New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1922-09-03
THE EGOIST
AT THIRTEEN
Continued from page oaeJ

h6A.
man God is love, love Il beautiful. bsss..
is everywhere. ! had been reading boos.
the latest cult. 1t was at thirteen 80
decided to be an atheist / worked bas4
i Tor while and ! was, let me add. IS
twice as acrimonious and three tsms.
wordy in discussion with certain re,.a.
who showed uafeigned horror and sent
the Book Of Psalms and Thoughts bv 8.
Bishop of Somewhere, as with nv moa
who treated me with friendly tolerance &.
left me ride each hobby without check
As for kisses, tried them out thoroasss.
about that time They left me unsaoved. IS !
as matter Of fact, they still do. Tho IS
that kiss is q serious or compromising y. 4
ter Is just another Of those exploded tbeo,s..
The chaste bethrothal kiss, as the Introduces.
or debutante kiss, is entirely outrnoded. Tms,.
hear my elders speak of kiss-ne-o,gck.
traps" and surveys and bicycles built fortrs
along with polka dots and cycling bloopr,
Ard prior to that, suppose seeing Nelly hes.
from quilting parties was attended by kisss
SO, 700 1t was simply thai in those far distarl
days one did on the sly what il now perforuesI
in casual, public way. Even as the staaI
matron of the '9os, in fiction, who said wiz
downcast eyes "John, little stranger is com.
ing into our home would, no doubt faios
gracefully but firmly if she were to see tbs
magazines of to-day, with their birth central
ana twilight sleep data, done up tastsfuuv M
3000-word articles, or q treatise on the psvcb.
OF sex in light novelette, form Time was ubsnl
Ellen Key was kept under cover, but row ora
reads ones Wells and Lawrence publicly and
without fear. Even our Purity League is outs
up to date
venture to say, too that mother finds ia
pictures of ladies in tights, done in all Il.
primal colors, in her sons pockets One usa
t. get them in cigarettes in the '90s, 1 am tod
Since the advent of the one-piece bathing sat
these have lost their thrill Also leg shows are
not the clandestine JOY they were. One sees
whole rows of 'em on the avenue and in the
busy marts Of trade And the time was. they
tell me, when an ankle was considered proyocs.
tive.
This generation may not be any cleaner
minded than the last. but at least ii mas mad
more exposure, and if it acts on minds as it
does on winter clothing and blankets. the efest
should be beneficial. The DOGGY of sex, Like
the terrors of ones kindergarten days, is not
half so fearsome if brought out in the light
and discussed frankly.
As for these bored friends of mothers sou
old gentlemen of eighteen and twenty-why,
doesn't she remember that one is always bored
and blase at that age? 1t is the old age Of
childhood. Everything there is to know IN the
world one knows at eighteen, and what
wretched farce life is, to be sure. And how
they love talking TO visibly iryregsed adults
dissecting and analysing their emotions sri
reactions. Gosh, don't / know EN-! I've zen
there so lately myself, and sooner or lstss
along will come bundle of feminine puckF-
tude that will blow that pose to smitheresns,
It's happened millions of times-yes, M
agine even back in the 90s to the chappia
IN the large cravat and the padded shoulders
And they'll marry the pettees, too--the
fappers, the college widows. 1t has all hap.
pened many, many times before, and, marx
you, if the widow does not marry it viii be Es-
cause she does not want to, not because shs
can't. That is proved biological fact. 1t IS
human to want that which is desired by many
It is why We purchase things by name, INSTEAD
IF SAYING, 4 want $4,000 motor car or =
35-cent toothbrush
OF course Son would not approve q mar
ried women, old ladies of thirty-three, acting
Happerish; that's the kid of it. They all have
set ideas as to the manner of conduct Of theF
elders, which are scattered 10 the four winds
by the first gay and charming matron whe.
comes THEN way and gazes with well simulated
respect at the baby chin which tries to square
itself into lines of vigorous n1ascullnity and
the dewy lips that reek of cigarettes and bad
near-hooch
Q, Mother, why must you lose your seTss
of humor. Of the sublime and the ridiculous,
IN dealing with this funny embryo of the nev
century? Your son. He'll come right as ram
1,,ef r. -