The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1927-06-25

They certainly should.
In the same letter she confessei
anonymously, Of course) that she
too, was guilty Of that unforgivablt
fleshly sin.
Her death penalty, suppose. Il
still on the way, delayed in transit
1t Is all very easy TO sit smugIy
out somewhere, reflect on ones 0WE
mistakes and misdeeds, point Il
those Of others who have beer
caught, and draw Q moral and .
warning.
How many other women in thu
United States, comfortable except
for the pesterlngs Of an automatic
ally comfortable, fOur.Wheel-brake
conscience. tut.tut over the vena
vices Of Ruth Snyder and ask what
else could such q woman expect?
How many find in my plight q
lesson-for others?
And how many, in all practical
and substantial truth, find in it 9
lesson for themselves?
Has Written Thousands Of Words
have written many Thousands
Of words. Before wrote any, the
sorry business in itself was reported
in many more thousands and
shrieked its own parallels in scarlet
and flame.
I have since received many mes
sages Of many kinds to the effect
that my bitter experience should
react az a moral and spiritua,
preventative to others.
They undoubtedly and decidedly
should.
But I have yet to receive one
communication to the effect that
my drastic dilemma and the revela
ton Of all its causes and conse
quences has stopped any other per
son from committing q folly.
Human nature is peculiar-some'
times 1t strikes me as almost funny
We all know all the principles
all the Commandments, all the laws
and penalties.
Do Not Apply Them to Ourselves
But do we apply them to our
selves?
We do-after we are up against
the results of having defied them
Until then that ever flexible imag
nation and that never dying EGG
whispers to each Of us from within
each Of us-"Very true, my dear
but it doesn't mean MEg
That faculty was recognized long
ago by the man who first, after
some order, added THIS MEANS
Your! But that didn't mean any
body. And it didn't mean a thing
Each OF us still kept on answering
"But it doesn't mean MEL"
The burned child fears the fire
But not the WARNED child.
Sinners and those tempted to sin
do not need Ruth Snyder from the
lighthouse of q notorious prison
to teach them decency. cleanliness
and honesty.
Greater philosophers and counsel
ors have filled the worlds libraries
with such preachments in every
known and possible form Of com
munication-essays, novels, plays
theories, facts.
Would Like TO Be Traffic Cop
II the commands of God, the
whole Of the Bible. the records Of
millions Of convictions and execu
tons by law have failed to deter
women like me from acting like me
what chance have ] to arrest Others
whose frail feet are pointed toward
the dreadful traps-about which
they know as much as l do, except
they only know about them and ]
have felt them.
This does not mean that I do not
want to help and make them hest
tate.
It only means feel so weak and
futile when ] attempt it.
] wish / had the power to throw
up my hand, like q traffic con al
the crossroads Of life, and, from the
dreadful knowledge I have learned
say "Stop" and "GO"-and have my
signals obeyed.
How many girls, little innocent
pink-faced youngsters playing child
iShIy. ignorant Of all evil, could
keen from being crushed i'm the
terrible traffic of this human crowd.
Future Ruth Snyders Are There
Among them are future Ruth
Snyders.
/ know there are. For was one
Of them.
There were Ruth snyders before
me. knew OF them--in time. /
knew OF their heavy payment for
their heavy sins. Did that stop me?
Did that save me?
Words-~words-words! All true,
all tremendously true-but still all
words!
Adding "This means yOu!" added
nothing to me.
Just more wor(1si
was alive, the blood raced
through my veins. MY eyes saw,
my ears heard, my pulses pounded,
my lips spoke-and kissed-and
was warm and vibrating and real.
The words were cold and dead
just words!
My temptations were Of the flesh
OF myself, Of the blood of myself.
The words were Of others--they
couldn't mean mel
MY urges were i'm blood. The
words were In ink.
Different When the Crash Comes
I felt myself. knew myself.
Those others might know about
others, but what did they know Of
me? Only I knew me. I knew me
SO, closely that there need be no
words between and me. The
same force that ran the motor
worked the brakes. ! was doing the
driving. No bacE.seat wOrd-slingers
could tell me where and how to
drive, how fast or how far. and
when tO SfOn.