San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-12-20

Bon vivants go into spasms Of ecstacy
over this triumph Of culinary art and the
flavor of this old wine of memorable
vintage and educated epioures who have
forgotten more than Lucullus,or Apicius
ever knew about what was pleasant to
tine palate, may boast of the toothsome-
ness of such dish, but the scandal mon
ger extracts far greater enjoyment from
a delicate bit Of scandal than Bon VII
wants or Epicures ever derived from the
most savOry dish, or the oldest wine.
The scandal monger not only has the
keenest sort of relish for tales of scan
dial. but has a very keen scent for them
and is thereby enabled to track them
through all manner of obstacles. And
they eclipse the best dress maker in
dressing up these tales of scandal, in the
most captivating style, covering them
with the gorgeous adOrnments of the
richest invention, and converting hint
into a gigantic scandal. The true scan
dial mOnger is of no particular sex, age,
or nation, though evil-dispOsed persons
with a super-abundanGe of gall and Gym
iCism in their composition, are wont to
assert that women are the only scandal
mOngers. There are men able to give
all to pieces. These male scandal mon
gers are endowed with a wOndrous
faculty of nosing out bits OF scandal, and
the ranker they are, the greater appetite
they evince for them. Any tale deroga-
tory to female chastity is greedily
snapped up by the male scandal monger
and forthwith put afiOst. with all posi-
BILE embellishments and suggestions,
calculated to invest it with such an air
of truth and seasoning as to render it
current coin in conversation. He fairly
gloats over report that woman has
fallen from virtue and forever forfeited
her title to re'pectability, though Ii
would puzzle him TO explain why 1t af-
tOrds him such intense delight as he
manifests. Ii is an awful thing for a
woman to slide into unchasteness. Ii
can be compared TO nothing except the
falling from precIpice into a bottom
less abyss from which there is no hope
of escape, whatsoever. She becomes
more and more shameless, more and
more debased. The bloom of health and
the freshness of beauty are speedily
blighted By dissipation the sense of
mOdesty and decOrum is totally lost re-
finement of manners disappears, and is
succeeded by cOarseness, slang and pro-
family. Whisky or opium are freely
used TO drown recollection of the days
of purity and to silence the reproaches
of conscience, and ere long drunkenness
grows TO be habtual. What horrible
life, It makes one shudder to think of
its agony OF misery and its blackness Of
despair. God pity the man who dashes
woman into the bOttOmless abyss of
prostitution, and dOOms her 10 lifelong
misery and debasementI God pity the
brill MIR Of
the story that another woman has been
shipwreCked All. when a woman sac
ritices her virtue, the consequences are
horrible enough to wiring tears of pity
from the devils in hell, yet the author
of her ruin walks the streets proudly
erect, and basks in the suDniest smiles Of
the world. Nobody censures his base
betrayal of cOnfding woman. wholly
inexperienced in the ways of the world.
Even the women make haste to appriZe
him that they have generously condoned
his Ofiense, which was venial one at
its worst. The victim of his arts is alone
blamed, ostracised and despised and
bounded with a hue and cry into a
brothel. She is alone blamed and pun
ished. while her seducer is cUurted and
carressed by society. Women are per-
fectly right in holding aloof, socially,
from such members OF their sex-they
could not do otherwise. but there Is no
excuse for their continuing to lavish
smiles upon the men that have undOne
these poor women and blasted their
lives. The man is the real wrong. doer,
the really guilty party, and the female
sex, at least, should punish him by treat
ing him as social pariah and excluding
him from society. Did you ever hear,
automatically, of seducer that was
frowned upon, reDudiated and ostra-
cised by women? or course not. The
verdict of society has condemned the
victim of pertidy and deception, but IL
has exOnerated the heartless author of
her ruin from all censure and guilt.
Such is human justice! The rankness
OF this injustice cries aloud to heaven.
My pen has rambled somewhat from
the subject, but it has not been digres-
sion.
The scandal monger. or gossip,
whether male or female, is q stirrer up
OF strife and contention in the cOmmu.
nifty and richly deserves to be held in ut
ter detestatiOn. Mrs. Grundy, Mrs.
Gossip and Mrs. Blab keep the commu-
nifty in condition of embodiment
and antagOnism. Scarcely the most
trivial affair can occur in your
household that does not reach
the wide-opened ears of one of
these ladies, who hsstens to put it in
circulation. OF course, the thing grows
as IL travels. The scandal mOnger, or
gossip is a social spy, wearing the dis.
guise Of neighbor and friend. Not a
word uttered in conversation escapes
through the meshes of her memory, but
is carefully packed away, and repeated
on the first occasion. with additions and
Embellishments, flatteriDg to the fer
tility of her invention, but damaging to
her reputation for truthfulness.
1t was my misfortune last year, to