Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1919-07-10
Strange Case Comes to Light.

A queer case has just come to light
in Bakerton, this county. A young
man spent the evening with his girl,
and during the evening, while the
family was present in the parlor, he
was as demure and bland and child
like as could be wished. The mother
came into the room after the family
had retired to get a handkerchief she
had left, and the young man was seated
in a chair in the middle OF the room,
while the girl was seated on a sofa,
and nothing in the actions of either
led her to thing they were more than
passing acquaintances. Ii seemed to
her as though the young couple had
met before, but there was no evidence
that they were we'll acquainted. But,
after he had gone the girl complained
of pain in her side, and in the morn
ing the family physician was called,
and he found that two of the girls ribs
were broken. How it was done no.
BODY knew. The girl could not tell
for the life of her, though she blushed
when asked about it, and the mother
looked very wise as she looked at the
doctor. The doctor made some inqulr-
les. set the ribs and went away, and
the girl proceeded to recover.
The next Sunday evening the young
man called and was astoniShed when
informed of the extent of the girls in
iuries, and wondered how it could have
happened. The mother watched his
face closely as he spoke, and detected
not only a blush, but a protuSe per-
spiration on his face. She had been
a girl once herself, and though she
had never had any ribs broken, she had
been hugged some. 1t was a trying
position for all of them. The father
was away on a trip to Pennsylvania,
and when he came home the matter had
to be explained TO him. He was told
that the ribs just simply broke them
selves. and that neither the mother nor
the girl, nor the young man, could ac-
count for il, and yet all three OF them
blushed terribly. The father patted
his girl on the head, told her she Would
be better when she got over it, and then
called the young man into the library
The young man was so weak he could
hardly walk, and when he sat down
he took out a handkerchief and mopped
his brow and wished he was dead.
The father looked the young man over
and was sorry. He finally said:
"Young man, guess can give you
some points on hugging. You must
first learn that a girl is not construct
ed on the same principle OF an iron
fence or a truss bridge. A girl is a
delicate piece of mechanism, like
watch. full of little springs, wheels,
Jewels, etc. The breaking of any one
of these would cause her to cease Keep
ing time and necessitate her being
taken to a jeweler for repairs. In hug
ging a girl you don't want to go at 1t
as if you were raking and binding or
catching sturgeon. | know that where
the family sits up late with a young
couple and spoils several precious
hours of hugging, that unless the young
man has a good head when left alone
with the object of his affection, that he
is liable to overdo the matter and Try
to make up for lost time. He seems
to want to hug up lot ahead and graoS
the girl as though he wanted to break
her in two. This is wrong. You
should 20 at it calmly and deliberately,
even prayerfully, and be as gentle as
though she was an ivory fan. The
gentle pressure of the hand from one
that the girl loves, even the touch, is
as dear to her as though you run her
through a stone crusher. You should
not grab her as you would bag OF
oats, and leave marks on her that will
last a lifetime. A loving woman
should not be made to feel that her
life is in danger unless she wears
corset made of boiler iron. ! hope
this will be lesson to you, and here
after, if you cannot control your feel
ings, will provide a wooden Indian
for you to practice on first, until you
have developed your muscle and get
tired, and then we can turn our daugh-
ter loose in a room with you and not
feel that it is necessary TO keep doctor
handy. In allowing you to keep COM
pany with my daughter ! do not
agree to provide you with a human
gymnasium. You can readily see that
a girl would not last season through
if she had to have ribs set once a week.
Please think this thing over, and il the
girl is well enough next Sunday you
can drop in and try some more ribs.
Now you can go home and hug hat
rack for an hour or two, and have it
repaired in the morning"
The young man went out in the night
air, took his hat of to cool his head
and hired a man TO kick him all the
way home.
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