it is a personal equation and shoula
be worked out by each individual.
~
have received the following letter
from Another Old Fogy' and | recK-
on l am in their opinion something or
an old fogy myself to provoke first a
letter from an old fogy and then one
IL Olll duOllICI OIo AOSy. all SooAh5
to get down old man Webster and see
just what fogy means Well, here It
is, and l thought as much, anG /
know now that | am not it: "a dull
old fellow; a person behind the times.
over conservative, or slow usually
preceded by old" Here is what this
other old fogy says:
Mr.. Idler,
care The Herald and News
I also read your "wanderings' and
sometimes I agree with you ano)
sometimes I don't. You give some
pretty good advice sometimes but
then it is so much easier to give ad
vice than to follow it.
I notice an "Old Fogy'' has written
you in reference to present day man
ners. Now, my good Mr.. Idler, some
times think there are no present day
manners. I do a little going up and
down through the State via Southern
and occasionally the A. C. L. and Sea-
board, and I feel safe in saying that
the kind of manners your Old Fogy is