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bscome accepted truth. In all this work
of investigation one should constantly
keep in mind that truth must lead the
way ; the little scraps of evidence which
are picked up from time to time will all
fit together mid we shall have a com
plete history of these interesting
aborigines in course of time.
If every citizen of this state will keep
his eyes open for evidences and report
his finds , however insignificant he may
think them to be , we shall know very
much more about these people in course
of time. One or two people , working
alone , can accomplish but little com
paratively speaking but as the farmer
plows his fallow fields and turns to light
some relic of this by-gone race , ho may
add his item of discovery to the whole
volume of truth already accumulated ;
when eveiy acre of this magnificent
state has yielded its treasure , the sum
total of knowledge thus acquired will
place Nebraska in the fore-rank in the
annals of archaeology. Let us take only
truth and carefully weigh every point ,
retaining only such points as are proven
true and let it bo the pleasure of every
reader of these lines to assist in solving
this mystery. E. E. BLAOKMAN.
Roca , Neb.
AGAINST KISSING.
With the kisses of lovers , whether
wedded or uuwedded , this protest has
nothing to do In such cases the process
is usually performed in private and it is
a tete-a-tcic which should not be dis
turbed ; moreover , it occurs by mutual
consent of the parties concerned , and
therefore it is not the business of out
siders to interfere.
But it is high time to begin a war
against kisses bestowed solely at the will
of the giver ; since it is a manifest viola
tion of the sacreduess of individuality ,
and the majority of those upon whom it
is inflicted are unwilling victims. Babies
squirm and do their best to get away
from the smothering caresses so lavishly
bestowed upon them ; children have to
be coaxed or bribed to give the "sweet
kiss" demanded by importunate visitors ;
sensible women shrink from the undue
familiarity , and abhor the heartless lip
service which "society" prescribes for
the meetings and partings of the fair
sex. What does it all mean ? Why do
mature matrons and elderly maids rush
into each other's arms whenever they
meet , knowing as they do how little true
friendship there is in this world and how
the truest is the most modest and the
least presuming ? Why do young girls
nip and peck at each other's cheeks and
lips , when they know that the mind of
each is occupied in taking note of the
other's dress and criticising her claims to
beauty from the standpoint of a rival ?
The society kiss was in full vogue in
France before the French revolution ,
and it was doubtless originally a phase
of Parisian coquohy ; like many other
IT.
fashions which have gradually spread
over the world , losing all their piquancy
and retaining oul- their absurdity , in the
process of transfer. Nowadays women
kiss each other through their veils , and
embrace when their hearts are full of
envy , hatred , malice and alluucharitable-
nets. "May I kiss you ? " said one lady ,
at separating from another , after a con
versation of a few moments in a railway
station , previous to which casualtncouu-
ter neither know of the other's exist
ence. Another lady , in a room full of
company , when passing a woman with
whom she was only very slightly ac
quainted , stooped and kissed her cheek ,
without permission or apology.
The evil appears to bo on the increase ,
especiallly among "English-speaking"
people , and it is fostered by the maudlin
tone of the light literature of the period.
Any one who examines the modern novel
with reference to the subject will be
astonished at the amount of feminine
"gush" displayed in this intrusive and
impertinent form.
A recent popular story , published in
England and considered worthy of re
production iuuTanohuitz , " recordsy/ ? < ) / -
two lasses , not including one which a
certain character wished to give but did
not , and not counting many embraces
which presumably ended in osculation.
And almost all of these embraces were
between women , women not connected by
blood-relationship nor long intimacy ,
nor special sympathy. This feature is
now in English literature , as the custom
also is comparatively now among
English-speaking people. Jane Austen's
heroines did not kiss , nor receive kisses
not Emma , in her unwise intimacy
with Harriet Smith , not Catharine
Moreland , in her girlish friendship with
Eleanor Tilnoy , not peerless Anne Elliott ,
admired and beloved by her own sex
wherever she went. Our grandmothers ,
even our mothers , did not greet their
cronies with tender embraces. Kisses
were exchanged between friends and re
lations only when a long separation was
in prospect , and those of us who have
reached or passed middle age can prob
ably recall the time when this ceremony
began to take on the proportions of a
"fad. " Let us hope that it is only an
other of the "Jin de siecle" maladies
which will disappear in the fresh life
and hope of a new century.
I remember when the kissing mania
began to infect the boarding-school
which I attended , and how the reverend
principal , a shrewd maiden lady , used to
put a stop to all such demonstration by
the withering sarcasm : "It looks exactly
as if you wished if were a man.1' This
healthy view of the nature and mission
of a kiss is upheld by the old Gorman
proverb : "Kin knss ohnc Bart ist ein ei
ohnc Salz. " "A kiss without a beard is
an egg without salt , " and still more
suggestively in the exquisite verses of
the old English poet , Robert Horrick.
This form of the kissing cult finds its
most enthusiastic exponent at present in
Marion Orawford whose recent historical
novel , "In the Palace of the King , "
fairly gushes over with elaborate de
scriptions of tender osculation. The
author's latest invention in this direc
tion is to make the kisser kiss the kissee
so hard that "it hurt her ; " though pity
for the victim of that fond violence is
lessened by the assurance in one instance
that "it was good to be hurt , " and in
another that the kisses "would have
hurt her , if she had not loved them so
and given back every one. " All of
which sounds very flat to the gentle
reader , who is called upon to listen and
look on. It makes one inclined to rebel
even against the commands of Scripture
in regard to the "holy kiss" and the
"kiss of charity , " and to feel respectful
admiration for certain tribes and peoples
who have never developed the kiss in any
form.
There could not be a more essentially
vulgar fashion than that of indiscrim
inate kissing , and yet , curiously enough ,
it is most affected by the classes and the
individuals who make the greatest pre
tensions to refinement and culture. It
is the exclusive woman of society who
violates a fine reserve in bestowing her
kisses upon feminine compeers , right
and left ; it is the stickler for etiquette
who commits an impertinence in talcing
tin's unwarrantable liberty merely be
cause it is fashionable.
And the poor babies ! There is now
and then a mother wise enough to re
frain from tormenting her tender infant
with caresses in season and out of season ;
but such instances are rare ; we must go
to Japan for instruction and example
upon this point : Japanese mothers ,
though remarkably gentle and affection
ate , never kiss their young children.
A favorite situation with novel writers
( even Howells condescends to use it ) is
that of a bereaved mother "hungry" to
get hold of somebody else's baby , and
the unctuous description of the kissing
and "mumbling" of the little body are
suggestive of a reversion to the cannibal
propensities of our remote ancestors and
very humiliating to any woman desirous
of the worthy development of her sex.
Fortunately for the future of good
manners and good health , the German
physicians have lately begun a crusade
against the kiss as a fruitful dissemina
tor of contagious diseases , and already ,
in Germany , Satire has aimed aii effec
tive blow at an evil which no other
weapon seemed likely to reach.
"May I kiss you ? " asks the lover of
his beloved , and she replies : "Are you
aware that science has declared kissing
to be the surest way of communicating
the microbes of disease ? "
Make a thing ridiculous , and , if pos
sible , disgusting , and its doom is sealed.
One might suppose that Hobsou's
osculatoiy progress would have made
indiscriminate kissing both ridiculous
and disgusting in America ; but the
press has just recorded a confirmation of
the scientific view in giving notice of
"eight cases of smallpox and one death
traceable to kissing indulged in at n
church sociable' ' in a western town. At
such meetings for pious pleasure kissing
plays are permitted and encouraged ,
although it is considered wicked to
dance.
ELIZABETH E. EVANB.
