The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1883-11-14
Let the Flirt Beware.

The following article has been
sent us for publication by victim
ofthe i1discreet and character blight
ing pastime of flirting:
There are a large number of our
young girls, l will not say ladies, in
this and every other city who are
never happy unless they are occu-
pied in carrying on frolicsome
street Irritation. They are not salts
fed with the smiles and favors of
young men whom they have met at
their homes or in proper way when
out in society, but they persist in
attempting to acquire acquaintance
upon the streets by the most quest
ionable methods. Street fiirts are
looked down on as bad characters
whether male or female by all true
ladies and gentlemen, but since a
young girl has most to suffer and
lose by such an indiscretion in hav-
ing her name brought into unenvia-
BILE question, she ought to beware of
the dangers of her folly in time and
not incur the bad repute or suffer
from the evil influences that always
follow the street flirt.
Many girl has been started on
the downward road to life of shame
and misery by street Irritation,
innocent enough, perhaps, at first,
but later on, surely criminal. When
a girl consents to fiirt with a strang-
er on the street, even.though she be-
long to respectable family and may
be pure in fact, she is on the high
road to ruin. She may be proud
and self reliant in character, but she
occupies a position between respect
ability and abandonment, with
strong but unseen tendency to in
cline toward the latter All girls
who flirt are not abandoned wo
men, but one thing is certain, all
bad female characters are flirts of the
most accomplished sort. Such be-
ing the case, as every intelligent girl
ought to know, | cannot understand
why respectable girls whose good
name is more dear TO fathers and
mothers than priceless jewels, should
be willing to bring suspicion upon
themselves by amusing the male
street masher. A girl who will be-
come victim of such folly is both
to be pitied and censured. Charity
exorts 10 pity, but the facts impel
one to condemnation. The unfort-
unate woman who has become an
outcast from society is sometimes
forced to her condition by necessity,
and walks the streets to catch and
fascinate sinfully disposed men to
earn a miserable living. They fol-
low their degraded calling with many
a heartburning and pang of regret,
and in their misfortune can be pit
led but the majority of young girls
who f1irt on the streets degrade
themselves from no other motive
than to have a good time, as they
call it, as if lowering their standard
of womanhood was having good
time. Oh, girls, take warning before
it is too late, for true modesty is one
of the finest adornments that has
been vouchsafed to women, and no
one can resist admiring girl thus
arrayed but none respect those who
put it away and take on brazonry as
does the street flirt. Girls who en-
gage themselves in this simple but
ugly habit should see themselves as
others view them and they would
never again be guilty Of this unpard-
enable misconduct of street flirting,
or if they could only see the sad,
miserable future that lays before
them and hear the sad tales of some
abandoned woman, how she fell
from her perch of respectability, and
know the miserable, wretched life of
the writer of this who is now beyond
recall, they would certainly abandon
the disgusting habit of becoming the
toys of evil disposed men by street
flirting.