Newspaper Page Text
PAGE TWELVE
SHORT TALKS TO YOUNG MEN
(concluded from page nine.)
sided, and personal preferment nor political office
would never be my happy lot.
A soft-boiled egg is the most slippery and elu
sive article of diet that nature affords. Provided
you get it safely into a glass, in order to be nice
and lady like at the table, do you eat it with a
fork or with a spoon? I have noticed that which
ever of the two implements one might use, it has
an exasperating habit of sliding off at the critical
moment —the very time that you want to keep
your self-respect.
I should judge that a spoon is the proper vehi
cle to convey the egg, soft-boiled, from the glass
to the facial orifice, and yet—please give me your
'opinion in an early issue.
Atlanta, Ga. Yours, O. R. S.
Now, I can prove it by you, that I did not
say that the shell of ye Soft-boiled egg —one
minute and a half, mind you —was to be
“gently” struck with the edge of the spoon,
or knife. Nor did I say anything about
using the thumb and finger to sever the shell
into halves. No, Sir: that was not the way
of it.
I distinctly said that Sir Egg was to be
held in one hand—the left —and hit smartly
—a vigorous tap —with the edge of spoon or
knife, starting a rift in the shell. Then the
knife or spoon is dropped, while with both
hands, you hold the egg close to the mouth
of the cup or glass. The ends of the egg will
be securely held against your fingers, while
the two thumbs will be brought to the sides
of the break in the egg-shell. To use a little
force with the thumbs, widening the crack in
the shell is a very simple matter. The shell
gives way, breaks into halves, and out pours
the egg into the receiving vessel.
When the cook has boiled it too long, some
of the egg —perhaps all of it —remains in the
shell, even after it has been broken in two.
In such cases, use spoon or knife to remove
the egg from the shell.
You can’t eat a properly cooked soft-boiled
egg with a fork.
(By the way, you can thicken the dish with
crumbled bread or crackers, since it is a side
dish which you are preparing to suit your
self.)
The spoon is a necessity, because you are
dealing with a liquid.
If, however, the egg is half-done, or hard
boiled, the fork can he used, as on any other
edible which does not admit of ladling or
dipping. Generally, it is much better to use
the spoon, when partaking of the food served
in cups or tumblers.
Perhaps, I should add, that while spoons
are used with egg-nog, they are not to be
thought of with wine.
* ❖
A typographical error in last week’s
paper made me say “hold the fork tightly."
The word as written was, “lightly.”
Os course, I mean when you are conveying
food to the mouth.
When pinning meat, etc., down wdiile cut
ting it to bits with the knife, you hold the
fork tightly, with the back of it uppermost.
But when the morsel has been cut off, the
fork is reversed; and is to be brought to the
mouth on the face of the fork, and on the
tips of the tynes. To make it clearer, let
the same side of the fork which you have to
use to bring rice, mashed potatoes and squash
to your lips, be used in eating meat.
* * *
Now, we hop along to something else:
When you meet a lady on the street, give
her the right of way. Unless that side of the
pavement is the muddiest, yield the inside,
to the girl or lady. If one of you must pass
round the other, giving the path, you do it.
If she is an acquaintance, lift your hat,
with the hand furthest from her, and salute
her with a slight bow, without stopping; and
with such words as the terms of your social
relations to her suggest.
Never stop a lady in the streets, to engage
her in conversation. That is the height of
THE JEFFERSONIAN
impertinence and ill manners. If you have
something to say to her, ask permission to
join her, and talk as you walk with her, un
less she chooses to stop. Incidentally, I may
remark that unless you are much the younger,
(or older) and you two are known to be old
friends, she will be making quite a bad
“break,” to be seen standing on the sidewalk
conversing with you.
Never smoke in a lady’s presence, without
having received her permission. In public
you must not even ask it.
Manners are deplorably lax, and seem to be
getting more so; but it is still regarded as
most improper for men and boys to smoke
while taking girls or grown women for a
walk or a ride. No man of good breeding
would ever think of such a thing. It is disre
spectful in the highest degree, and tends to
compromise the lady who allows it.
In former times, when more outward defer
ence was paid to the fair sex, the man who
smokeu as he escorted a woman in the streets,
warranted the belief that his companion was
a creature of easy virtue.
No girl who respects herself should allow
her escort to smoke, while riding with her,
or while accompanying her on the street. No
lady should permit a man to converse with
her, when there is a lit cigar between his
lips. If he’s genteel, and has respect for the
lady, he will remove his cigar, and keep it
removed all the time he is so talking.
In towns, it is not customary to bow to
women and girls whom you don’t know. In
cities, it is not allowed. The professional
“Masher"—the rake who makes a habit of
pestering girls and grown women with his
goo-goo eyes and assiduous attention—has
brought upon virtuous womankind the abso
lute necessity of not seeing men who are not
acquaintances. To speak to one of them, save
in answer to a question, is an offense which
might get you into trouble.
And let me say here, that no woman should
ever ask a question of a stranger, in town or
ci tv. unless others are in sight, or no police
man is near. To ask of the policeman, is all
right.
In the country, however, the custom is very
different. In passing ladies on the highway,
or in meeting them, it is proper to lift the
hat, whether they are acquaintances or not.
The mark of deference is to the sex. You
merely lift the hat and bow: you need not
say anything.
Os course, you turn out for them, if they
are in a vehicle—but it would be extremely
rude in them, if they did not give you some
of the road, and did not acknowledge your
first turning out, by a pleasant “Thank you!”
If you come up behind a vehicle, in a nar
row road, and wish to pass it, ask permission,
first. On a wide highway, however, where
there is ample room to get ahead of a slow
going buggy, wagon, carriage or automobile,
without causing the slightest inconvenience
and without coming close to it, there is no
reason why you should ask anybody’s leave.
Exercise care, in passing, so that you will not
frighten horses, mules, or human being that
are travelling the same road.
In meeting vehicles, turn yours to the right:
in passing them, take to the left. The reason
of this latter rule is, that the vehicle ahead of
you might have to turn to the right, in obedi
ence to the first rule: and if you were trying
to get by, on that side, there might be a col
lision.
Men do not, as a rule, salute each other, in
meeting, by lifting the hat. It is considered
quite elegant to do it, though; and is always
taken as a compliment by the gentleman thus
distinguished. To lift the hand, touch the
hat and then make a gesture of salutation, is
accepted as a greeting of uncommon hearti
ness.
When acting as escort for a lady, you re
turn with your hat, the hat-lifting salutes
received by her from her acquaintances.
No matter whether she is saluted by your
deadliest enemy or not: you must acknowl
edge the courtesy shown to her. It is her
acknowledgement you are making, not yours.
Any affront given her, while you are her
escort, is an affront to you. But do not resent
it in her presence, if it can be helped. She
would naturally shrink from the notoriety
the incident would achieve; and you must,
while shielding her from disrespectful treat
ment, avoid placing her in a position which
would be embarrassing.
In most cases, you can excuse yourself to
her, and ask the offender to step aside with
you. If she is insulted on the streets, or in
a crowd where she cannot be left alone, the
offender must be brought to book, right then
and there. Brutes who press odious atten
tions on women, and who ogle them with the
eye of the libertine, are constantly being
mauled by escorts, or by the women them
selves.
In accompanying a lady to a private
residence, she enters with you, or before you.
You open the doors and gates for her, holding
them until she has made her entrance or exit.
She takes precedence of you when getting into
vehicles. You are to help her to get in, and
you follow. In fact, when riding in groups,
all the ladies precede you.
In public places, the rule is reversed, and
for very good reasons.
You go before her to locate a seat, or to
make away through a crowd. You do this
in theatres, in churches, in parks, in cars, in
hotels, in restaurants, in Pullmans.
In private association, you are her cavalier:
in public places, her protector.
Don’t invite a girl to any place of enter
tainment, or to a restaurant, or a picnic, or
a party, unless you are prepared to finance the
venture. She will expect the treatment ac
corded to other girls, and she is not expected
to pay for anything. You purchase the
ticket to the opera, pay the car fare, or cab
hire; you pay the bill in the restaurant; you
pay for the ice-cream and soda-water. It
isn’t m good taste for her to indicate a desire
for any refreshment, fruit, candy, etc., but
if she does, come across.
No, Jasper, you must not express your
opinion of the girl who chews gum. The
world is wide and well populated: just pick
out a girl who isn’t a gum-fiend.
The Mormons and the British Gov
ernment
For some years the Mormons have been on
the aggressive.
They send out missionaries; and wherever
those are allowed to work unmoletsed by the
authorities, they make rapid progress among
the poor and uneducated.
Having been “run out” of so many of the
States, in this country, the Mormon evangel
ists have transferred their activities to Eu
rope. In England, especially, they have been
wonderfully successful. So dire is the dis
tress of the poorer classes, in such cities as
Liverpool, that the Mormons have little dif
ficulty in persuading young women to join
them. They are promised husbands and
homes, in this country; and they are shipped
over here by the hundred.
This white-slave traffic has grown to such
proportions, that the leading citizens of Liv
erpool have appealed to the Home Secretary
of the British government to interfere, and
drive the Mormons out.
When this has been done —as no doubt it
will be—the Mormon elders will simply seek
new fields.
The extortion of the ruling caste is world
wide: the natural consequences of this extor
tion are want and vice and crime—and these,
too, are world-wide. Consequently, the num
ber of women to be had for immoral purposes,
is fully equal to the demand.
And the world-wide increase in lawlessness,
is traceable to the same source.