Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1921-05-19
GRUESOaE TOPICS.
BY J. o. Knott.

scarcely twenty-five fSaiS N~'
lady of more than mature years. Inc
lady had a long face, somewhat sour
visage, and wore glasses. The trio sal
opposite me. and was compelled to
hear their conversation.
One young man, who looked per-
fectly strong and we'll, began telling OF
his rheumatism, from which he hao
been suffering for weeks. The sour
visaped woman said the weather was
doubtless responsible, as it had peer
hard on any one with rheumatism)
Now il happened that the weather had
been exceptionally fine and dry; Out
to suggest a pleasant or agreeable fac'
did not come within the range OF the
lady's observation. The second younu
man, whose youth and bouyancy
would seem to be rebuke to any sort
of i'll, remarked that he had been SUI
fering from terrible headache. The
sour-visaged woman made some sug5
gestion regarding the cause OF TINS
and sympathized with the young NAM
1t was then her time to make some re-
mark in line with what had been said
She related something concerning
woman in her neighborhood trying to
take quicksilver and several other
deadly poisons, and that the woman
had several small children, winding up
with the phrase: 81 think it is perfect1
" terrible" One of the young mer
then spoke Of a negro who had got too
much booze and had used gun and q
razor on some folks, until he had been
captured. To this the sour-visagedl
woman said: 81 think it is perfectly
awful"
By this time we had reached the main
line of the road on the way to WASH
ington City. After one of the young
men had gone into details concerning
an automobile accident he had seen,
and some narrow escapes from being
run over that he had experienced, the
trio became silent-the woman req
lapsing into thought, and the young
men poking their noses into news
paper which happened to be near at
hand, doubtless looking for more dis
asters in the news items. Only once
more did the woman speak, and that
was as we crossed the Potomac, upon
whose waters the full moon was shin
ing down and the lights along the shorq
far down the river mingled with the
trembling moonbeams to excite remark.
at is perfectly beautiful" said tho
woman. | thought / had heard that
phrase used somewhere before, but
was glad to know that something in
the world could inspire a remark other
than that concerning physical ills and
gruesome accidents.
This is not a heartless criticism, for
| have no personal feeling in the mat
ter OF the two young men and the lady.
Probably all of us should learn not to
unpack our family and private affairs
in the presence Of railway passengers.
But there is principle involved in this
conversation have referred to, and i,
is this: How long will people continue
to dwell upon life's aches, pains, dis
asters, and ills, when these constitute
but segment of life's great circle
A very young boy may be excused for
showing off proudly his sore finger or
sore toe to everybody he can get to look
at it; but grown men and women should
know better. The world is not inter.
ested in headaches and rheumatism of
folks. Your own family will be con-
cerned If you are not well. But con-
Siderate persons even in the family say
little about their physical ailments un-
less the disability is serious. We all
have friends who never write to us I'M
til there is an obituary list long enough
to make up letter; or if the list is
not long enough, it is completed by the
cases OF serious illness in the neghbor-
hood. Others never write without
some reference to having been "sick
with bad cold" for three days, Prob
ably to this is added every member
OF the family has had it," | wonder
If some persons know that there are
plenty of homes in this country out
from which never goes, except in the
most serious cases, anv reference to
the ills of the family, and that these
are never spoken, but rarely, even in
the family? Some reader will say tina,
this is Christian Science. 1t is rather
Christian Common Sense. If there is
any truth in so-caled Christian Science
we should rejoice in that truth and
use it. But it does not take Christian
Science to teach us that dwelling ,,or