Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-05-03
TENDER M|SS|VES
Be Very Careful of Writing
Too Many.
MAKE SOFT SPEECHES
BUT DO NOT WRITE ALL YOU
FEEL.
How the Wife of a Popular Idol is
Amused by the Letters
Sent Him.
MAKE SOFT SPEECHES
for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star
DR.. Franklin gave some advice to the
young ladies of his day which their grand
daughters would do well to take to heart.
Make such soft speeches as you will, my
dears.' he said; but put them not down
in ink
have doubt he emphasized his mean
ing with a sly and whimsical smile, and
made clear to those arch coquettes in pow
der and brocade what 1 would like to i'm
press on the tailored matinee girl. and that
is this. The practice of writing sentimental
notes to men should not be INDUCED in by
gentlewomen under any circumstances!
OF course, this does not mean that girls
should cease from burdening the mail bags
of Uncle Sam with tender messages to
their accepted lovers. DIR. Franklin may
have harnessed the lightnings, but he could
not do as much with the human heart; and
as long as love lasts-and please God. that
shall be until there is no more life on this
star we cali the earth-love's Language will
be written, and the gray clad postman will
continue to be envoy extraordinary to Gu
pid. Lovers are seldom fluent enough TO
put In speech the things that they would
say; but the man. dumb with love, Is al
ways poet when he writes to her And
she covers page after page with sweet as
surances that her lips could never speak
SO love letters are among the sweetest priv
hegeS Of love; and / believe that they
should be written with all the fervor and
madness and extravaganza of the time that
IN the after years they may be taken from
their place and united with their dried
roses among them. and light, with their
yellow leaves. the hearts that have grown
weary and cold, and fan into life a forgot
ten passion.
do not believe much In the love that
Withholds trust For where one is there
should be the other. But the custom. now
widespread. OF sending notes of compli-
ment and admiration to strange men, who
by reason of some within of fate, have been
thrust into public notice cannot be aboI-
fshed too soon for the credit Of the bonniest.
most wholesome and merriest creature in
the world-the American girl.
A Surfeit of Sweets.
1t Is said the popular hero or actor rarely
takes sugar in his breakfast coffee because
the letters heaped beside his plate bring a
surfeft of sweets. If he Is new in the hero
line he may be scornfully tolerant over the
missives and light his pipes with them.
But in the end he will be bored and dis
gusted, and whether they are opened at all
or not will depend wholly on the curiosity
of his servant He does not want foolish
girls to write to him; and he has never
fallen In love with any one in that way.
Even his vanity is not touched by the let
tiers. For he is aware that the murderer
waiting sentence in jail is as we'll remem-
bered, and that In his hands red with
crime, futter hysterical notes of sympathy
from women who know nothing of evil, but
fret in their nor-sheltered homes for the
knowledge which brings misery and the
experience which brings shame. Many are
moved by false notion of charity which
makes them long to lift up and encourage
the criminal. and to hold their frail and
untried hands between him and the law
And / believe their motives, sometimes. are
as high as the plans of the plying angels.
But the man who receives their letters does
not think so. Not knowing that he has a