The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-12-10
EVENING CHAT
BY RUTH CAMERON.

In the newspaper story of a minis
ter who recently resigned his pulpit
on account of scandal, is one little
paragraph that seems to me so ire
mendously illuminating, not only of
this tragedy but of thousands of 9TH
ers like it, that 1 want to quote it for
you.
This was it: Miss M (the woman
in the caSe) was one of a party of
tourists who went abroad with DIR.
A (the minister concerned) last sum-
mer. Mrs. A was not of the party.
Do you know, it seems to me that
our understanding of the phenomenon
of love, if not our power to deal with
it, would be vastly increased if we
only admitted what a very large part
propinquity plays on the arousing of
this passion.
When two lovers. clasped in each
others arms, whisper to each other,
Dearest, you are so different from all
other (men-women) in the world; ;
you are the only human being I could
possibly love as l do in ninety-nine
cases out of a hundred, at least, L
think they are lying.
No, Ill take that back. A lie is an
intention to deceive. A great many of
them have no intention to deceive.
They are themselves deceived rather
say, all right, but it just isn't so.
In the one hundredth case this
beautiful and comforting sentiment
may approximate truth.
In the other ninety-nfne case-weIl,
if it had been Agnes instead of Mary
who came to make a long visit to
Johns sister that summer Che was
just through college and ripe to fall
in love with some nice GRID, Agnes be-
ing about as attractive as Mary, he
would probably be whispering those
words to Agnes now, instead of to
Mary.
One of my friends was engaged
some years ago to an agreeable and
apparently most desirable young man.
After she had been engaged about a
year it became necessary for him to
move to distant city. He wanted
her to marry him and go with him.
She was willing to do this, but her
mother finally persuaded her to wait
awhile. Awhile" as it all too often
happens in such cases, dragged on
from month to month, from year to
year. One day when he had been
gone about three years he wrote to
her and broke the engagement.
One of her friends was speaking
of the matter to me- He must have
been naturally tickle. I guess her
family were right in wanting her to
wait" I said.
''Oh, I don't know" said the other
girl, Il don't think it proves anything
Can you blame him so much after all
Ruth is very attractive, but there
are so very,very many attractive girls
in the world. He was probably being
constantly thrown with some charm
ing girl while Ruth was only a letter
and a memory And what chance has
a letter and a memory against a real
live flesh and blood girl?''
1t was a new point of view to me
then, but 1 have thought of it very
often since.
Now please don't let this worry you
any of you dear little girls whose true
knights chance to be far away max.
ing their fortunes and feathering tht
nests for you.
I don't mean it that way
That was only one case out of {
hundred. Of course your man is diff
ferent.
Still I don't think it would do an,
harm for you to decide to be wilIinJ
to start life with as little as possibl,
for the sake of making the separation
shorter.
I believe that OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
ed, of course, that congeniality b,
added to it-plays a much larger par
in producing the passion of love thai
is generally acknowledged.
Am I over stating this?
I'd dearly love to know what yo,
folks think about it.