Omaha daily bee., 1916-02-24
w ELLA WHEELER wILCON.
CoprlEht irG star Company.

AFAH FAAN COMPANY
we'll behaved and industrious young
woman vanished from hnne, and after
weeks absence wrote 70 hor family
saying, Forget mo"
Those two words told the whole terrible
story.
hut they told something else besides
they told tho unjust attitude ~ human
beings who compose society toward an
orring woman
Had this young woman hccn young
man and committed the same sins. can
we for one moment suppose that a letter
would have been sent home to the walt
ms relatives?
Indeed. no. The young man would have
zone back and hls family would have
fallen upon his neck with no questions
aHkod."
Just as this silcnt attitude toward the
sona IL wrons, so Is the cruclly severe
attitude toward an crrlng gir n stun
bling block In the way OF humauity's
evolution,
wish cvcry weak and foolish gir who
has taken ono wrong step ami believes
she must go on TO the end OF the high-
way, although she longs 10 turn back,
would take courage and make the at
temp, right now before she passes an
other milestone.
The moreuc and tho pottcr's field and
tho island" arc filled with those who
dared not turn back.
In the parks and on tho streets YOU
may meet blCar-cycd old women IN rags.
bes Sing pcnnica o' pSss' r.'hN. ON some
ot these faces rcsts tho lingering rem
nant OF what once was hcauty--tha
beauty whirh opened me door to tcmpts-
tion, perhaps.
And after they had started on the path
they believed II was impossible 10 turn
back.
Yet had they tried. what fate could
have been moro terrible than the one
they found as they pnssed olons tho
highway Of folly2
A fow years ~ fine apparel, and car
riages, and wine suppers and travel. and
excitement, at the very best. Always the
need of hiding the source OF these lux
| urlos from the world always the nccd of
lies and prctence. and secrecy, or clse
tho utter sinking OF the whole moral
nature in a braZcn disregard Of public
opinion.
And each year seeing the physical
charms fading each yenr realizing the
nearer approach Of that awful time
when neglect aud Insult must take the
place Of pursuit and flattery,
And then the depths of degradation
| with premature old age and poverty and
loneliness and the fictitious excitement
OF drink as the only relief from despair
There are hundreds OF such old womer
In our great cities today-women whC
made one false step, perhaps with thu
idea of escaping drudgcry perhaps
through lack OF will power, and per
haps because OF a misplaced trust Blu
whatever. the cause, there must have
been hours In tho early part OF the Jour
noy when each one of these womeI
onged to turn back into the straigh
path and begin over, J.
And because she had been taught tina
nothing but death could remedy a NO
mans fall and that no amount of 70
pentance or Christianity could gain he
the respect OF her fellow men, she dare,
not try.
Yet In our great cities. too, and II
high places, In the church and In 30
ciety, women walk who have turne'
back and cast their follies behind them
There are good mothers and good wive
who have built their own ladders upol
which they climbed from error. Tn
world offers better opportunities &
women who reform in this age thai
ever before.
All occupations are open to them. an,
in distant states and far from old az
aociations the woman who has the will
and the desire strong enough may an
can start on a new upward path, Self