The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1879-02-27
TILLAINOUS VALENTINES.

saint Valentine. patron saint OF lov-
cgs tud iUYr-HIkiug. would be sOrely
d-tuHisHt~l could ur come Ia earth and
,nr tl" awful mischief wrought in his
maine lie Wuuli hide his abashr,l
head under WslS.f-laSkat full OF ole
cent lose mI-Siyr> and VOW that II Ec
lad his way they should not be sent Al
al. valentine WAS originally = Verv
decent s0Tt OF saint. The lDyt-;Okens
sent ont under his patronage in the
days Dl long agD were for the most
part sent IN {. cOmUaratiVelv RESPECT
able manner, H they were open 10
criticism, II was in the matter Of being
SOFT and spOUney. This Is not in itself
an nfi-nsF, and almost all the
people who make love 10 each Other do
soft ana spOOnlsH things. Enbel!ish-
meHts Of Dld-tin= valentines were Uf-
ten elaborate anu costly. Ii done by
hand, the recipient accepted them as
proof OF the sincere regard which
prompted the sacrifice of much time
and effort III artistic cnieaVuT 10
please. The time Was when the ardent
lover lndIted his own valentine and
phraSeli il either in prose OF poetry As
best suited him. If some Of the poetic
expressions Of auatOry sentiment were
lame and Imperfect. perhaps they were
no more 50 than the reitdy-made article
OF to-day, which 81 literally feStOOns the
shop windows and 50 heavily adds to
the burdens Of the letter-carrier. Ma
chlnery haS come to the aid OF love,
art and poetry. At varying prices,
from the lncOnsequential sum of one
cent upwards, il furnishes the longing
lover with printed and pictured stuff
10 send To the object Of his affec-
ti0nS. There are valentines of all
styles and sizes, plain, striped, speckled,
cOiOred, checked and frilled. An EN-
bOsScd and scented one with lace edges
and a sprinkling Of pOlychrUmatic
flowers may be had for a trihe, and is
intended To carry delight to the soul Of
the girl who receives il. She reads the
verse of limping poetry which is print
ed in it, adopts it as the sentiment Of
the ardent young person who sent ii,
and Is happy. Ii people are made glad
at moderate expense with such love
tokens, na great harm is done. Let
them rejoice and be thInkful that the
outlay is not larger.
There is another kind of valentine.
The pretty and SpOOney sorts do not
constitute an alarming evil. The vii
lainOuS ones are those which are sold
IN the cheaper shops at q cent each, or
fifty cents a hundred. Generally, they
are WTetched daubS, vulgar in their
conception, horrible in their execution
and abusive in pOetical explanation of
the distorted central attraction. Per-
sons of the most limited means can in-
dulge i'll the sending of this kind of
trash, and DO SO in the most free and
easy manner. MiSchieYOuS boys thus
insult school teachers, parents and
other elderly persons who ought not 10
he inSulted. Persons who have spite to
vent, vent cents worth of it at adOSe,
on innocent and nervous
people, who are much disturbed by
receiving such anonymous cOmmuni-
cations. The trade in these vulgar
and ScuTrilOuS valentines is not illegal,
it is an OffenSe against cOur-
teSy and decency. No law can reach
it, and nothing but the good sense of
the community can break it up. The
publishers who have introduced the
beautiful and the artistic into their
Yalentin eS have earned
the thanks of good people generally.
Those who issue the offensive rubbish
which has no other mission than to
insult and annoy, are enemies of sOcie-
ty. The people should punish them by
to purchase their wretched
Those who receive
these things through the mails should
promptly and quietly cOnsign them to
the fire or the waSte-baSket without
doing the sender the honor to inquire
whence they came.-PhiLd. Times.