The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-09-05
LAURA JEAN LIBBY'S DAILY TALKS ON HEART TOPICS copyr1ehted AccauEo Newspaper Syndicate
ENVIOUS FRIENDS

They name thee before me, a knell to mine ear,
 A shuddering comes OCT me. Why vert thou so dear?
 They know not I knew thee, who knew thee too well;
 Long, long shall I rue thee too deeply
 to tell"
 To have loyal friends, steadfast and sincere, is blessing given to but few.
 In the sunshine of youth, wealth, prosperity and popularity, how they crowd about the favorites of fortune, each vieing with the other to be the one nearest and dearest.
 The warm-hearted woman takes
 her sp-called friends to her bosom. trusts and believes in them, knowing
 not the false from the true. The loyal friends will tell her her faults
 if they notice any. The insincere ones
 will gloss them over and secretly re- joice in seeing her make mistakes
 which in the end may prove fatal to
 her happiness, even her reputation. If young woman is extremely
 popular with the opposite sex, she is sure to create envy among thel ess preposessessing of her own sex. These girls envy her, but consider 1t ex- ceedingly clever on their part to keep
 in close companisnship with her to be introduced to her young men friends and, through her, get the op- portunity. of meeting them often. They | f1atter the popular girl, sIyly, covertly | putting her on the wrong track when ! ever possible. They are sweet to her face, but defame her in the bitterest sarcasm behind her back. They do their utmost to influence her to choose l hats and costumes that are the most unbecoming to her and praise way of wearing her hair that changes her i from pretty young woman, into a | freak. | They pooh-pooh her old mother s
 wise counsel when they are alone with l her, pouring unwise suggestions in her ear. They tell her it is a pity that 1 she, the bright particular star of the
 ball, should be obliged to go home at I Il o'clock, which is ust the edge of the evening, to please the notion of an old lady who has forgotten what it is to be young and gay, The real reason behind their urging her to re- main until the ball breaks up is that many of the most desirable young men leave after the popular girl has gone home.
 If she has two would-be lovers, one a splendid business man of sterling honor and reputation. the other a trifiing ne'er do well, with a good looking face, her false, envious friends will do their utmost in subtle way to influence her to choose the rake in direct opposition of hershappiness and welfare.
 Envious friends are a thousand times worse than an avowed foe. One knows what to expect from an enemy. The envious friend strikes a treacher- ous blow in the dark. A girl should have as wide circle of desirable ac- quaintances as possible, but the friends she clasps to her bosom she should be sure of through long con- tact and, experience with them.
 If poverty or disaster comes to woman, then she will soon be able to sift the wheat of real friendship from the chaff. When a girl makes the unwelcome discovery that certain women are envious of her past all doubting she should avoid them as much as possible. Treat them with courtesy, but shut all the approaches to her heart against them. True friendship is "the secret sympathy, the silver link, the silken tie, which heart to heart and mind to mind, in body and in soul can bind.' Envy writhes at another's oy and hates that excellence it cannot reach"