The morning news., 1898-08-11
THE GIRL WHO KISSED HoBsON.
Says Her Motive Was simply One of
Pure Patriotism.


who receives without impoverishing her
who gives-Ninon de L'Enclos.
Folks who read in the World about the
kiss bestowed upon Lieut.. Hobson by Miss
Emma Arnold at the Long Beach Hotel
Friday night in the presence of several
hundred guests. perhaps regarded 1t as an
unconventional proceeding.
But they would have changed their
minds could they have heard all about It
direct from the enticing lips OF MISS Arm
old herself. and would have agreed with
her that it was certainly the most natural
thing in the world for her to have KISS
cd the hero of the Merrimac.
Miss Emma Arnold Is a very pretty
girl and one look at her is calculated to
ill the masculine bosom with huge de-
sire to be a Hobson himself She has dark
eyes, large and luminous. Poets might
lilxen them to the enticing green OF a
glade, to the depths of dark water, to the
still glory of night. At any rate, they are
the kind of eyes that a man may not
forget in an hour or so.
She has wavy dark hair great masses
of It. 1t falls down over each ear and
is then twisted up behind in large folds.
It is splendid hair and blends with the
eyes charmngly.
Ii is a question whether Miss Arnold's
nose. or chin, or mouth is the pretuest
When she smiles, which Is every minute
or two. disclosing two rows of the eVenest
and whitest teeth imaginable, her mouth
seems to be the prettiest. But when she
turns in profile, showing the perfect
moulding of the chin and the delicate
straight lines of the nose those features
rule
Miss Arnold Is not tall not more than
five feet two inches. Her figure is slender
but compact. She walks gracefully,
1receae alngautlV and carries herself
daintily as a fairy.
No wonder Hobson lost no time in kiss
ing 1t was the chance of a lifetime-like
the sinking of the Merrimac.
Miss Arnold is authority for the state
ment that he will never kiss her again.
Why? Simply because the following
words were dnned into her ears about
seven thousand times yesterday:
There's the girl-Miss Arnold, you
know-whom Hobson kissed"
Summer residents at the Long Island
resorts within a radius OF a dozen miles
of Long Beach drove or rode over just to
see her.
They walked around her two or three
times, and some of the most particular
sat down near by and inspected her She
endured the microscopical scrutiny with
polite Indifference which showed that that
wel-rounded determined little chin has
lots of character in its graceful lines.
The great beauty of a kiss lies in its
impulsiveness and In its impressibility.-
H. w. Shaw.
"Of course 1 kissed him on the spur of
the moment" said Miss Arnold, in ex-
planning to a World reporter at the Long
Branch Hotel about the famous kiss.
you don't suppose that had planned it
a long time beforehand, do you?'
Did a motive go along with the kiss?"
Eyes. and a big, important one. Pure
patriotism was the motive. You know
had never seen Mr.. Hobson before in all
my life"
WAS It any particular kind of kiss?'
mo just a plain ordinary one
did he kiss you or did you kiss him?'
"Why, he kissed me and I kissed him.
That is 1 kissed the historic and cour-
ageous act. 1t wasn't Hobson l kissed
why. several hundred people saw you
kiss Hobson, and they applauded your
"You don't understand. ] am a patri-
OF. 1t Just made my blood tinge when
I read about Hobson taking the Merrimac
and sinking her so coolly under that fear
full storm of fire. To me that seemed the
greatest feat of bravery in the whole war.
1t made me proud to think that 1 was an
American.
"I had thought a great deal about the
heroism of the men who sunk the Merri-
mac so the Spanish could not sneak
away. So you see it was Hobson's deed
kissed and not Hobson. Mr. Hobson was
merely the embodiment of his courage-the
intermediary. You understand now, don't
you. I make it perfectly clear|
LAS clear as sunlight. Mr. Hobson is
quite handsome, isn't he?"
"Of course, he's nice looking. But l
want to tell you how I happened to kiss
him.
you see. the fine sword had been pre-
sented to him in the ballroom, and then
every one went into the parlor, where all
tba ,e,,asas uyara introduced To Mr. HOh-
son. Every one shook hands with him,
but he kissed two or three of the little
girls who went up to him. When I saw
him kiss the little girls 1 said to Mr..
Dick. the proprietor of the hotel: I almost
wish l was a child again and Mr.. Dick
answered, L dare you to say that to Mr..
Hobson when you meet him. replied,
'You'n see If I'm afraid
'The next minute my turn came TO be
formally presented, ana after we had
shaken hands 1 said:
Mr. Hobson, / almost wish I were a
little girl again.
"He was very quick, and said, why.
I'll treat you as If you were little girl
and he bent right over me and kissed me
Il am not sorry in one way, but / am
sorry that it has made people talk about
me so much. I don't think I would have
invited that kiss If I had known all the
fuss that was TO be made over It. 1t was
such little kiss, too"
Miss Arnold is about 20 years old. She
was born and educated in St Louis. of
which city her father Is one of the wealth.
lest residents She and her mother arrived
at the Long Beach Hotel a week ago.
and Will remain until the last week in Au-
gust when they will go to Saratoga
She Is unaffected frank and natural In
manner. and IS about the most popular
girl at he Long Beach Hotel, which teens
with pretty girls.
From the New York Journal.
From the time she left the breakfast
room In the Long Branch Hotel until sbo