where, all would fall in line. Politeness would be the rule, not the exception. It would be in the atmosphere, and our street-car conductors, our railroad officials, our shopgirls, our schoolboys and schoolgirls, people generally could not help being influenced by it. Everybody would catch the contagion of good manners.

"I think," says Emerson, "Hans Andersen's story of the cobweb cloth woven so fine that it was invisible—woven for the King's garment—must mean manners which do really clothe a princely nature."

It is true that genuine politeness is of the heart, the product of a princely nature, yet the possessor of a very kind heart may often be placed at a great disadvantage because he has not been trained in the outward forms of good breeding.

How often do we see kindly, well-meaning people put in the most awkward, embarrassing positions because they do not know how to behave properly at social functions or when things happen suddenly, like running up against a person, and then blushing and stammering instead of apologizing; not knowing how to behave at a well-ordered table, or not being able, because one has not been trained, to practise "the graceful observance of the right thing to say or to do" on all occasions.

One of the best fruits of fine home training, of education and culture, is that through these one is released from embarrassments which would tend

to weaken his self-confidence. Herein lies one of the great advantages of travel, of mixing in society. These things free one from many impediments, handicaps of Nature, such as shyness, timidity, lack of self-assurance, from the shackles of ignorance, from lack of poise, from a multitude of things that make one appear crude and awkward in company, that place one at a disadvantage in every situation in life.

Young people who have not enjoyed these advantages, especially those brought up in the country, are often discouraged because they do not know what to do, what to wear, or how to conduct themselves on social occasions, but if they will use their eyes and ears, observe and listen to others who have had the advantages they lack they will quickly absorb the information which will make them feel comfortable and at ease in society.

An excellent way for boys and girls, especially in small towns, or country places, to acquire a knowledge of social forms is to form "courtesy clubs," or to graft this idea of practising certain rules of etiquette upon existing organizations. It would result in great advantage, not only to the young people belonging to such associations, but also to the communities in which they live!

Plays are now introduced into kindergarten schools which tend to awaken and develop the desired qualities which are often lacking in children. "Justice plays," for example, or "courage

plays" exercise certain functions and character qualities and are known to influence the pupils wonderfully. The constant repetition of "good manners plays" arouses a spirit of gallantry and a sense of etiquette in a boy until he unconsciously removes his hat in the presence of a lady and is automatically well mannered.

Kindergarten teachers say that it is a common thing to find the little tots teaching the lessons which they learned in the "good manners" plays, "cheerful" plays, and "social" plays to their parents at home. Some of these poor mothers and fathers tell the teachers that the first suggestion of good manners that ever came into their home were brought by their children from the kindergarten.

A man who came to New York as a poor immigrant boy without any education whatever, and who lived for years in the city slums, now lives in a fashionable quarter, and has taken on so much polish in his manners in the last few years that his early acquaintances would hardly recognize him. His wife was at first as ignorant as himself, yet they have both absorbed so much from observation and imitation of the examples of culture and refinement which have come under their notice since the improvement in their circumstances that the transformation is remarkable. These two kept their eyes open and studied as models the men and women who had better early advantages than they enjoyed, and now

they feel at ease in society where at first they were confused and awkward.

Some one says that politeness is the art of expressing what you ought to feel; that it is the lubricant which enables people to mingle without knocking the corners from each other. There is no doubt that no matter how ignorant one may be of the conventional forms of polite society, if they have that true heart courtesy, which Dr. Frank Crane calls "love's habit" their manners cannot be boorish or offensive. The practising of the Golden Rule is the first and greatest command of all true politeness.

WHY CAN'T I DO IT?

So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
So near is God to man,

When duty whispers low, "Thou must,"
The youth replies, "I can."—Emerson.

The king is the man who can.—Carlyle.

N NOVEMBER 14, 1915, the news of Booker T. Washington's death was flashed by cable and telegraph all over the civilized world.

So obscure and of so little account was his birth that no one knows the day or the year he was born. He began life as "just another little nigger" on a plantation in Virginia.

How can any white boy who knows anything of Booker T. Washington's career dare say he has no chance to make his life a success? How can any youth, white or black or yellow, be so cowardly as to whine, and wait around for somebody to open a door to an education, to a trade or profession, when Booker T. Washington, born in slavery, and so terrifically handicapped through life by the suggestion of race inferiority, can raise himself from the bottom to the top rung of the ladder by his own exertions?