ODDITIES OF ETIQUETTE.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 449, 26 February 1890, Page 6

ODDITIES OF ETIQUETTE.

How One must Act in Other Nations, In Sweden if you address the poorest person on the street you must lift your hat. The same couitesy is insisted upon if you Pass a lady on the stair-way. To enter a reading-room or a bank with one’s hat on is regarded as a bad breach of manners. To place your hand on the arm of a lady is a grave and objectionable familiarity. “Never touch the person; it is sacred,” is one of their proverbs. In Holland a lady is expected to retire precipitately if she should enter a store or restaurant where men are congregated. She waits till they have transacted their businessand departed. Ladies seldom rise in Spain to receive a male visitor, and they rarely accompany him to the door. For a Spaniard to give a lady (even his wife) his arm when out walking is looked upon as a decided violation of propriety. In Persia, among the aristocracy a visitor sends notice an hour or two before calling, and gives a day’s notice if the visit is one of great importance. He is met by servants before he reaches the house, and other considerations are shown him according to relative rank. The left, and not the right, is considered the position of honour. No Turk will enter a sitting-room with dirty shoes. The upper classes wear tight-fitting shoes, with goloshesover them. The latter, which receive all the dirt and dust, are left outside the door. The Turk never washes in dirty water. Water is poured over his hands, so that when polluted it runs away. In Syria the people never take off their caps or turbans when entering the house or visiting a friend, but they always leave their shoes at the door. There are no mats or scrapers outside, and the floors inside are covered with expensive rugs, kept very clean in Moslem houses and used to kneel upon while saying prayers.