becoming
haste. The much-ridiculed American hurry is well illustrated by a
company of people crowding up the steps while another company is
crowding down. When we leave the cars it is better to wait until they
come to a full stop before rising from our seats. We shall be likely to
get out as soon as if we went swaying down the aisle, crowding other
people, and in danger of falling headlong when the train finally stops.

What has been said about obtaining seats at places of amusement applies
to seats in cars as well. Those who come first have the first choice;
but we should not forget good manners in the choosing. We have no right
to more room than we pay for, and, unless there are plenty of unoccupied
seats, it is rude and selfish to spread out our parcels and wraps so as
to discourage any one from asking to sit beside us; yet a well-dressed
woman, with her possessions unconcernedly arranged on a seat facing her,
ignoring the fact that others are standing in the aisle, is not an
uncommon spectacle.

Courtesy in the cars or in a coach is as binding on us as courtesy in
the parlor, and never, perhaps, is it better appreciated than by tired
travellers.

Good-breeding does not require a gentleman or a boy to offer his seat to
any lady who is standing, but he should never fail to do it to an old
lady or one with a child in her arms, or one with an inconvenient
package; and it is pleasant to see that fine politeness which prompts
its possessor to treat every lady as he would wish his mother or sister
treated. A lady should not accept such a civility in silence. We too
often see her drop into a seat which a gentleman rises to offer as if it
were her right, without a word or even a bow of acknowledgment. Such a
person has no right to expect a similar courtesy the second time.

If any one leaves his seat for a time without leaving any piece of
property in it to show that it belongs to him, he cannot lawfully claim
it on returning; but civility should prevent any one from taking it, if
he knows it belongs to another.

In travelling, as everywhere in public, noisy conversation and the "loud
laugh that speaks the vacant mind" are offensive to good taste. Constant
eating of fruit and peanuts is bad manners, and, as has been said
before, it is generally associated with loud talking and laughing and
other rude behavior.

On long journeys it is necessary to eat luncheons or even regular meals,
but this, done in a well-bred way,