The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-01-12
LOVE All A prNNY a Inc.
The agony Column" Of Continental
Newspapers.

agony columns" of their respective
newspapers. Here we often have
amusing and affectionate loye-mes-
sages committed to cold print by
some impatient and despalring lover.
It may We passionate according to
English ideals, but as yet the Briton
has not succeeded in acquiring much
of the torrid fervsr of. the Continental
lover.
For instance, an italian paper re-
Gently contained this passionate ad-
dress in its advertisement columns
Yesterday when | saw you / had not
then received your dear letter. Inn
had been. The day was to me veri-
table agony. l could not discover a
reason for your silence. You may
guess how | suffered. But at last
yesterday evening l again saw your
adorable handwriting. Thanks, thanks,
with the whole of my soul. Thus, at
any rate, we may part with tranquil
hearts But when / think we shall
never see one another again my soul
freezes Write to mo often, for l
have need of your gentleness. and
have a foreboding that | shall sue
cumb to the pestilent climate Of the
country | am going to. And ! shall
write every other day to you. To you
all my soul all my love. sweetest and
most adorable creature"
1t is, perhaps, paradoxical to term
this poetical specimen an agony;
nevertheless, 1t Immediately followed
the above rather mournful address:
by your side" begins the lover in
rhapsody kissing you, gazing in
your eyes, sweetly embracing you, it
is sweet to repeat, to swear to you all
my love, sublime, divine, fascinating
enchantress! Mine eternallyl"
French newspapers, especially those
published in Paris, make feature OF
the agony column from which they
derive considerable revenue. Le
Journal prints between 200 and 300
love advertisements a week, the uni
form charge being 1fr. Use. (nearly Is.
Cd. When translated into cold Eng
llsh they lose something of their rhap-
sodical nature, but the following is an
exceptions: THE richest vision of
thee will be found engraved on the
most profound depths Of my heart
nj, haA faEt L.,
eagerly await news. lneffaceable re-
membranes" Another lover, less op-
timistic, inserted this: Am incon-
solable to have to give up seeing you
today. Have treasured such pleasant
memories. All! II you were mine!
Do not go far away without seeing
me. Am sad. and think of thee"
There seems TO be romance underly-
ing the "agony" which read: "Janina,
As. III. Excuse. Impossible to cor
respond direct. Attrocious life! For
got to visit cemetery" The Echo de
Paris, Figaro, LEclair, and Petit
Journal, to name only a few, contain
scores of similar "agonies" every day
in the week.
The lists reveal all sorts and condi-
tions of lovemaking and romancIng.
One lady acknowledges receipt of
poetry, but Indignantly demands to
know why "he" did not call for her
at midnight in carriage; dozens OF
Apollos confess their "desolation" and
mourn" their exiles Every slmile
and adjective known to the vocabu-
larry of love is used with delirious en-
thusiasm. Little cabbage" is a fav-
orite term of endearment! Here is a
recent example from the Echo de
Paris: Little Cabbage Take from
poste restante, railway quarter, letter
in name of Jeanne Duval. Ever
thine!"
More romantic is this appeal by a
lady to her inconstant lover: "Bas-
sano," she says, 4 supplicate you for
a reply. Hast tLou suffered? The
last time | saw you so disdainful. My
poor one You will answer me, will
you not? Love you"
Advertisements lauding commercial
articles such as soap, pills, etc, have
so far been rigidly excluded from
French agony columns. These are
ofiicially termed Petite Correspond
ence." But the man in search of a
wife, or woman in seach of a hus-
band, is allowed the hospitality of
the lovers column, and now and then
some extraordinary advertisements
see the light of day. "Rich gentleman
asks m-rriage with negress. Replies
l45, bureau 6S," appeared in L'PetIt
Partisan few days ago II Is to be
hoped that the "rich gentleman
found a negress 10 his liking.
Candor is the dominant keynote of
an advertisement inserted by a lady
who describes herself as Young for
eisn artist, we'll educated, pretty, ele-
CANT, witty, desires marriage with
gentleman, rich for preference; elder
ly.-Letter 24.544, bureau 25." Totally
different, though equally candid, is
the following, taken from the agony
column" OF lie Journal: Divorced
lady, age S6, blonde, sympathetic,