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Show THE FLOWER IN j THE BUTTONHOLE By THOMAS ARKLE CLARK Data of M. UalvertKy of Illinois. ARNOLD, though he was past fifty, i Died almost Invariably to come j ilown to his office In the morning with I flower In his buttonhole bright ms.lgold, or sprig of forget-me-nota, j or a crimson rosebud. He liked ttr . riety. J Mrs. Arnold laid that the flower made hint look ten years younger, and Arnold, to please bis wife, was willing . le look leas than middle ged. j The flower gave a certain tone to I the office which we all felt w had to lire op to, and though" we never j felt under the necessity of taking j flowers ourselves, yet we did give I somewhat more attention to our gen j eral appearance because of IL We j couldn't go about careless and untidy , with the perfume and color of tb I flower constantly In the office. ' And Arnold himself repeated the experience of tbe woman wbo, having . bought a pair of fine curtains for the ptrlor windows, found that ultimately she Ud to refurnish the entire bouse to have things In keeping with the j parlor curtains. Be bad to live np to the flower. His trousers were always rsrefully pressed; there was never I spot or a wrinkle upon bis coat, and his j linen was always Immaculate, and bis nails carefully manicured. There was nothing overf astldlous about him ; bis ! general appearance was simply Id proper keeping with tbe flower. He always came Into the office with his shoulders thrown back and an unmistakable un-mistakable appearance of being alW and well set up. On can drag his feet If bla shoes are down at the heel or bis trousers baggy, but not wltb a flower In one's buttonhole Arnold's desk was model of orde-and orde-and neatness, and I used to ask myself my-self If tbe flower In Us buttonhole did aov, perhaps, bare something to do with that It would seem Incongruous Incon-gruous to have one's deak untidy and Uttered ap with dust and scrap of paper when one has a rose In bla but toabole. We always thought, too, that the flower which be wore gave Arnold mere poise, more self-control. He always al-ways spoke la a quiet voice, he never seemed to lose his temper or to show Irritation, and be never descended to coarse or vulgar language as men often do. It seemed as If a man conldnt rage with tbe perfume of a gardenia permeating hla office. The flewer suggested refinement, and tbe man had to live HP to the suggestion. Possibly It was all oar Imagination In attributing so much Influence and suggestion to tbe flower which Arnold wore, bat, be that as It may, dress, and the email and seemingly Insignificant Insignifi-cant details of dress, have much to do In giving every man celf-respect, self-control, self-control, self-confidence even. A man sloppy and unkempt In his dress la more likely to be so In bir manners. In his speech and In his ways of do- Ing business. It would help a lot of people to have a flower In the buttonhole. & 1111, WMt.ra N.wiptpw UbIM.) |
