St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1901-12-07
KISSES THAT COST LIVES.
History's Record Of Disasters That Have
Followed the Sweet Carsss.

li1s1I} 4dOuC1h GAlh usis'sts Ii tiic ikc40
Of hygiene. At more or less regular
intervals the cry goes up that kiss
ing is barbarous and unnecessary, that
ahandshake ought to satisfy every exi-
geney Of human affection, and that
the poets ought to be deprived of the
chief stock in trade of the convention
al sonneteer.
These campaigns, however, are
usually the outgrowth Of theory.
There are facts, it now appears, says
! the New York Herald, which adorn
the tale with more startling empha-
isis.
It is not Sc many weeks ago that
a Chicago girl died from kiss. Her
lover had had an attack of scarlet
fever. While convaleseent she went
to see him. There was little prudence
in their manner of greeting, and the
next week the girl herself fell i'll from
the malady that had been transmit
ted to her through her lovers lips.
It was tragedy in the end And the
girls parents successfully sued the in
cautious lover for heavy damages.
A single kiss has been known to
cause not one death alone, but many.
A few years ago a white woman, a
| waitress in a restaurant at Granger,
near Salt Lake City, permitted a ne
gro to kiss her publicly. Witnesses
Of the episode were so enraged that
| lthey commenced fVe-days campaign
against all the negroes in the city,
who, Of course, took the part OF
their colored eomrade Thirty-six
white men were either killed or
wounded, to say nothing of 80 ne
groes, and at the end of that time
the waitress astonished everybody by
marrying her colored lover This by
no means settled matters, for the ne
groes thereupon joined forces with
the white men, and the newly married
couple only just succeeded in escaping
from the city with theirlives.
On two occasions kisses have cost
the lives Of many brave soldiers. The
beautiful duchess of Gordon in 1894
raised the famous Gordon Highland
ers by giving thousand recruits a
kiss and golden guinea apiece. This
method Of recruiting proved 50 sue
cessful that the regiment was raised
to it's full strength in a few days, and
the duchess placed her son in COM
mand. The men were then sent out
against the French, and in the very
first battle in which they took part
more than $50 fell either killed or
wounded, 50 that it can be truthfully
said that they paid for the duchess
kiss with their lives.
But prior to this, in 1718, a war was
brought about BY thonghtless kiss
on the part Of a young Bavarian prince
OF fsomewhatreckless character named
Ferdinand. During visit to
neighboring state he inadvertently
kissed a beautiful member Of the roy
al household, Princess Thyra, igno-
rant of the fact that she was already
affianced and that her betrothed hap
pened to be standing near and wit
messed the incident. High words en-
sued, followed BY blows, and duel
was arranged, which led to diplomatic
relations between the two nations be-
ing discontinued. Ultimately a war
broke out which, although it only
lasted barely six weeks, resulted inthe
| demise Of more than 900 men be-
fore peace was finally declared.
One Of the most fatal kisses ever
known was that given by a young
Spanish sailor to his fancee nine
years ago, for it brought about the
decimation Of town TheMadonna,
| a Spanish vessel, put into the little
seaport Of Candalo. on the coast Of
Florida, flying the yellow flag, and
was accordingly ordered to remain in
quarantine, for more than one mem
Der Of the crew exhibited symptoms
Of bubonic plague. But the sailor IN
question disobeyed orders and put off
ii a boat for the shore one evening,
where, having sought out his fancee,
whom he had notseen for some years,
he embraced her.
A few days later the effects Of the
kiss became painfully evident, though
the culprit returned to his ship by
stealth the same night. The girlsuc-
cumbed to the plague, which spread
through the town so rapidly that
more than 200 persons died ont of
total population Of 1900.
Hop picker's Long Record
Probably the English hop-picker