The times., 1899-05-13
PersounI CoIumus.

person whose Ideals of human nature
are not easily thrown down, is some
times amused to read the heart to
heart talks which some newspapers pub
lish in the form of answers TO correspond
ents. II would almost seem from the abb
solute imbecility of these missives, which
plead for advice, that the active brain
of the editor of that column must have
gotten them up without extraneous aid;
but after all, most of US have known peo
pie foolish enough to write the worst of
them, and it must be remembered that in
these columns persons lay bare to the
| public their most secret and silent
thoughts. secure in the belief that nobody
who knows them will ever recognize the
letters. Some realistic novelist might evolve
a highly original plot out of the lives of
these correspondents. They seem TO be
almost a race apart from ordinary beings.
For instance, here is a young lady who
writes to Miss Beatrice Fairfax, the Ruth
Ashmore of one OF these columns. describ-
ing the following interesting and pathetic
situation: She lives in suburban town,
and each morning a commuter, on his
way to catch his train, charges up the
street at full speed, directly past her
window. She says naively that she doesn't
think he has ever noticed her, yet she
feels an interest in him, and how would
Miss Fairfax advise her to act? Shall she
write him letter telling him of her feel
! ings, or come out and stop him on the
way to the train?
The bleating innocence of this sort of
| thing is as refreshing as a fresh dandelion
and as harmless as a basket of turnips.
| 1t suggests that the mind of this girl
would be an interesting psychological
study. She does not know whether the
unknown fair is already married or not
though the presumption is that, being a
suburbanite, he is a family man. She has
seriously contemplated rushing out of the
house and catching him by the coat-tail
| as he whizzes by and declaring her love.
| Perhaps she has thought of scampering
down the street with him and giving him
the information on the fly. Certainly
for she has said so-she has almost de-
cided to write him letter, and put some
| poetry in it. The possible outcome of
| SuSu an aCtlOD, sue lctiSi Dc Nho'
| she would stand on the porch of some
suburban home, and watch those lively
coat-tails flying toward the station. Bliss
! full dream!
There is no use in denying that modern
life makes some varieties of sentiment
ridiculous If not impossible. Juliet would
have had hard time of 1t il she had been
a suburbanite and Romeo a commuter.
| Next to the New York Evening Post" +"
which is pronounced enemy of everything
distinctively American in its character.
the Springfield Republican is entitled to
special mention. II says:
The number of natives who have been slain to
date is repeatedly stated in the reports coming
| from Manila to be over $500, with many more
thousands wounded They were shot down IN
| standing for the right of controlling their own
| political disposition, and we have lost over 200
| in killed and more by disease in doing the job,
! and very many more have been wounded and made
| sick so grand a triumph is certainly worth a
national holiday or two, and many statues and
| columns
All of which is not true. The Filipinos
were not shot for standing for the right
of controlling their own political DISPOSE
ton" They were shot because they were
in rebellion against the Government of this
country, which was anxious at the start
to deal as leniently with them as possible,
and to then accord them large measure
of control of their own affairs.