The herald., 1894-12-30
PLAToNIc LOVE.
What Was Heard on u street Oar


any more" said my friend Jack, as the
street car rounded the corner OF First and
Spring otreets yesterday afternoon. Jack
was cosmopolite and Bohemian. who
had the unhappy knack OF viewing
things from purely unconventional
standpoint, and consequently suffered
the perpetual annoyance OF being mis-
understood. He was advanced" but
continual contact with q decidedly pro-
sale world uniortuna ately shattered most
of mis- allusions. From his remark con-
cluded that another OF his ideals had
been pulverized to fine powder.
"Why, thought you were believer
in the principle Of absolute equality re-
gardless of SEX" ventured. "You al.
ways considered mind superior to the
animal instinct OF SEX"
"Unfortunately, yes." sighed Jack; II
was idealist enough to imagine that mind
was sexless quality, and as such could
be enjoyed in the iull beauty of it's spir-
ituality. l suppose imbibed this idea
from Plato's antique philosophy, but ex'
perience has taught me that the Greek
was fraud and that Plstonic love was
simply a delusion and snare-at least.
such was the case with the two young
women whom Il am about to describe.
"They were friends-''
Beautiful, of courss?"
"One of them, yes-a glorious crea-
ture, with large midnight eyes, but in
spite of this aIluring fact, in frozen
chastity she could give points to Diana"
"But the other?"
'Oh, she was regular psychological
Ferris wheel" said Jack laughing.
"She was decidedly plain, but her soul,
or rather her mind, was simply
cyclonic. She interested me-"
Where did you first see her?' I
asked.
"She came into my Office one day last
spring and introduced herself without
the ueual formality. Her unconvention-
ality was interesting. Marguerite was
her name-pretty name, isn't TT"
THAT depends on the bearer" an
swered.
''She was BY no means Gethe's
ideal" continued Jack. "She might
have been conceived by the French
fancy OF Sardou. She was OF that feline
order OF womankind with tragically
romantic streak that would pale into in.
Significance the most ardent heroine OF
. Bertha Clay novel"
"A composite, eh?
eyes, in verbosity she could give
Dodo cards and spades; in her ideas
Sarah Grand couldn't hold candle to
her. while in temperament that curious
young lady in the yellow Astsr' was
simply cast into shadows. La addition
to these composite qualities there was
strange light in her eyes that strongly
reminded me OF Ibsen's weird Woman
OF the Sea- At first mistook this for
the divine flashing Of genius, but from
subsequent experience | cams to the
conclusion that this wild glitter and oc-
cssional concentrated and intense glare
was nothing more nor lesa than the evi-
dence OF alteration"
How dreadful" / exclaimed.
Then Jack began to relate bis unique
experiences in plstonic love. All three
became irionds. The coterie was
pocket edition of Miss Tenants mvsti-
cal Eugiish society "Souls.s They dies
cussed everything from a microbs to
the infinite organism OF tha universe.
The eternal search for Truth was the pet
anbject. They daily wreHtled with the
metaphysical problems whether or not
God was An immanent force in nature
from which emanated all the love,
Iohutty JudttSO aAU VlSdtAl III buo w WOIku
or personal treDacendent Deity exist
ing somewhere on the outside; whether
or not Heaven and He'll were conditions
of being or matters OF geographical loca.
tion. Literature, art. music, science
and sociology received their proper
share of attention. In fact, the i'm.
mense harp of human thought was
played upon and they were entranced
with the music ofits philosophy. They
analysised society, aristocracy, plu-
tocracy, labor. wonlen's advancement,
church and state and A. P. A. Before
the fierce fame OF their intellecta every
thing dissolved, as Emerson would say.
The Illness OF the Why and tho Where.
fore OF the Which were reduced to mere
ciphers.
"And neither Of you really fell in
lovs?"
II warned them on that score before.
hand" replied Jack. "On this de.
pended the success OF my experiment"
knew that Jack had been bitten
rather severely short time before. His
heart was chalice from which the wine
had been spilled. He had just passed
through an emotional hurricane that
left strong streak OF cynicism in his
nature, aFording him an impenatrable
shield that protected him from the gol-
den darts of Cupid.
And did you treat both girls with
absolute equality. Jack ~
Absolutely. l never fattered them
or treated them as dolls. l looked upon
them both -aB two positive entities
standing on their own merit as the
the equal of man. In fact, remember
on one occasion giving the glorious crsa.
ture with the midnight eyes o lecture
on the frivolity of fashin and the vulgar
practice common among under bred per-
sons OF trying to chemically augment
their beauty. 1t was like painting the
rose or establishing an electric lighting
plant in the sun. It was quite unneces-
sary. Art may adorn nature to the
narrow mind, but to philosophers, such
az we were, everything was infinitely
perfect, from distant star to blush
ing cheek"
"Then you never tiokled their van.
ity2"
''No. There is where my knowledge
OF human nature was at fault. All this
time not theater, or box of candy, or
q booth or flowers, or dish of ice cream,
or s0da-not even q complaint. You
see l was putting the sincerity of their
theories about sex equality to the test"
I think the real reason for JACKIE
shortcoming in this respect was the de.
pleted condition Of his treasury. Living
expenses and 5the inevitable debts lput
q severe strain on Jacks gold reserve.
He was Bohemian, and. consistent So
cisl nomad that he Was. he was suffer
ing from that prevalent national disssae
-p0cuniarv proetration