or "Ethel
Norman" to those who do not call them Edith or Ethel, and to speak thus
familiarly of one whom you do not call by her first name, is unforgivable.
It is also effrontery for a younger person to call an older by her or his
first name, without being asked to do so. Only a very underbred,
thick-skinned person would attempt it.

Also you must not take your conversation "out of the drawing-room."
Operations, ills or personal blemishes, details and appurtenances of the
dressing-room, for instance, are neither suitable nor pleasant topics, nor
are personal jokes in good taste.

=THE "OMNISCIENCE" OF THE VERY RICH=

Why a man, because he has millions, should assume that they confer
omniscience in all branches of knowledge, is something which may be left
to the psychologist to answer, but most of those thrown much in contact
with millionaires will agree that an attitude of infallibility is typical
of a fair majority.

A professor who has devoted his life to a subject modestly makes a
statement. "You are all wrong," says the man of millions, "It is this
way----". As a connoisseur he seems to think that because he can pay for
anything he fancies, he is accredited expert as well as potential owner.
Topics he does not care for are "bosh," those which he has a smattering
of, he simply appropriates; his prejudices are, in his opinion, expert
criticism; his taste impeccable; his judgment infallible; and to him the
world is a pleasance built for his sole pleasuring. But to the rest of us
who also have to live in it with as much harmony as we can, such persons
are certainly elephants at large in the garden. We can sometimes induce
them to pass through gently, but they are just as likely at any moment to
pull up our fences and push the house itself over on our defenseless
heads.

There are countless others of course, very often the richest of all, who
are authoritative in all they profess, who are experts and connoisseurs,
who are human and helpful and above everything respecters of the garden
enclosure of others.

=DANGERS TO BE AVOIDED=

In conversation the dangers are very much the same as those to be avoided
in writing letters. Talk about things which you think will be agreeable to
your hearer. Don't dilate on ills, misfortune, or other unpleasantnesses.
The one in greatest danger of making enemies is the man or woman of
brilliant wit. If sharp, wit is apt to produce a feeling of mistrust even
while it stimulate