The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-07-16
The Gos,s:ips.

he C1OSS1pS
,Hhet 1earsny sits In Gossip's han,
{ The guests crowd eagerly about,
II ms catch some word of knightly rout,
5,BOf sore defeat and fall.
Alas alas. how few there ARE,
Who in Hopes quiet chapel pray
Il The warrior may come ava!
$siNVithout' n wound or scar
Frank Walcott HUT III the Independent.
De Montignc, a wise and cynical Oh.
server of poor human nature, declared
that The best of people cannot help taRins
Gt score, pleasure In the nisfortunes OIL
their friends. An old and well-establlsheu
p maxim runs TO the effect that there are
4 Two classes OF people who deserve hars-
= ing; the ono b,- their tongues, because
& they;tnlk : the other by their ears, because
they listen"
In most Instances the listening comes
first The Athonns, referred to by Faul as
Z being continually occupied IN hearing atio
telling at the market place some new
thing are not unlike humanity as Whoie.
Frequently the agreeahility OF man
Il
TO tell Il racy--not to say risauc story
that creates II sensation by It's newness.
and l,y the embellishments Which the ac-
tive fancy of the raconieur adds to render
1t all the more piQuant and acceptable 70
The ear of the connoisscur In gossip
S3 hostess. in making out her list for
dnner party or luncheon, frequently
,,ai,ses with her pencil in her hand TO
say; "Oh, l must invite Mrs. Quick Ears,
or Mr. know-lt-All. l must have some
one who comprehends what Is gong on
md who can furnish diversion Tor the
rest, So the card is sent and when IN
response, "Hearsay comes to SIT ~ .'os
sips hall,'''one cannot over-estiinate the
harm that may be done among inc t'i ''>I . .
and the listeners.
1, Is curious how readily the ear VIII
incline to hear evil that is told OF an
other, 1t Is ptiful to think how much
quicker the eye is to note a de1cct
yather than a good quality; how muen
of.ener the.lips open to give utterance TO
criticism rather than to praise
The worst Of all is that gossip Is born,
not of Intelligent observation ana aecu-
rate knowledge, but of sheer on the
iip Of a scoffer. "a shrug OF the shoulders.
4 glance of the eye OF significant LOOK.
Out of the tribes coiorcd with imagin-
alton ana spieea IN n M s of neaca and
happiness, alike to the talker, the nearer
and the talked-about.
A remarkable novel, written within the
last fe wyears, described man who
sought, in the interest of science, for
species of man-eating vampire mid the
1or,ests. Of the Brazilian Andes When
ne was almost hopeless. he captured the
the bottom of his boat, started to make
his return voyage alone. his companions
having long, since forsaken him, as an
enthusiast and dreamer. Of idle
Dreams
/ DESTROYS of all things to present to
The scientific world his discovery and
Z to establish the truth of his beliefs and
of his captive and fed its voracious APP
petite, at the expense of his own we'll
being. The end finally came. While
stu distant from the III point w aow ms rs
the boat weak, exhausted and starving.
The vampire, straining at Its bonds.
broke them. It's burning eyes came
it had changed places. It's great wings
spread wide and embodied hm-as he
struggled to his feet-in an embrace OF
doath.
Two years later another party Of sci
entists, following in the footsteps Of the
MIN who had led the way first Of all.
and lost his life in the doing Of 1t, found
4 tho battered remnants OF boat driven
high on the shore of the Amazon by
u storm and bleaching near 1t, the
skeleton of the vampire, whose wings
y still held tho bones OF the man so firmly
that on-lookers Of a tragedy long -enacted
utrned away in horror ut the thoughts
1t awakened.
The man or woman who undertakes to
rear ''Hcarsay's' bantling is much in the
position of the scientist who sought the
vampire. Sooner or later the vampire
will turn and the end will come, and the
man or woman will perish, not as a
martyr TO science but as the raiser OF
spirit of evil, destined to drain the
life of all with whom it comes in con-
tact-The Editor.