The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-01-26
EVENING CHAT
BY RUTH CAMERON

Two young friends of mine who had
been kept apart by a foolish misunder-
stanoiag Tor oyer two years ,l dlT1
standing, picked up the romance where
it had dropped, became engaged, and are
now in a fair way to be happily married.
And yet they are both grieving even In
the midst of the happiness for the need
lessly lost two years.
say "needIessly'' because IL one of
these two had taken the pains to write
half a dozen extra words on certain
occasion, the wretched Misunderstanding
would never have come about. And those
extra words were simply his name and
address, and they should have been writ
ten on the outside of an envelope.
When the two graduated from colege
about two years ago, the feeling of ad-
niration and attraction which each fet
towards the other. hae not been put INTO
definite words. Much to her delight how
ever, he did ask permission to write,
which was gladly granted. They ex-
changed several letters and then letter
of hers remained unanswered. She waited
hopefully at first and then as the long
weeks grew into months-you know how
long they can be when they are measured
by the painfully longed for. but sickening-
" disappointing visits Of the postman-
she simply decided that his silence meant
he was weary OF the frlendshlp ana the
Meanwhile he, his side, had inter-
preted her failure to respond to his letter
as a sign that she weary of the cor
respondence and the friendship and he
had tried to forget her.
How came 1t that there were two I'M
answered letters? Why simply in the
usual way He had made a slight mistake
in the address, and his letter, not having
any return address on the envelope, had
been sent to the dead letter office
Now neither met anyone who seemed to
fill the place of the lost friend, and for
tunately the chance meeting cleared away
the trouble, and they are to be married,
and, 1 suppose, to live happily ever after
wards. but fancy great many mlsun-
derstandings which begin just that way
are never cleared up.
lust the other day CHANGED to meet
woman who some months ago offered to
do me a favor. accepted her kind offer
and wrote her a letter regarding the mat
fer never heard from her again and
supposed she had changed her mind. Our
chance meeting brought about explana-
tons. and ] found that she had answered
my letter, but never received the an
swer Naturally she, as well as /, was
wondering at the silence And that would
have been avoided If she had had her
letter.
friend and both times made careless
mistake in the address. 1 had no answer
I was Just deciding that the correspon-
dence was no longer welcome when my
letters came back to me, making every
Just Yesterday a girl told me of
Christmas gift which went adrift in this
way and of a grieved and puzzled friend.
7 don't doubt that every day just such
MISUNDERSTANDING arise. OF course, there
are times when letters nysteriously dis
appear even when safeguarded in this
way but I know these occasions are in
The return address is letter insurance.
The time YOU take in writing it, or the
money spent to have It printed, Is the
premium you pay. The security against
Misunderstanding is the value you re-
And from all I've heard and exper-
fenced in this direction, 1 can assure you
it's decidedly worth while insurance.