PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2660, 8 March 1905, Page 83

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

MANNERS AND OPTIMISM.

Several times lately I have been giving Nature Notes, but so far only one teacher has sent me any notes for publication. I think that teachers, and boys and girls i too, could interchange notes with mutual ) benefit. Another subject on the syllabus j is the teaching of manners, morals, etc., : and as in reading I have come across ! several what I think good extracts, my 1 Chat to-day will be made up of selections from various sources, first on inanr.?rs, and secondi on "Looking on the Bright ' Side of Things." The Chat can be used to cover a part of the syllabus, and as ) I know my column is often read in schools. i perhaps some may be unconventional j enough to uss the Witness as a reading ! book to teach manners fiom. By the bye, while I think of it, do any of you mount ' Witness pictures -for educational purposes? Some-weeks ago a fine picture of a "bas-re-lief to be inset in one side of the pedestal of Queen Victoria's statue just unveiled in ; Wellington was given. Do you remember j it? It illustrates the historical incident, | the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. This, with a fac&imik of the Treaty itself, makes an interesting lesson on the Treaty of Waitangi. Rather a long '"by the way," isn't it?

— Education in Manners. —

Recent tourists in Mexico find there nothing so worthy of notice as the manners of tha children. The Mexican boy, they tell us, even of the lowest class, "is loAV-voiced, cniuteous. and gentle, never lacking in deference to women or to age. Is any foreigner likely to &-ay as much of our boys?

Yet the young American at heart probably has more respect for women than the man of any Latin nation. But he has no time for courtesy or deference or the countless little un&elfish acts which give charm to man or woman. The fact is that usually, what with the chance to make his way before him and the breathless ambition of his parents that he shall seia? it, he is too full of himself to consider anybody else.

Another cm ions fact is Trorth looking into. °

Just now millions of p-jor boys and girls in this country are leaving schools where they have been taught gratuitously every science and knowledge which can fit them to make their way in life except the one without which they cannot make their wav at all.

That is — good! manners.

It is foolish to thrust this aside as insignificant. A man's success in life with his customers, his clients, or his wife and children depends quite as much upon his manners as upon his skill and knowledge. The world turns its back on the ill-bred boor, no matter how great his ability, and welcomes the courteous, kindly gentleman on sight.

Every day we see men who have worked their way up from the slums to the pulpit or ths judges' bench or the Senate Chamber who are ignorant of the simple observances and habits of gently-bred people. Why should they be handicapped by such petty ignorances?

The State of Muntana several years ago Lad a manual in use in her public schools in which children were taught how to eat. lioav to conduct themselves in the streets, at dinners, at assemblies, and the like. Sudi a manual should be used in every public school in the country. — Xew York World. —You Will Xot Be Sbiry.— . For d°ing ?ood to all, For being courteous to all, For hearing before judging, For speaking ill of no one, For Holding an angry tongue, I For thinking bdflore speaking-, [ For being kind to the distressed, For asking pardon for all wrongs, ' For beinjr patient towards everybody, For stopping the ears olf a talebearer, For disbelievina most of the ill rejoorta.

—If You Are Well-bred.— You will be- kind. You will not u?e slang. Xpu will try to make others happy. You will not be shy or self-conscious. You will never indulge in ill-naturca gossip. You v> ill ne\er forget the respect due to I age. You will not swagger or boast of your achievement*. I You will think of others before you think i of yoiuv-elf. I You w ill bo scrupulous in your regard foi the right* of others. You will not measure your civility bj people's bank accounts. You will net forget engagements, pro raises, or obligations of any kind. In conversation you will not be argumenj tative or contradictory. You will never make fan of the peculiari I ties or idio.-yncrasies of others. I You will not bore people by constantlj talking: of yourself and your affair?. You will never under any circumstance* cause another pain, if you can help it. You will not think that '"good intentions'" compensate for rude or gruff manners. You will be as agreeable to your social inferiors as. to your equa's and superiors. . You will noc sulk cr feel neglected if others receive more attention than yoU do.

You will net have 'two sets of manners, one for "company" and one for home use. You will never remind a cripple of his*-. deformity, or urobe the sore t>pots of a sensitive soul. You will not gulp down your soup ?o audibly that you can bo heard across the room, nor sop ur> the sauce hi your plate wi(-ii bits of bread. You will Ic-b a refined manner and superior intellig'enop show that you have travolied, instead of constantly talking of thp different countries you have visited. You will not remark, while a guost. thai you do not; like the food which has been served to vcu. Yon will not attract attention by cither Yjour loud talk or lausrhter. or show youi ■°§:otism by trying" to absorb conversation. — SureesF. —You Cannot Foal "Blue" With the Corners of Your Mouth Turned Up. — A well-known physician who has made p specialty of nerve diseases has found a new remedy for the '"blues."' Not getting satisfactory results from drugs, he tried the experiment of inducing his patients to smile i nder all circumstances, — to compel themselves to smile whether they felt like it or not. " Keep the corners of your mouth turned up." is his prescription. Ifc works like a charm. With, the corners of their mo-utli£ turned up. the patients are obliged to smile no matter how melancholy or depressed they may feel. ''Smile: keep on ■smiling; do not stop smiling." the doctor will .=ay. "Jusl try turning- up the corners of your mouth, regardless of your mood, and see how it makes yon feel; then draw ihara down, and note the effect, and you will he willing to declare, 'There is something in in.' " He has his --atients remain in hig office and smilo. If it. is not the zenuine article, it must at least be an upward curvature of the corners of the mouth, find the br'tifv fpplinKs invariably follow. This physician declare that if people vi 1 ' ii-irn down the corners of ihpir monfis o'-ir* use .sufficient will power they can actually shed tear*. On the other hand, if they will keep the corners, of their mouths Turned up. pleasant thoughts will take the nlace of foreboding*. His remedy for the "blues" is the fruit of experience in his own-home. His wife wrs of a morbid temperament. j!.nd, when she was despondent, he would ask her to smile a little, until the ravine: came to bo a household joke: but it brought aood results. You may not be able to cultivate the optimistic tenmeram-ent to any great extent, if you lack it, but cheerfulness can be cultivated. We all know that, if we brood over our sorrows, and dwell upon our misfortune', our nhvsieal be^ng very quickly sympathise:: with our moods. I know a clergyman who g-ets great comfort for himself and his people out of this assuring- Bible text, "'When then passest through the waters. I will be with thee ; and through the livers, they shall not overtake thee."' A woman, who ha* had great affliction says: "I have had nothing I could give but myself, and so I made the resolution that I would never sadden any one- with my troubles. I have laughed and told jokes when I could have wept. I have smiled in the face of every misfortune. I have tried to let everyone go away from my presence with a happy word arid bright thought to carry with them. Happiness makes happi-ne-s. and I rnvsolf am happier than I would have been had I sa ! clown snd bemoaner my fate."— Selected. -The Two Sides of It.— There was a girl who always said ' Her fate was very hard; For from the thing she wanted most , She always v.as debarred. There somehow was a cloudy spot Always within her sky ; Nothing was ever just aright, She used to say, aud sigh.

And yet her sister, strange to say, Whose lot was just the same, Found something pleasant for herself In every day that came. Of course, things went awiy sometimes For just a httle while :

But "nothing ever stayed awrong," She uaed to say, and smile. So one girl sighed, the other smiled, Through all their lives together ; It did not come from luck or fate, From, clear or cloudy weather : The reason lay within their hearts, And coloured all outside, For one would hope and one would mope, And so they smiled aud sighed. — Priscilla Leonard. — Little Hearts-ease. — Frosty lay the garden, brown and pinched anil dry, When a golden flower-lace laughed into my eye; Modest as the dewdrop, cheerful as the c~Uv, How its ljghtsomc presence chased the clouda ft way, — Pretty HeartVcase. Many a little maiden on a mission bound May find a little preacher preaching from" the ground : "Just a glance of kindness, just a snatch o£ song, Fill the house with sunshine when tlift 9fQ3? wrong." Xdttle Heaxt's-sasel

— Home Measurements. — Sister measured my grin one day-— Took the ruler and me ; Cotintcd the inches all the way — One and two and three. "Oh, you're a Cheshire cat," said she. Father said, "That's no sin." Then he nodded and smiled at me — Smiled at my three-mch grin. Brother suggested I ought to begin Trying to trim, it down. Mother said, "Better a three-inch grin Than a little half-inch frown." . — Nell Kimbcrley M'Elhone, in St. Nicholas.