The Washington herald., 1918-07-22

that handsome, lazy, no-account dis
sipated Smith boy. in spite Of the
prayers, tears and entreaties of her
father and mother, and in the face
OF all their warnings that she was
| wrecking her life by choosing such
man for a husband.
Arthur Jones has eloped with his
| mothers pretty housemaid, and his
family, who had built all of their
hopes and ambitions on him, are
heartbroken.
These are familiar bits Of gossip
that We all thresh over every cay of
our lives. And we always say what
idiots Mary and Arthur are. and pity
thel poor parents and wonder how
! such fool marriages ever come about.
The parents say they don't know,
that they never dreamed of sUcn a
thing as Mary and Arthur marrying,
and that Heaven is their witness that
they did. and said, everything on
earth that they could to prevent
their poor. misguided children from
| me king marriages that any sane pe--
| son could see was bound to enu in
disaster. but what can you do with
a headstrong girl and boy who think
they are in love?
And the parents are sincere In their
protestations of guiltlessness. They
| never suspect that they had any
hand in making the matches that
bring misery and probably divorce
upon their children. They would be
horrified IL you would charge them
with being particeps criminis before
the fact of almost every unsuitable
marriage. Yet this is nothing mere,
nor less. than the solumn truth.
| There Is nothing in life more curious
than the attitude that parents take
towards their children's marriage.
theoretically. everybody knows that
| every boy and girl is cut off of the
same bolt Of humanity, and are OF the
\ same warp and woof. Also that GER
tain basic principles govern the rela-
| tionship between the sexes.
There has been no change in the
things that attract men and women
to each other since the law Of nature
was first laid down. A pretty face,
| an eye with a come-hither look in It,
winning way and a glib tongue, the
| strange and mysterious way of a
with a maid h3ve always been-and
| always will be-the material out of
which matches are made.
Propinquity has also never failed to
get in its fatal work since Great
grandfather Adam popped the ques-
ton to Observation-Disclosures Eve be-
cause they were thrown so much to-
gether in lonely garden where they
were the only two young people.
All parents know these bromide
facts. More; they have experienced
them In their own person, and yet
they act as IL their own children were
entirely different from all the other
children Of men. and therefore, not
subject to the temptation to which
any other girl and boy might yield.
They take the position that while
other young peoples hearts may be
made Of highly inflammable tinder,
their children's hearts are coated in
asbestos, and that while other young
people may be foolish, ignorant Of the
world, credulous and confiding, their
own children are wise and farseeing,
and Of ripe and mature Judgment.
Furthermore. they are convinced that
their own children are entirely too
young to think of marrying, although
other peoples children OF the same
age are already married.
Therefore, a father and mother SEQ
no harm iE letting their children play
around with all sorts of girls and
boys whom they would never let
them think Of marrying.
There is Billy Smith. Such a Iowa
BILE kind OF a scapegrace, but alb
solutely not worth the powder and
lead it would take to kill him Never
sticks to a job two consecutive months
at a time. Sits around home and
strums a ukelele while his poor old
mother takes in boarders to support
him. No particular harm in him,
but Just worthless; the kind of a man
who viii be a worse curse to his
wife than an energetic porch-climber
would be. But handsome as a pic
ture, and with fascination about
him that makes everybody have a
| surface liking for him, no matter
! how much they inwardly despise him.
Father and mother give him the
run of their house He is there
morning, noon and night, and he
, and Mary read together and dance
together, and he helps her drive her
car. for he Is handy In all sorts Of
nonessential ways. Father and
mother raise. no objection because
ii seems to them that no girl could
be fool enough to want to marry
| him, and then comes a day when
he and Mary appear before them
hand in hand ana tell them they
have decided TO get married.
Father sne mother have fits all