St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1888-04-21
THE FEMININE GvIL.
rha Harm Done ~ O0s1pes9 Dass91oe
BY Ella WhooaAe Wlleo&.

Ths Harm Done ~ 0Oa0poD9 DooDooo
BY Ella Whs6aAe WlIse&.
The great feminine social svil o( II
day is gossip
The small country town 10 supposed
to be the ho.-bed of gossip But have
observed that the larger the congrega-
ton Of human beings the greater the
amount of gossip in circulation.
In small towns people criticise h
small matters, which pass unnoticed In
the large cities. But in the cities gos-
sip is quite as prevalent and u usually
of a more virulent type.
l remember once leaving the ho0so
4 kind friends who entertained mo
charmingly. and meeting another
friend on the street. l spoke with do
light and gratitude Of tho pleasant
time had enjoyed. The lady looked
grave. sighed. and then said she felt it
her painful duty to inform me that the
friends who had been % kind to me
were dangerous people to know. -
their past history bore . shadow upon
its pagea I walked on. and was
joined by another friends widow-a
few blocks down the street The lady
mentioned having seen me in conver.
sation with the person whom ! had just
left
Il hope you are not on intimate
terms with her." she said. '.You
know there are many people who be-
lieve her first marriage was-well. no
matter. but old residents here told me
the story and do not caro- to know the
lady myself"
! bade the widow good afternoon
and dropped in to call ON IN acquaint-
ancc.
''How came you to be walking with
that woman?" ask my hostess as soon
rs was seated Il saw you from the
window, and could hardly believe my
eyes" she said. Don't you know
that she is not a real widow. but di-
vorcee. and the SCANDAL was in all the
papers when she got her divorce? l
never met her. but from all hear she
) no friend for you"
related nv experience to q gentle
man friend later in the day. "Don't
mind what that last named woman
says" he replied. ..She is the most
cruel-tongued person in the world. /
was in her house once. and / vowed /
would never 20 again. - she spoke
so unkindiy Of every one I knew"
This is an absolutely truthful expert
encc which have related. and 10 sad
commentary on the prevailing evil Of
the day.
think men are quite - much given
- gossip. perhaps. as women. but they
are more fearless in.theiF methods. ;
A man came to lady once In Z
crowded room and warned her against
meeting any advances from woman
present. He told her his reasons. and
showed her his proofs in black and
white: ''She could and would only in
lure YOU" he said. .'and therefore
avoid her. l am willing to face her
with my own words if need be-"
She took pains to investigate the
mans statements. and proved them
true. This was as foreign to gossip
rs the scarlet fever sign hung over q
door is different from . midnight at
tack by highwayman. One warns.
Inc other assaults.
The most Wholesale gossip ! ever
aeard dealt out to a suffering commun-
ity was in the house of a clergyman.
and his wife was the dispenser. ]
could not but wonder whether by the
aarnest labor of life time he could
scatter enough seeds of charity from
iis pulpit to choke out the crop of
thistles she was sowing from the
II seems to me it 10 al
ways easier to speak good than evil.
II your friends fault annoys You.
I'll him So; but for Heavens sake keep
silent about them in the presence of |
other people. You will never reform
him by calling the attention of the
world to his errors. Wheeler VII |
'os. in Philadelphia Press.