Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-17
MARY MAGDALENE OBJECTS
TO BEING CALLED A MAN

Los ANGELES, Aug. 10.-[Edtor
Heraldl: oh, dear! oh, dear! will some
one lend me a pair of trousers. Helen
Standish, Marian Martin, A. H. d. and
other correspondents of The Herald
Letter Box have torn my skirts to
ribbons and l fear to shock dear old
Helen Standish with my bushes. They
! insist that Mary Magdalene is a man,
as if that is of any consequence. After
all I have said against the male sex
it is a mean trick to call me a man.
| The woman of Palestine was allowed
to go free because no one without sin
could be found to throw the first stone.
have not the same chance, as sinless
women confront me, but fortunately
they are poor shots at stone throwing.
In this dilemma they even call on men
writer's in the Letter Box to help them
in the discussion the discreet creatures
are far too wise. (The silence of the
male sex on this subject is profound
you can almost hear it, In their hearts
my good sisters know l am not man
and A. H. D. later admits it by ad-
dressing me as Miss Mary" Q like
A H D., she is so Candid-or is she
afraid l may call on her).
1t is a principle and not the sex of
writer that is under discussion, and
tremble for fear some rude man may
say our sex Is inconsistent.
One writer says that she never asked
for women the privilege of being inn
moral. No, but your pink tea talks
about equal rights" ~ may poison
the mind Of some young girl and you
know the result She also writes that
she will tell naughty men what she
thinks of them. Now wouldn't that jar
you?
Another writes that Mary Magdalene
wants men to be immoral. That is
distortion of statement Any sensible
woman of ordinary perception knows
that the vast majority of men are not
chaste, and that the condition has al
ways been so. A small percentage OF
women go astray. Loss of chastity
does not necessarily mean loss of life's
happiness. While deplorable it can be
lived down by man or woman or
the right stuff who is truly repentant.
The Scriptures tell us so. Common
sense tells us so, and experience mas
taught some of us. 1 do not favor
immortality, for it is false condition
and wrecks happiness. But believe in
taking conditions as they are and
making the best of circumstances
What is the use of babbling about uni
versal purity. You can't dam Niagara,
even If a part of the stream is diverted
for manufacturing purposes. isn't IL
better to do what good you can Wlthln
your own circle and let the rest of the
world wag along. If some mothers
were not so busy talking about Souls
blood of somebody's daughter" ALTAR
of vice" "wicked masculinity, etc,
etc, 1t would not be necessary Tor
Mary Magdalene to tax an editors pa
tience by telling such mothers few
truths. Get busy with your own FAMILY
but if you cannot apply common sense
to the training of your children, send
them to a boarding school and you go
to some sanitarium for treatment.
Don't attempt the impossible with
boy by putting on metaphorical bathing
pants Make him manly and develop
his sense of right and wrong. Apply
Theodore Roosevelt's advice, 'play the
game hard, but play it square" If the
boy plays the game of life ssquarely ne ne
will have all the success and prosperity
deserved. Teach the boy to respect
good woman and it will influence him
to deserve her respect. Such course
will do more in developing the boy into
moral man than all "milksop" train
ing will do. MARY MAGDALENE.