The Washington herald., 1921-07-11


TIE most common complaint in
ne world is Loneliness Tho thing
thRt most people md hardest TO
endure In their own society. The
thiax most men and women dread
more than anything else Ii being
by thamselvea.
his L. the stranger because none
os US are 30 lacking In vanity As
% regard ourselves as pests and
beres tn society. On the contrary.
Ne believe ourselves to be enter
tanning and amusing. and that our
FELLOW creatures listen with bated
breath to our views. and have
theIr funny bones tiekled BY our
stories.
Why. then. should We not be able
% eirert ourselves by thinking
some Of the scintillating thoughts
VITA which We believe that we en-
tertzin other people? II we can in
tsrest others, why do we fail to
interest ourselves? Nobody knows
The fact merely remains that most
OF Us bore ourselves to extinction
and that We will hunt up the dull
est. the stupidest. the most uresome
person alive for company, ratner
than be left alone
The chief of police OF New YORK
once told me that loneliness sent
more girls to the bad than all otner
cau.es combined He said that the
girl from the country, or a VnIase'
vould come to the city, and get
work in a store or factory. Sne
vonld lie in a little hall bedroom
ana .at her meals by herself she
would have no one to talk 10 OF 20
about with, and in little "niie
the ineIiness would get her. ohe
eouIdn't stand being her only COM
nany- Then she would fall an easy
prey to the evil men and women VINO
are looking out for just such VIC
tins as she
II was not that the girl had any
natural inclination towards tne
dovnvard road. On the contrary
she would have preferred tne
straight and narrow path. out tne
broad way was the gay road Win
lots of people on 1t, and any COM
pany was better than no company
40 she went with the crowd because
she couldn't bear to be by herself
poor thing!
IL is this fear OF loneliness that
makes thousands OF women plunge
into the hells of miserable mar
riages Let a woman get well along
into her sos without having got
ten married and unless her guar
dian spirit is working overtime ana
performs some special miracle In her
behalf, she flies into a blind panic
and will marry anything in trousers
that asks her.
That is when a woman marries
the old suitor whom she doesn't love
and whom she has refused a hun
dred times. That's when a woman
narries a widower with seven small
children and a shoestring income.
That's when a lady college profess
sor marries a man who has never
read anything but the price of salt
Goldfish in his life. That's when
the rich old maids marry spend
thrift loafers VINO are young enough
to be their grandsons. That's when
a woman will rob the cradle. or
the grave, to get anybody to bear
her company.
There Is no use in telling such
man whom she loves, a man who
belongs to her own social status.
and who has similar tastes and as
pirations. can better her lot. There
is no use in telling a woman that
a woman who has a nice property
of her own. or a good job, and the
" al W hn
can have her own home, and travel,
has nothing to gain from marriage
unless she has the luck to catch
a he-angel-which seldom happens
TO females of mature age who have
lost their willowy figures and their
compilations
They will not listen to you. They
will not heed your warning. For the
dread of breads is upon them. The
horror of having to endure their
own society when they are old.
Rather than face this they are will
Ing TO give up a soft job in an
Office to slave over a cooking stove,
OF to put up with the growls, and
whims, and crotchets of a grouchy
man who never speaks except to
administer a knock. or to furnish
automobiles for a young rounder in
which to take iappers and chorus
girls joy riding.
II Is this dread of being alone that
makes old people so often a burden
on the young. They know they
should live in their own houses and
that they are a menace to the hap
piness of their married children
upon whom they settle themselves,
but they run the risk of breaking
up their sons and daughters
homes by infiicting themselves upon
them, rather than bear themselves
company.
And IL is the men and women who
can never be alone for a moment
who put the hardest strain on
friendship. They are good and
and worthy, but they wear their
welcome out by always being under
foot
Strange how general is the idea
that the most terrible afiiction that
can happen to anyone is to have
to furnish society for themselves.
We speak of a lonely old age with
pity. We weep gobs of tears as we
think Of a man or woman who even
lives in house by himself or her
self. Yet no company should be as
entertaining to an old person as his
or her thoughts. They have seen so
much. they have known so much,
the whole wrama of life passes be-
fore them as they sit alone looking
back across the years
And what better company can anv
Intelligent man or waman want than
the books on their shelves, or the
guests they can call to them? Why
must they have melody chattering
in their ears all the time tn make