The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-11-14
EVENING CHIT
BY RUTH CAMERON

c,na GIRL confided a secret to another.
third girl wished to know the SCI -,
and asked the second girl 70 te Ell, ne tessed
girl refused and the curious one teelss,
Finally. the confidante SAID IN oeaNs.~ ,
ton, ASK Gretchen yoursel. am 81.
she will tell you II she wants you 10
At once the curious one went ito to
Gretchen and said, Nelly SAID ulat 10"
would tell me yourself 49,. ,.
why, L never said any such thihs,
protested Gretchen. How could she have
told you so? / think ii was aoominap,i
OF her, when I trusted and conlloeo III
Whereupon a fine three-sided quarrel
was well under way And the wnole
cause was simply an instance OF tItat
careless reporting, which 1 firmly beneNt
causes half Of the misunderst analhe. :,
disagreements and broken friendships IN
That was a case where a statement was
actually beheaded, but we all know now
much mere intonation or infection can
change the meaning OF the simplest SEN
tence.
Probably you remember the passage IN
Middlemarch. where Lydgate appeals 10
his wife to help him get out Of the debts.
into which her extravaganza has helped
to plunge him? Rosamonds reply Is pei
fectly heartiess, but the heartessness -
wholly in infection.
What can 1 do, Tertius?" said Rosa
mond, turning her eyes on his again
That little speech of four words, like so
many others I'm all languages. IS capable
by varied vocal infections of expressing
all states of mind, from helpless dimness
to exhaustive argumentative perception
from the cOmpletest Self-deVOting fellow
snip to the most neutral aloofness. Rosa
monds thin utterance threw into the
words What can I dor as much neu-
trality as they could hold.
Now. suppose some partisans OF Rosa
mond We're telling of LydEate's un1usu-
fable wrath with his wife and we're to
repeat that passage. How easily in his
report the What can / dO2' might be-
come the most eager and loving offer OF
help from devoted wife.
Haven't YOU often heard some one re-
peat a conversation. at which you your
self had been present and been amused
and astonished at the wholesale mac
curacies. both of spirit and letter, In tho
report?
do not think the repeated word is
ever to be fully trusted. no matter how
excellent the intentions OF the reporter
Surely never to be trusted to the detri-
ment or prejudice Of the person who Is
the author of the speech.
Even the written word IS an untrust-
worthy medium for conveying ones feel
ings. It needs the Interpretation and
supplement OF accent, look and gesture
Robert Louis Stevenson TecOunts, Not
long ago, I wrote a letter to a friend
which came near involving US in quar-
rel. but we met and in personal talk /
repeated the worst OF what ] had writ
ten, added worse to that, and with the
commentary OF the body. IL seemed not
unfriendly either to say or to hear.
We all know that to communicate one
thought correctly to another is not the
easiest thing in the world. Even speak
ing directly to our friend. We may offend
him when there is not the slightest in
tentiOn of offeuse in the heart.
Considering this and how vastly more
uncertain a medium are repeated or
that the fairest. safest thing to do Is To
make an invariable rule TO disregard
them as matter for onense.
Don't you think so?