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Show :-ff t -M--f-b:f X Disquisition on Goo ; Manners in Street Cars -j- . BY RUDOLPH R. SCHULDER, JR. fi HOULD a man be chlvalrlc on a street car?" ' After 1 soliloquizing upon modern street car etiquette and the decay of pretty manners In tho street car girl, and after comparing the mannish ways and attire of the present up-to-date gJrl with the pretty modesty of her sister of "a generation, j ago, I was prompted to put the foregoing fore-going question to the Professor. "Yes," answered the venerable man, who ls ever willing that I should profit from his wisdom nnd rich experience, "but why do you say chlvalrlc InsFead of gentlemanly? I think the latter word Is preferable. Chivalry ls something of a bygone day. and tho word always Impresses ma with a martial Idea. It included In the feudal days a valorous spirit In Its "meaning as well as courtesy cour-tesy In the treatment of woman by man. Not taking Into consideration the military significance of the word I should say Its equivalent in this age would be gentility. For the knight of tho feudal period we have the gentleman gentle-man of today." His habit of taking up every little slip In my faulty expression and getting get-ting oft on a tangent, however Informal the discourse, I always considered the Professor's ono great fault. But I know from experience that It was best to let him answer my questions In hl3 own elaborate way and I merely said: "That is quite true, but will you give me some idea of what ls expected of a man with gentlemanly pretentions?" "The word 'gentleman' ls not easily defined. Like chivalry, gentility lm- plles self-sacrifice, and the sign of the true gentleman ls the deference he displays dis-plays at all times toward all women." I was thinking of the girl, who, that same day, had swished her clothing and herself down Into ,the seat I had vacated va-cated on the car without so much even a nod of the head or a smile and I Interrupted him with: "But, Professor, ls there-not a difference differ-ence between the courtesy of a gentleman gentle-man and the servility of a slave?" "I hardly understand?" and he raised, then lowered his heavy eyebrows. i-ct mo 1'xpiuin wjm a -concrete case," I went on, "say for example, 1 have managed to get aboard one ot those little, bucking South Temple street cars; the car ls crowded and 1 get settled down In the one available seat when an Amazon ('a young lady," the Professor corrected me), gels on at State street; I Immediately arise-and, clutching for a strap, proffer my seat to her; without deigning to notice -my courtesy in the slightest sho pounces down Into the seat, considering It all as a mere matter-of-course. Now, wouldn't a man bo a fool to offer his seat to such a one again?" "Well, that all depends. There Is no denying the decline of pretty manners In the twentieth century girl, but there are too many exceptions, too many truly feminine mannered and thoughtful thought-ful girls to place them all in the same category. It Is far better to treat with politeness those that are undeserving than to be Impolite to a single well-mnnnercd well-mnnnercd girl. "Thoughtfulness In woman corresponds cor-responds to self-sacrifice on tho part of the man," the Professor continued. "While you are deploring conditions, let me Cito a little Incident that I observed ob-served tho other day. As In your case the car was crowded; directly In front of me wero sitting a young lady and her escort; a woman boarded the car H and before she had evea attempted to H grasp a strap the young man offered B her his seat, which she accepted with M appropriate grace. Soon artcr one of iN two ladies occupying a seat toward the R front of tho car got up nnd alighted. H Then It was that the other young wo- H man displayed her thoughtfulness. She ffl aroso and moved to the vacated seat In II order that the young man might alt :;lj with his companion." E "I have ncvor doubted the Professor's BJ veracity, but still I am somewhat of H the opinion that he merely observed ' 1 such an opportunity presented to a H young lady and Imagined the rest H about her thoughtfulness. The Profes- ) sor waited for an answer, but I didn't fill havo one ready and he spoke again: : ffl) "You do not grasp my meaning. I'll m give you another Instance that is r II littlo different, but that will no doubt B clear matters up. It was on a Saltair II train a few nights ago. A friend of I mine from the South was on the train. I In company with his wife, ho ocoupied II a seat In ono of tho closed cars and dl- j H rectly above him towered the heads of j H two women who wero standing in the ' ffi aisle. I observed that my friend was I jH more or less perturbed over something ! H I wondered why ho did not offer hl 111 seat to the young Nyoman, who had cvl- j Hfj dently been dancing and was tired. i MI "Ho afterward explained to me that ! he was never so uncomfortable In his D life, but that he felt that ho could not ) 'ffil give up his seat because one of the ! Mu young women had been so Impolite as 1 H to hint for the courtosy before he had 'HI been given the opportunity of extend- WH lng it." 1 jllH "I can Imagine Just how your friend ! JBII felt," I Interrupted him. He went on: Vu "To ho sure it was the height of im- , 'H propriety for the young women to In- jWII tlmate In any way that they expected Ma the seat, but still because a woman hus Wfi less respect for herself than have Hl others ls not sufficient Justification for I J Iptl a man to be impolite. Injustice to HI himself as a gentleman, my' friend H should havo offered his seat to tHe I iS ft young women. He "As you would havo your mother or Hl your sister treated Just so should you treat all women." I i |
