New-York tribune., 1922-12-10

- intelligence and the imagination Of
most Of us are limited, | suspect, in the
matter of selecting appropriate gifts, and
our deficiency is a source Of annual recur-
rent pain and embarrassment. The technique
Of aseertaining what will delight and sur
prise and confer a most delicate compliment
upon the recipient is probably special gift
for pleasing, which demands Of its possessors
taet and alertness and patience. II means
overhearing, OF giving attention TO, chance
remark wherein the tone Of the voice, the
light in the eyes. the expression about the
mouth indicates for the briefest moment that
that person would be happy in the possession
Il some triHe she mentions; it means over
hsaring or finding out at another time the
dsss of an anniversary, a birthday; and hav-
M procured the trhe without delay. waiting
ssne times months for the appropriate oe-
tssiOn and dispatching the gift.
Some very rare beings arc able to choose
the right gifts by instinct or by species
Of mind-reading or divination; they are Just
born that way, and we who are not. cannot
hope to equal them. A decent sort Of sub
stitute for il may be acquired by experience
or by attention 20 the experience Of some
one else Let me give you three personal
6 happenings which, like the book Of etiquette,
shows the wrong, the not quite perfect and
tic perfect way to give. was IN
distant city and as is often the way Of mar
ried men when they are little uneasy in
their conscience over the fun they are having,
| suddenly bethought myself that | should
take home a nice present which would rec
If T..
for staying home and caring for the
children while was gallivanting around ho-
tells and theaters, meeting lot OF jolly
people and having a regular lark. Chat was
q wrong reason for selecting gift IN the
first place: giving should be prompted by
desire to please, not as a salve to ones con-
science or in a barter-and-trade discharge OF
hebts) Well. inquired where the most chic
apparel for women might be found. had
made up my mind wanted to buy blouse
The FIRST question the saleswoman put to me
-"What size, please ?"--convicted me as an
utter dunderhead in the technique OF giving
Il had never occurred 10 me TO find out "hat
size clothes my wife wore, and had TO con-
iess as much to the saleswoman. rs sne
about nv size? she inquired, and more out
Of fright lest she should try on the waist
wanted 70 buy than out Of appraisal OF her
approximation TO my wife's size, said: mo-
simmer and more petite" and cast my eyes
anxiOusly about the room for face tnA'
bore some slight. some vague resemblance 70
ny wifes. and having found one l pointeo
her ont. "Oh, then she wears about size
lsrty. Nov, what would you likeT Ihete
muore narrowing details, but at last PAID
Ehopping price for a size forty piece u
iindmade lace, and a few days later was
lasking in a feeling of virtue and seh-sauS
faction while my wife excitedly unpaekea
blouse which turned out to be just SIX sizes
600 bic and which she could not return
make down. or wear-just a total loss aim0s'
even to my self-respect.
NTOW for the almost perfect. Some months
IN ago was reminiscing to Grant OVer'o"
over the pleasure I had derived out Oh 'ns
two volumes Of memoirs and Reeords' Dy
the late Lord Fisher. a grand and glorious ola
sea doe who for all his British Admiralty
Uniform might have commanded Voysseus
ship or erulsed with Drake on pira'e r~'u'
along the Spanish Main blunt no-non,
sense, no hub-dub sort Of man, with rig'o
principles and convictions, nerves hke steer
limited but superb intelligence forged IN ms
, will, and put to the service Of truth and ia'f-
ness as he saw il. he was the sort OF ieiio"
who was so well in command Of himself 30
Courageous and so single-track-minded tnat
he told them all where to get of, king, prime
ministers. peers and whatnot. He wrote
imagine inst as he talked; gruIily, emphatl-