Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1902-12-26
WAR ON KISSING.
"Shew Your Certificate" " i'll be the Cry
if Wares Bill Passes.

DR.. r. B. Ware, physician and law
maker of Amherst county, has com
out as an opponent of the gentle art 0
kissing. He gays it is all wrong
Young people are fond of it. he admits
as we'll as come who are old enough t.
know better, just as some people ar
fond of candy and other things tha
are sweet to the taste. but regarded al
deeterious to health.
Knowing that neither moral suasior
nor all the argument in the world viii
Iprevent a man from kissing a maie
who is willing, he proposes to CHECK
che oscnlatory tendencies of Virginians
as we'll as those of the strangers so
| jOurning within her borders by per
emptory prohibition of the practice
He proposes to use the whole po" el
of the State teprevent it, and if he has
his way the State will say to man and
maid; Thou shalt not kiss-that is,
unless thou art able to produce thy
certificate.'
The man who draws his sweetheart
to his breast, whose lips meet hers
with the yearning, soulful, clingiDg
pressure of ardent youth, thri ling the
whole being of each with indescribable
bliss and making all the world seem
glorified, will be taken before an un
feeling police magistrate and hear the
harsh sentence, Five and costs. y
And so will the maiden-that is, If
they are caught and have no certifi-
Gates
If DR.. Wares bill which he introduc
ed in the Virginia Legislature
becomes law. such dialogues as
these will be whispered in thousand
dimly lighted parlors, in shady groves
on starlit piazzas and by the sad sea
waves throughout the Old Dominion ::
"Oh, darling; oh, my sweetheart; one
kiss, only one."
"Oh, Charley, you ought not to ask
me. No: cannot. You know | can.
metz
Don't be cruel, darling. Please,
just one.''
You are so persistent No, now
don't; you'll muss my hair. Please
don't. Wait moment; let me go,
please. Well, if you must But wait
have you your certifcate?"
Eyes, dearest, here it is. got it to-
day. but your eyes, your very presence
made me forget all about certificates.
You have yours, of course?''
"N-no, l forgot to get it; didn't
expect you tonight"
"Great heavens what disappoint-
ment. I cannot kiss you now, for I
cannot break the law
She sobs, he grabs his hat and rush
es out of the door, while the detective
rises from beneath the window. Foil
ed again - be mutters as be disappears
into the night.
The reason for DR.. Wares antikiss
ing measure is his desire to protect
the health of the people of the State.
Besides, he says, kissing is a senseless
habit anyway. What good can come
Of the pressing of one pair of lips up.
on another2 1t is an unclean practice,
he maintains, and results in the spread
of disease of all kinds, so he proposes
to stop all persons from kissing unless
they can produce certificate from a
physician showing them to be free from
all kinds of contagious or pulmonary
diseases.
Under his law a man may not kiss
his sweetheart she may not kiss her
dearest enemy; a mother may not
kiss her children "a husband may not
kiss his wife or allow his wife to kifs
him hemay not even kiss bis mother
in-law, nor may a child kiss its moth
er, unless each has clean bill of
health from physician.