The age-herald., 1900-12-18
SKETCHES FROM
 EVERYDAY LIFE

of hate does not seem to be dying out. I think the trouble is that love is better reg ulated than 1t used to be. A woman usually is the cause of duel, as most other troubles as we'll as joys of mankind, and in former days when love was encouraged to run riot, and the warmest poet was the most popular, there was much more cause for duelling than at present. The growth and development of breach of promise suits, the reading of love letters in court and the growing desire of women to ap- pear in the courtroom both as litigants and witnesses, have caused men to be a little more careful in love matters. Breach of promise suits and the laws which au- thorize them cause a restraint to be placed on the impulse to love, just as the jail and criminal laws cause a restraint on the de- sire to steal
 'I happened to be al summer resort in Virginia last summer where two gentlemen came near fighting duel because one of them was in love- The one whose heart was infamed was scion of one of the old est families in the State. He naturally took great pride in this matter for which he was in nowise to blame, and considered that he was in class by himself. He thought it beneath his dignity to work. and fortune also provided him sufficient income to indulge this whim He there fore had a great deal of time on his hands, which he consumed simultaneously with a great deal of whiskey. This kept his head inflamed, and there was a beautiful girl at the resort who kept his heart in the hox,f Ixfnf tom to restrain any desire, he indulged in the passion of love to such an extent that he was insanely jealous. He considered that the girl belonged to him and resented any one else paying her the slightest atten- ton. He tried to monopolize all her time, and as the girl was popular he made him. self generally very offensive. He was ready to fight on the shortest notice and for the slightest encroachment on his supposed rights.
 "A young lawyer who arrived a the ho- tel one afternoon from the South was in- troduced to the young lady and incidental ly to the Virgnian, who was always near by. The next afternoon he took her to drive. Returning to the hotel somewhat thirsty from his drive, he made his way to the bar and ordered drink. A moment after the Virginian came in, and stepping up to the other end of the bar gave his order
 Wont you take a drink with me?" asked the lawyer.
 "No, replied the Virginian, "but I will take a shot with you"
 The lawyer was somewhat surprised, but not being the kind to take an affront and seeing the VTgnian was in earnest, he agreed to accommodate him. What shall we fight with?" he asked. On, a thirty eight will do," said the Virginian. q prefer a forty-four said the lawyer, "so as not to have any doubt about the result" The Vir- glnian would not agree to this, so it was decided to leave the choice of weapons to the seconds. The lawyer went off and left the Virginian at the bar. Nothing more was seen of him that evening until about 12 o'clock, when his desire for his imaginary rivals blood and an oyer-indulgence in stimulants caused him to sally forth in his night robe with a pistol in his hand, with which he pounded on the lawyers door, de- mandng admission. This being refused, he went to get step ladder to climb through the transom. When he had gone the lawyer rushed into my room and borrowed my pis- tol. I also produced a bottle of whisky, which he seemed in need of. I kept him in my room all night, but the Vlrginian did not return, and we did not see him until the following morning at Il o'clock, when We all three met at the bar. He seemed in a particularly good humor, and to the law yers surprise invited him to take drink. He had forgotten all about the challenge, and as no one reminded him of 1t, the oc- casion passed off very pleasantly. The w,his- key they sold at the hotel, strange to say, was good, and the question of calibre was only discussed from physiological stand point and not a military one.
 Nearly every one reads newspaper hurriedly," said a business man as he glanced over the headlines of the morning paper on his way to the office. 'I have to myself, although like to read newspapers, and have noticed that most people do the same thing. There is no more time in day than there was fifty years ago-rather less, while the newspapers contain about twenty times as much reading matter. It all has to be skinned over in kind of way Just to keep aDfedSI OL the times. pay there are a hundred articles in a paper; the average reader will read two or three at most. He will commence a dozen, and after reading partly through will begin something else, finding that the article does not interest him or thinking that he has grasped its purport. An instance of this was an account in The ge-Herald recently of a breach of promise suit between two prominent society people. The suit was gotten up as a farce in aid of a charitable entertainment, but 1t was written as if it was bana fide suit until the last line was reached, which stated 1t was given in aic of a charitable bazaar. We'll, hundreds of people who saw the article got the inn pression that 1t was a real suit, much to the annoyance of the princlpals-they sim ply did not finish reading the article.
 "A curious thing" he continued, about reading is that the eye travels along the top of letters If you take a line of type
 -l,n ,f