El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-01-23
~ HE dangerous thing about thel
nrdIrarr ararara dan-ar- Of

~ he dangerous thing about tn
ordinary. average dangers OF
= everyday life is that after
awhile We get a placic contempt for
them instead OF the wholesome fear
that was our great protection.
It is perfectly true that. grown IA
miliar with the face Of evil. we may
80 through the process Of first scorn-
ing, then plying and then embracing,
as the old poem warns we are likely
I do.
Most Of IS have a little tendency to
brood over the forbidden. Some one
says. Don't monkey With a buzzsaw.' .
And we find ourselves wondering,
why nOt2-why should anybody want
to monkey with the buzzsaw, or why
should there be any harm in it. any
Way2 doesn't look dangerous. So we
insert the tip OF a finger IN the ma
ehinery-and the saw takes its toll
and the tip.
Forbidden thoughts have an ugly
charm merely because they are for
hidden OF course. Biuebcarls wife
wanted to peep into his chamber OF
horrors OF course, Pandora wanted
to open her box. It was a philo-
sophical interest in the reason back
OF the command not to open the door
OF the chamber or to look within the
box
Life Full Of BIuebeard Chambers.
Life is full OF Bluebeard chambers
and OF Pandora boxes.
The wise person is not necessarily
the stupid an stolid one who re-
Trains from Investigating because he
has not Imagination enough to be ex-
cited by the mystery. The Wis per-
son is he who walks all around the
TTnIe = a . -
he safely can ard then goes about
the pursuit OF knowledge methodical-
" and carefully, and either uses il or
shoves it back aC1in in the darkness,
where II belongs, after he has found
IL.
The dangerous sort OF curiosity,
which is absolutely a buzzsaw and
bound to cut off finger tips. is the
sort that makes boy wonder how il
feels to get drunk or makes a girl
investigate the question Of what pos
sible enjoyment there can be in a
stolen kiss.
suppose a loving. understanding
mother gives her daughter such good
advice as this. Helen, dear, I want
my little girl to be self respecting and
dignified- When you are puzzled about
things come TO mother for eNplana-
tion. II you would be ashamed to
come TO mother, then surely you don't
want to talk the the things over with
another girl who won't understand
any better than you do and who may
tell you things which Will make you
still more ashamed Don't do things
for lark or because somebody calls
you a goody-gOOdy when you refuse
Don't start imagining that you want
TO do things like that"
II Helen is wise, she Will heed
mother. believe in her common sense
and loving, helpful spirit II Helen
IS not. she will pay bitterly for her
foolish experiments or wrong mental
habits.
One Girls Course.
I know girl who only two years
ago was sweet and fine. AM very
l0vable. She had a splendid sense OF
values and cared for the things which
were worth caring for. Then she got
in with q crowd OF. pleasure loving
idlers. who called themselves artists
and free thinkers.
The truth about them was they were
slaves to the wrong kind Of thought
They fancied that you proved your
self superior by rising above law and
conventionality and morality-they
did not dream that they were sinking
below-not rising above Ny girl
friend was amused by them at first.
She thought them rather original. But
after she had grown accustomed 70
their perverted ideas and ideals she
no longer shuddered away from those
ideas She acceted them indifferent
ly-of course. they didn't affect her
She was never going to drink TO
excess or sit around in restaurants
putting cigarctts or serenely steal an
other womans husband or live by her
wits. il was just amusing to see how
earnestly these other people accepted
their own wrong standards. Ny friend
accepts thems too. now. But seen too