Speaking of good manners, is it not worth while to think about how we behave in church? One mark of a thoroughbred girl is her air of repose, especially when she is in public. She avoids restlessness, she sits quietly, and she listens to the sermon. Other and ill-trained persons may observe to their neighbors that the contralto flats or the tenor's voice is cracked, but the well-mannered girl keeps unkind criticisms of the quartette and the choir strictly to herself. She does not whisper during service, nor look about her, for she knows that the place and the hour are sacred, and she would not like to disturb others, even if she were not in the proper spirit, on her own account. Whoever else is late, the girl I am thinking of is in good season, and she does not bring with her an atmosphere of haste and confusion into a house which should be quiet and tranquil.
But you will accuse me of preaching, and this is not my wish; so I will tell you of something else. A girl writes to me that she has a great ambition to become an editor, and wants to know how to begin her training for the profession. As she is still in the high-school, with four years of college to follow her present course, she is not pressed for time. If I were she I would practise the writing of bright, short, chatty paragraphs. Until you make the attempt, you will not believe how hard it is to write in two or three sentences the gist of an occurrence, to relate what is necessary in a story, to describe an event or a person, without using too many words. The girl who can write clever paragraphs will in good time find a newspaper which will use her work. As between producing paragraphs or poems, I advise the paragraph as by far the better factor in forming a really good style. But if, as with Daisy R—— and Alice F——, my girls like to write verses, there is no reason why they should not acquire so graceful an accomplishment.
As for earning money out of school hours, Belle S——, there are not many ways open to a girl. In the first place, the hours of a girl's life at school and at home are very full. She has her lessons to prepare, and there are usually some home duties which fall to her share. A school-girl must not overwork, for if she does she will neither do credit to her teacher nor to her own abilities. We insist in these days that the best students are those who are in good health, able to walk, to ride a wheel, to play golf and tennis, and to lend a hand at whatever is going on. Pallid, attenuated girls are out of fashion.
Still there are chances now and then for girls who need or who wish to add to their store of pocket-money, and if you will wait till next week, and then turn to the Pudding Stick, you will discover some of them. I have taken pains to find out things which young girls at school actually do, so that I will not be misleading you or extending false hopes, only to be disappointed when you read my report in the case.
At the same time, if you were my own daughter, I would rather have you wait, and not enter the lists with those who earn money until her school days were over.
E. T. C.—A girl of your age should not have headaches. Be careful of your diet. Avoid hot rolls and cake and candy, which you say you are fond of. If fresh air, exercise, and attention to your diet do not cure you, it is worth while to find out whether the trouble may not arise from your eyes. An oculist by fitting the eyes with the right glasses often drives away the cause of a persistent headache.
Bettie G.—I know of no way in which you can become a good performer on the piano without patient and very regular practice. There is no easy road to music. Do not believe any one who tells you there is.
Marguerite.—I am told by a music-teacher of eminence that too much practising is as bad as too little. Try breaking your time into four half-hours daily. With your studies, two hours a day is all you should devote to the piano.
Mart and Lill.—It is customary for girls to sign their full names in correspondence with strangers. You are Martha and Elizabeth to the world. The pet names are pretty for home use.
Marion.—I cannot tell you how to write a letter in which you have nothing to say. Wait till you have some reason for writing, and then you will not find the task hard, especially as you are fond of writing letters to the home people.
Eleanor Dana.—Any of Mary E. Wilkins's books will suit your friend; I think she would like A Humble Romance or Jane Field.
Winnie Lewis B.—Certainly it is right to wear cleaned gloves, and if the work is done well, and the gloves are of a light color, they may be cleaned several times before they are abandoned as past use.
Archie P.—Wear your hair in a long thick braid for the present.
