Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1905-05-06
Engagements and Their Keeping.

Some women are bitter in their re-
sentiment toward Il man who breaks an
engagement with them (not marriage
enga cement. but sociaD, never pausing
to think that there must be some good
and sufficient reason for such an act.
The fact of the man proffering any
attention to woman presupposes that
he finds pleasure III doing so. it being
purely matter of choice with him
An invitation 10 tine Uheater. to din
uer, a drive, or the sharing of any plea
sUre is entirely gratuitous on mans
part when it is presumable that he real
IL wanted the companionShiD of the
woman in question, otherwise he would
not have invited her This being the
case he would hardly break the engage
ment did not some good reason exist or
arise for 50 doing. The woman who
laShes herself into Il rage because she
has either been kept waiting or disap-
pointed in toto is both unkind and I'M
reasonable. y thousand and one things
may have occurred making the keeping
of the enga cement impossible. says Kate
Tyson Mari in the st. Louis Star.
Perhaps one of the saddest instances
ever recorded of this kind was that
wherein lighspirited girl figured. aud
the circumstances scared her for life
.
the most cynical type before lie met the
handsome girl i'll question. to whom. all
though Il very busy man, he devoted
much attention. On one particular even
ing they were to dine together, when he
telephoned it was impossible for him to
90. deferring the invitation until the
next night when again he failed to ap-
pear, and no telephone or telegraph ex-
planned. In rage she wrote and mailed
a bitterly denunciatOry letter breaking
the friendship and telling him she would
never receive him again. 1t so happened
that the man met with q peculiar acct
dent while on his way to meet her. and
at the very moment of her writing his
dead body lay III Il drug store awaiting
removal home. Unfortunately. the let
ter fell into the hands of The heart
broken mother. The girl went to his
home, but was refused admttance
Among the mans effects was an I'M
signed will in which this girl, having
little of the worlds goods. was most
substantially remembered The family
was wealthy and would have carried ont
lis wishes to the letter, but instead the
family lawyer was directed to send her
copy Of this will, together with one of
her letter and a note from the brother.
They never forgaye her. Such tragic Sc
quels do not always follow yet one can
never tell
The man who invites woman in the
hope that she will refuse or with no
intention of keeping the enga cement is
cad. He should not invite her unless
sincerely wishing to have her enjoy with
NM As for being on time there are Il
thousand and one DELAYS against which
It IS impossible to guard. and where an
engagement is positive. with mutual
heneht to each. or Il pleasure trip. lit
tic patience will not infringe the dignity
of either
There is, however, another class of in
FitatlonS where a man is placed in such
a position that he cannot decline or get
away from them without being absolute
~ rude. When Il woman forces herself
upon mans notice and insists upon his
society. Such women are not only de-
!0ld OF tact but also of the commonest
instincts of delicacy, and yet what can
the poor man do? He is martyred to
ms politeness. \ married man who is
forced INTO such position is to be pitied:
mat IS, OF course when he is free from
1lrtatiOus proclivitiPS
u Is always Il matter of good breeding
t. wait until one has Il chance to learn
whether slight was voluntary or in
voluntary, and if the latter. an eXplana-
u?n with expressions of regret should
WIN forgiveness ut once. But if no
apology or explanation follows the slight
woman Is justified in allowing the nc
Guamtance to drop. To show any feeling
or pique in the matter is to acknowledge
herself sighted and to betray that she
mas felt it, Indifference and a firm re-
solve never to allow the same thing to
happen again is the most dgnihed
course. To resent in any way shows
tiat man has power to wound.
Inc woman who will not listen to eX-
plantations or apologies is often very
Trying. a man may exert himself to the
utmost-may strain every nerve, and
larry go the limit of human possibili-
TIES to keep an engagement and fail
utterly to do so. If he is welcomed later
hN q storm of reproaches he feels that
he does not deserve it and is angry and
emhttered. If. on the other hand. the
woman whom he loves shows some aux-
lety. and the fear that something dread
IuI had happened him. it warns his
heart and draws him closer to her.-Bos-
ton Traveller.