ETIQUETTE 



2085 



ETNA 



strong enough to bear the weight of the grain 

 heads when winds blow. See CHLOROPHYLL. 



ETIQUETTE, et'iket, a word of French 

 origin, originally applied to the ticket or label 

 attached to bags and bundles for the purpose 

 of identifying their contents; in its present 

 usage it signifies those niceties of behavior 

 that stamp or label one as understanding the 

 requirements of correct deportment. 



Society has worked out for itself rules of 

 behavior for all phases of human activity 

 social and business intercourse, dining, dressing, 

 corresponding, etc. The well-bred person is 

 the one who understands these requirements 

 and who puts them into practice with natural- 

 ness, grace and ease. Good manners are of 

 course indispensable in society, and they have 

 a very practical value in business life. Whether 

 one is beginning a business career or is well 

 established in some vocation, good breeding 

 is a most helpful equipment. Ignorance of the 

 requirements of good form has often caused a 

 young man's sterling qualities to be overlooked. 



Etiquette, however, is more than the formal 

 observance of social customs. It is founded on 

 kindliness and consideration for others and 

 true courtesy of the heart, qualities that James 

 T. Fields describes in these words: 



How sweet and gracious, even in common speech, 

 Is that fine sense which men call Courtesy ! 

 Wholesome as air and genial as the light, 

 Welcome in every clime as breath of flowers 

 It transmutes aliens into trusting friends, 

 And gives its owner passport round the globe. 



Washington's Rules of Civility. There is 

 preserved in the state archives at Washington, 

 D. C., in the handwriting of George Washing- 

 ton, an interesting manuscript book containing, 

 among other exercises, a list of rules of be- 

 havior. The book bears the date 1745, showing 

 that the compiler wrote the rules when he 

 was a lad of fifteen. What the later Father 

 of His Country considered to be "decent be- 

 havior in company and conversation," to use 

 his own words, is suggested by the following 

 extracts : 



Every action done in company ought to be with 

 some sign of respect to those that are present. 



In the presence of others sing not to yourself 

 with a humming noise or drum with your fingers 

 or feet. 



When you sit down, keep your feet firm and 

 even, without putting one on the other or crossing 

 them. 



Undertake not to teach your equal in the art 

 himself professes ; it flavors of arrogancy. 



Give not advice without being asked and when 

 desired do it briefly. 



It is unbecoming to stoop much to one's meat. 

 Keep your fingers clean and when foul wipe them 

 on the corner of your table napkin. 



Labor to keep alive in your breast that little 

 spark of celestial fire called conscience. 



ET'NA, also spelled AETNA, is one of the 

 most celebrated volcanoes in the world, and is 

 situated in Sicily. No other mountain has 

 excited the wonder, admiration, dread and 

 superstitious awe that Etna has inspired. Its 



MT. ETNAM 



h. - W i 



SICILY 



; MEDI TERRA NEA N 



LOCATION OF MOUNT ETNA 



summit is nearly 11,000 feet above the sea, and 

 its base, with a circumference of over 100 miles, 

 is washed by the waves of the Mediterranean 

 Sea. Its top is crowned with perpetual snow, 

 its vast slopes covered with forests ; and spread- 

 ing orchards, vineyards and orange groves at 

 its base form a picture of rare beauty. There 

 are two cities, Catania and Acireale, and sixty- 

 three towns or villages on Mount Etna, and 

 the region is the most densely-populated of 

 any part of Sicily. The first recorded eruption 

 of Etna occurred in the eighth century B.C. 

 Of about eighty eruptions since then, many 

 have been of extreme violence. In 1669 there 

 was an earthquake during the eruption, when 

 over 20,000 lives were lost. A remarkable 

 feature of Etna is the large number of minor 

 cones, all of volcanic origin, that are scattered 

 over its sides. Recent eruptions were those 

 of 1874, 1886 and 1911. The last-named was 

 more violent than any other for over a hun- 

 dred years; a lava stream nearly half a mile 

 wide flowed into the valley below. 



In legend, Etna was the mass of rock which 

 Zeus heaved upon the giant Typhon; it was 

 also the workshop of Vulcan and the Cyclopes. 



