Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1913-06-28
The Poisonous White Lies
(Marc n. Goodnow,)

tenance, with deep lines Of worry aud
shame carved in flesh and skin which
once bore the blush of youth and hope,
stood dejectedly before the railing
which separated the judge of the jul
yenile court from the court room. She
seemed to carry the weight of thous-
and years upon her slender shoulders
and they dropped visibly under the
burden. Her tear-stained face, turned
appealingly to the judge who had just
passed sentence upon her only son, and
with faint and trembling voice said:
Your honor. truly don't know how
this could have happened. My boy
was raised in a Christian home, sur
rounded with the comforts of life, sent
tc school, watched over carefully AMI
showered with the affections of de-
voted mother. Now you have pre-
nounced him a convicted thief Judge,
| can't understand it; it doesn't seem
possible, or right, or just"
Mrs Mailey,' said the Judge, show
ing traces of emotion in his voice, the
court can express only small share
OF the deep sympathy which it really
feels for a mother in such dire dis
tress. The sight of a boy of fifteen
years being sent to the house of cor
rection is, indeed, one which might
well arouse questions of right and JUS
tice. Still it is the law" The judge
cleared his throat, then continued
However. your boy developed tenden-
cies which you knew nothing about:
had you known them you would not b,
here today The system of living, our
whole social scheme, which count :;
nances the insidious little white lies
OF life has had its baneful effect here.
Il is unnecessary to remind you of
these poisonous white lies for they
have already caused all the havoc pos
sible for them to cause in your life"
There was a slight stir in the court
room and the judge ceased speaking.
The boy in the prisoners dock looked
down upon his mother. He seemed the
personifcation of terror and shame.
An unnatural light, flickered in his
shifting eyes and he moistened his
lips again and again as if to speak
but no sound came from them. To the
little woman before him-she who gave
him birth, who reared him through ten
der years and who poured out the ca
resses and affections of devoted wor-
ship-to her it seemed a hideous black
dream; her boy standing in that pris-
oner's dock, the cynosure of a hundred
pairs of morbidly curious eyes, felon
at the age of fifteen, branded for life
as criminal-because he had sold
fifty pounds of lead pipe which did
not belong to him.
Summoning her remaining strength
and courage, Mrs. Mailey walked to
the dock and with a display of wonder
full self-control and affectionate ten
derness babe her boy goodbye; bale
him farewell for two years-two of
the longest years it could ever De
a mothers agony to suffer; two cen
turtles they were to her, and full
the vivid horror of that court room
scene. Then she left the court room.
followed by the boys grandparents
and other near relatives, the crowd By
now hushed with awed respect for a
mothers bleeding heart 1t was the
silent sympathy, one would say, for
the tortured living, which is deeper BY
far in it's human significance than the
loud lamentations for the peaceful
dead
The terrible import of that scene III
the dingy court room of a big city re-
manned many days in the memory ~
even the most disinterested, most cas-
ral observer. To Mrs. Mailey, its poig-
nancy never quite left her in all the
dark. bitter days to come, Weighing
her down not only with the deep sense
of shame and sorrow, but Installing the