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Show I What , I I a Girl I May Do I The girl who baa cultivated the spirit of thankfulness does not gush over at tba girt of a delay, and snap an, Indignant 'Tbanka!' at tha man who baa lost a day from the ornce to gratify ber little whim, writes Kdward L. Pell In tbe Woman's Home Companion. Com-panion. Of course those mothers of ours bad their whims, and ex ercised the priceless privileges ol thougtitlcHsncna and snapping now and then, as girls, and other than rlrla. hnVc always done; but I think It cannot be denied that the girl of a generation ego had a ronselenrn on the s-ili.'e:! of debts of gratitude such aa few have bad since her day. t have said Dial I am afrnld that with many of us today It la a lot art. I am. sure that It la not given that prominence which It once had, and that It Is net cultivated with the enthusiasm en-thusiasm with whic h It once wan Girls are taught what etiquette sayi about It, but etiquette deals only from the llpa out sard, and the result li that even our langliaue te la the story of the decadence of thatUisglvlng. A traveler from Mars might hear our Thanks!'' a million times and never suspect that It was meant as an acknowledgment ack-nowledgment of a favor. I am surs that up to. say, a dmen years ago, la those pnrta of our country where gallantry gal-lantry haa held out longest, one could not give up a sent In a car without being aurn of a full return In an acknowledgment ac-knowledgment that meant to acknowledge ac-knowledge something, and that today to-day the average mnn la utterly upset and Undone when bis ears catch tbt old sweet sound. I Of course this does not Justify or account for tbe current lack of gnN lantry among men. but I am not engaged en-gaged In the hopeless Inak of reatortn men to the old paths, but In the hopeful hope-ful one of pointing out a neglected talent which the most charming of girls may cultivate with good results I am not grumbling. I do not mean lo say that tha girl of the period la one whit behind the girl of the paat I do not believe In the d cidere - of women I believe that the girl of todav Iseujji lo tbe girl her mother used to be. but 1 do not believe that It le enoujb to any of our girls that they are squal to tho girls of tha past any more than It Is enough to Say of a flower that has hud the beat attention of the beat florlHta for a generation that It Is aa beautiful today as It was thirty yturs ago. If we have done wisely, the girl of today ourht to have, nut only swathing swa-thing which her mother lacked, but she ought to have all her mother's graces as well. But It Is a serious qui aUou whether In pressing ber development de-velopment we have not cultivated some qualities at the epens of others. Just aa In prrstlng the development devel-opment of a certain flower we bare Increased Its sire and beauty at toe expense of Ita fragrance. |