The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-05-28

And then mother pities me until l
want to sit down and howl because !
have to work for my living instead VI
being a millionaire, and because am
a business woman in place OF . Relhs ~, ID
queen, although ordinarily l thlnk I'm
lucky in having good job, and am
merry as cricket.
"iother writes the same sort OF IN
dgo letter to all of her children WHO
are away from home. often wonder
why she does it, and If she never rea-
Lies that after we have received one
of her pessimistic epistles we reel thaI
the whole world is vale OF trlals ana
tribulations and that there is no use
in trying to achieve any happlHe"s VI
"She knows that have about as
heavy a burden to bear as can stag
ger along under. Why, then, add to II
powerless to help? Why sadden me with
| the worries and troubles OF others'
when it does no good?
1T takes the heart and courage out
of me. 1t lessons my efficiency De-
cause I'm grieving over Susan when l
should be concentrated on my work. 1t
| depresses my vitality, and makes me
nervous and jumpy, 1t breaks down
my morale and makes me feel ike
| turning coward and gutter.
Surely if mother and the other peo--
pie who indulge their morbid love OF
| horrors by writing gloomy letters, lea-
| lized how farreaChing and disastrous
was the effect of their walls On the re-
cipients, they would refrain from ever
burdening the malls with another ceru-
| lean missVe.
For my part think that the writing
| of dscouraging letters should be recog..
nized as a crime punishable by law II
| reople can't write bright and CHEEKY
/ letters we should be able to. get out an
injunction prohibiting them from writ
| ing at all
There are two explanations Of the
| melancholy letters. The first is selfish
| ness The writer wants to enjoy her
troubles by telling them to someone else
| and she does so by fist, regardless or
| how they may affect another 1t Is not
| easy to get someone to listen to the
| recital of your grievances, but when
you write them you are sure you have
| gotten the sad, sad story OF your
! wrongs over to one person at least. lie
or she can not help but hear them.
The second reason for the gloomy let
| ters is that women think it Is romantic
| and poetic to be miserable, Therefore
they let themselves go when they, sit
down to write. Their correspondent
isn't there to see, so they pose as mar
| tyrs, and eXaggerate every scratch on
their hearts into a compound frac-
ture that is bound to be fatal. They
blot their letters with their tears be-
cause it looks high falutin' to do so.
forgetting that the person at the other
end of the line won't know they We're
property tears.
| They do not realize how much more
| final an impression the written word Is
than the spoken word. When Betty
comes to tell that her marriage is
n failure because her husband doesn't
understand her and that he Is brute
who has reduced her world to cinders,
ashes and dust, we do not suffer UNI,
duly with her as we observe that she
| is tucking away three cups of tea and
| innumerable olive sandwiches, and that
she is arrayed like Solomon in all his
glory, and looking uncommonly well
and fit.
But when we get letter from Betty
detailing her domestic woes, and rep
resenting herself as a melancholy wreck
we are simply dissolved with pity for
the poor darling and We go through
agonles OF sympathy.
| And just because there is this power
in a scrap of paper we should be care
ful how we use it. 1t should always
be with us a bit Of white magic that
carries good luck to the one to whom
we send it. 1t should be filled with
cheer and courage, and love and laugh
ter, never with bad news and raven
croaking. There is no place for the
gloomy letter except the waste paper
basket.
copyright, 1920 by the Wheeler Syn
dictate, Inc.)