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Show I Dorothy Dix Talks THE VALUE OF GOOD MANNERS. I B DOROTHY DIX, the Wo.'d's Highest Paid Woman Writer j F Not Ion--: aco I had as mj Via .1 vis ' Bat breakfast in a dining car. a singulars singu-lars handsome and attractive youth. He was well groomed and well dress I e1, and had about him that I00K of i alertness, of awakeness, of compelen-I compelen-I Cy of bi'in abh t make his way in the world, thai mu;!;s the young Vmer 1 lean headed for sur.-. s -1 I was rejoicing in him as a splen 1 did type of young America, When the 1 t vaitt r brought in his br akfasl He had ordered H ied -gs He b. L-an upon I them by slicing a neat segmenl of the I' Trhiie tio:n each side of the yolk. This I loll the ' oik o! Hi egc unbroken, and fl the youth dexterously balanced this upon his knife blade, and, executing t a wide sweep with his arm proei .-ilerl I to Phoot the tidbit into his mouth with ' a skill that nothing but long practice fc could have accomplished. ' I It was as line a bit of sword swal-a swal-a lowing as 1 cm r saw. and for tables I' around e ry one sat fascinated by E the sleight of hand performance. Then 1 1 sighed and said to myself. "I know your story, now, my young friend You ;:re a boy who come Hfcpm a ery humble sti ocietj w and of poor and uncultured parents. I ou have exceptional ability and ybu I f have raised ' outsell to your present t- position b your i-nerg;. and industry j v and initiative Iut ou will not go I t much farther, ,,nd ihe thing thai will P. halt you is -our lark oi manners, be fl cause no amount o( talent. Is going to make people unite ,-. tnan whd eats irwith his knife to 1 in- tables where big r Ihines are d.ti.ieil bet v. -. n the soup I an.l ihe d- ml ia-.-e " r Then 1 liokd .it 1 tie young ellow F aeain and marked the perfection of f his clothes the cut of his tweed toat L the harmonv between his shirt and L necktie and handkerchief and stocking stock-ing and I thought Ip "You ha e had enough intelligence If to observe the way in which sut.ees.-t sut.ees.-t f ul mrn dress and .op their clothes. ! Nothing could induce ypu to wear a hat that had a brim a quarter oi an inch too much or too little, or that curved at the wrong angle. And you I would be caught dead rather 'han found wearing a red necktie with a purple shirt Manners Make or Break. "1 wonder why it Is that you have never thought it worth while to imi- I tate the manners of wajl bred men, and copy the way they cat, and sit, and stand, as you do their clothes? Is it because you think a man's man- jners arc no factor in bis success? Why. son. they are the most valuable asset thai any man can have! A man's man- I ners make or break him in ninety nine cases out of a hundred." And I remembered a little Story that a big business man in New York hau told me a few days before. He said: "We're going to start a branch of our business in another city and of course, it makes n splendid opportune I ty for the man who is made manager Of it For a long time we have had in jour employ a young fellow whom I have been secretly grooming for tho I place Ho knows Ihe b'usiness down to the ground. He is energetic and progressive and I thought possessed Jeverv quality that we needed for the I situation. "So I asked him to go to lunch with nic one Jay, intending to make it a lit tie festival for him, and over our cof- fee to tell him that the plum had dropped into his mouth. It was the first time I had had any social contact con-tact with him, and great Heavens, after af-ter the first spoontuof soup I knew1 I that It was not even possible to con- Isider him for the place You could J hear him eat all over the place lie 'didn't eat, he gobbled. He wolfed his food down like a starving doc He had not the most elementary idea of how to handle a fork and spoon, and I realized instantly that I could not send this boor to represent my lirm among rultured and refined people. Boy Loses Job. (if course, the boy lost the job His lack of manners made him impossible, I, ut my const lence isn't clear. I fpl 1 hat should fell him why he missed his great opportunity, and so gist- him a chance t0 learn the etiquette of the table instead of going through life fall in:.- er his knife and fork and balked j by his spoon " "1 commend the consideration of Lhese two stories, both of which are ab olutely true, to the consideration oi ill young men, and of all parents of boys. Somehow we all have the Idiotic Impression Im-pression that it does not matter what kin, 1 of manners 8 man has. and that to practice "he small ilegances of life Is rather effeminate than otherwise In pursuance oi this theory we sent! gfris I to finishing schools which are espec- liall designed for polishing rough feminine fem-inine diamonds but boys schools frank-l frank-l negleci this important part of a I youth's education. Parents Fail to Tench Boys. Parents also put much stress upon I teaching their little girls to be ladles. I but 1 hey do not try to teach their boys 'to be gentlemen. In the same family I the small girl will make you a cour-sousy cour-sousy when she is presented to you and the small boy stand with his hat tn and not even grunt a greeting when I he is introduced to you. Also the small girl will be taught to eat. like a lady while the Bmall boj Is permitted to I eat like a pig Yet if either a boy or a girl is to be taught good manners it is more important im-portant for the boy than the girl, because be-cause he goes out Into the world where strangers judge him by his manners, while she stays at home where family affection may forgive I hers. Good manners are a letter of credit jthat the world honors at sight Bad manners shut eery door in a man's 1 face. Emerson once said "Give a boy an address and accomplishments accom-plishments and you give him the mastery mas-tery of palaces and fortunes wherever i he goes. He has not Ihe troub'e of earning or owning them; they solicit him to enter and possess." 00 |