Newspaper Page Text
This Is the
Idea of the
Rev. Henry
Mcllravy,
Who Would
Treat People
That Cannot
Bridle Their
Tongues as
Criminals,
and Has
Started a
National Cru
sade to Wipe
Out the Evil
as if it Were
Smallpox or
the Mosquito.
i i l* the paaflme of cowarda "
Hev Henry \I ■ I rart'a youthful
lo t a■' *< *1 with i >im-atnea*
III* rnndld gray tyt» flaahed their proteat.
"It la a that In lt« early *tag>-a
aliould be trrated mb auefi After that It
beenmea n ert<* that Khnnld be punished.
It la thr mark of a defective mind
"The great trouble with the church to
day la that Ita memt*era do not hrldla their
longuca If thry learn to do that I ballet*
thr problem of uniting the world with Uod
Will Ik* ardTed
I roteaalng ( lutatlana care mightily
W
Alaa. Perhaps That There Are no
More Ducking Stool* In Operation
Now. But If That Efficacious. If
somewhat Ungallant. Remedy W«r©
In Fashion Today Might Not That
"Deadly Evil Goaalp“ be Stamped
Out Like the Plague or the Moa
qultof
• their observance of what they eon
•Idrr the hlf commandment*. the law*
Tho„ flhalf Not Kill,’ Thou Shalt Not
Steal, and the »erenth c>»n ms nd merit Itut
the command "Hinti Shalt Not Hear PnUc
Wltue- Against 'fhv \« Ighhor" they think
not worthy of remembrance it le the com
mandmmt meet frequently fractured hy
lluMf who are in the church and who think
they are It* worthy meml*er* "
llev Henry M llravr la the twenty four
rear-old philanthropist who. with two
other ern ih< voting men eatabllahed a
•*«•>,n, and built the Month Hide « hurch
at Little Fall* \ Y Frankness and a
•tmple r«ff|el eloquence and the com
muilfr'a toiler in hi* absolute alnoerltr
h *' r drawn about Mm In the little ml Ml on
acroaa the river a large congregathm. made
«p equally of rich and |»wr To thla con
gregatlon he fa candid to the point of ee
oentiicltr " hen he had boen engaged hut
too week* tn the work he rvwr In hla pul
pit and *atd 'lt ta cuetomary when a
rlergrman ta young and unmarried to note
all hla attentlona to the women member* of
hla enngrerafbttv ami f« think If he takea
'*» driving or another for a walk, nr treata
a thtrd to a gl**a of tee cream aoda. that
he la a candidate for matrimony Now. |
wteh to be perfectly understood There
•re several million women In New York,
where I can e from There are twenty mil
lto« or more tn the United state* and I
have seen man* of them Since thla t« the
caae it ten t likely that ! would come to
Little Falla for a wife I hare no tnten
tlon of marrrtng any one here or eUcwhere
for a long time, and I hare thought it beet
to tell yoe •<*.*’
A few weeka later the rumor spread In
the tillage tn the Mohawk Valley that
Mr Mrltrarr had Seen *een drtttng wtth a
woman of l ittle rail** unfortunate .Una
Hie rumoy reached Mr Me lira ry |m
mediately he net to work to «!ft It to the
tot torn The bottom or foundation wia that
the rlerjrrman*a newr gray orercoat had
been mistaken for • amlltar orercoat worn
by the travelling o n agent of a wht*ker
house who bed taken the young woman for
a drive The young mtntater aent for
each of the persona who had repeated the
rumor There were eighteen of them
-Men aa welt *• women.*' the swung clergy
man satd algnlflenntlr lie *l*o rent tor
the yawing woman of more ptctureeqne than
pure personality
The clergyman haring made his g*»e*ia
comfortable In ht* handsome harheir
quarters lildmeM the young tMMk
“hila* Blank." he asked. “did I erer
take row driving?"
•’Tow werer did.'*
"Who did drtrw with yew on the
met ttoned f*
“Tae agent of a whlekey hour* **
“Did he wear a gray 0 ci.jAl Ike
mi—t* gw'd *
-las
vV
N \\\ ‘ V\
- .jiMmkM
' v "V\ 1 - ■ ,1
•C Is
*' / /fjif p/rr i !i« 'sl
IB'v 11
m&m Tsr, r '
'./iH-lV”*' ITJ
A U */ '4! s
\ * \
Then he turned to the trembling fish*
tecn "You eee that yon were mlatake »
Now, so far ns | aut coucerind. tills in- »
dent ta cloned Hut If I erer bear of any
of you gossiping again I will call the at
tent ton of the tM*trlct Attorney to » -ir
case The penalty ta a year In the pr »:
lenttary .**
"ere they angryT*
“Not st ell After that I aent for
Ice cream and cake and they all went away
•aytng. M l!rn j Is a good fellow!* I
rec«MßN»eod thla way of stamp lug >ut go*
•ip.
••There are aotne charm*t.g pc I# tn
Little Falla The majority then ace
lo'ety people, but there are twelve per
eon* who arw the greatest gossips I have
erer known T Stir *tar* They are
•ot all | «tn directing
my attention JHKeni aud their work
Of a month f Jrresi h a sermon t *n goa
•lp Once I • .Wn»* my congregation 'l’ve
a great tnrltr the gossip* cf tuts
congregation to my rooms to give vn as
ternoon to gossiping * 1 hate were'' done
hut the threat la hanging over their
fre >» They know that I miy res I ttvetr
qrnes from my pniplt and Unit* U«*u to
my gosatp party
sWi ms * omt ** m * #rr
ms tA them of the hoist U i toil
TO STAMP OUT GOSSP
Baum UNITED STATES
“He met her and cut
her throat from ear
to ear/*
“A girl dying slowly
from consumption in
the Adirondack* It a
victim of gottip.’*
I shaU point tn them from the pniplt. ad
dre»* them by uaute and say. ‘You hare
gossiped about a fellow being You must
s l »>p I* -i von will le punished br law
I am not afraid to do thla Christ wra*
not afraid to say what he thought of the
money chan for* lo the temple Ilia fol
lower* need not he afraid to tell the truth
**l hare organised a society for the Sup
pression of Gossip. We Intend tn make !t
a national affair are writing to the
young people's societies of all the churches
asking them to Join the society. and If
they hear anyone gossiping to tell them
s. You so. If wc Interest the voting pen
pie we can train them to non g<*satp while
the? *n* toing and It I* e»«r to form hah
Its That w.U i*e tmuh caster than to
break the flaewt ktlMl* of old and hardened
g We think It I* well to work,
thro -.gb aii >iher orgnntaatton, «sr the
flowwr guild, so that people* reel fugs will
not l*e hurt 1 spare thetr feelings aa long
aa I can If tn the end It become* net*-
sary to hurt them I do so “
Mr M llrary is a not«%t ronn* »r
II is die poet IKvn is to hide behind ht« w.*ck
In ht* library of the bacheh>r suite In the
old gtay atone house ««ppoalte the park
lay a doaen requeeta for newspaper inter
♦ lew* with him about hla valiant stand
agatnst gossip He had declined them nit
U« was eavr*aely ielav*Unl now l# u<h
except from the pulpit.
“Word* without works are empty things,
and work 1* the only eloquence. ‘ he *ald.
glancing again at the letter* “Hut these
writer* did not travel from New York on
their holiday for the Interview.'* he said,
revealing by thla touch hi* dominant hu
manity. “I'erhap* If It will do nuy good,
and If It all lead other young men to
lend earnest, goeslpleea lives, l ought to
speak.**
He took a few turn* shout the room, hla
lean, athletic body a winding forward with
a long stride lit* lean, boyhah face wa*
Intensely vital He was perfectly grimed,
admirably dreaaed. He looLed like a
healthy young club man Instead of an
earnest shepherd seeking lost touts Rut
the earnMtaeae of hla speech betrayed the
shepherd.
“1 wa* alwava opposed to gossip, even
before I egau mission ary »' 'rk.“ he Mid
And since I entered It I have more than
once been the victim of gtsvalp. The moot
flagrant as* «« When I wa* called to
offer spiritual advice to Chester liltlett
aud gossip ask! that I believed that Grace
flrpwa‘a soul had l«een loat Thla did me
a grout injustice and wit the ca i#e of bit
trtyr abusive eftera reaching me from ail
* part* of the Called fltatea The nimur wa*
one of utterly so indstloulesa gossip The
[ truth U that I alluded to the s*d ease
from the putptt I spoke of the an happy
girt wh »*e end aid been aoerowful. and
I added, 1 have bo doubt that at tbl*
in<nn«mt she rest* la the hotntt of Ood
■ fherc I* an Instance of the wide difference
between gowalp and truth,
*1 became most deeply tatereeted tn the
•tth}*' ,, *t when two and a half year* ago I
helped nv conduct a mission at Jay and
IV| «ii-> street* U» Uiooklyu. Ihv uue-
slon wns founded to reclaim men who had
lost hope In this wor d aud the next. I
investigated the life stories of 166 of these
men 1 found that every one had left hla
home In some other town or State because
a story hno been started about him, and
In 142 of the case* the stories were untrue.
But the men had been discouraged. They
had lost hope and had drifted Into vaga
bondage
“1 know that this was weak. I do not
Jnatlfv tha* weakness But It take* a
strong nature to stand agalnat seemingly
Insuperable difficulties.
let me tell you of Instances I have
known of men and women who have suf
fered. sum# of whom have died, from
gossip.
“A beautiful yonng married woman
united with a church and became active
In It* work She gradually assumed a
leadership which made other women, not
»o gifted, envious.
“one eveulng this young woman came to
church and sat In the rear of the church.
Behind her sat a stranger, a young man,
at whom she looked from time to time snd
to whom ahe spoke once during the service.
The minister's wife saw thts. The minis
ter’a w fe wagged her head and tongue.
In two days the story hsd spread to every
part of the t<*wn that the young woman
wa* accompanied to her home by the
stranger and that on the way they sat for
a lerg time In the park When abe rose
i to go, the story had It. the at ranger took
her tn hi* arma and k!*aed her.
“The young woman, knowing nothing of
the story, left t«»wn the nett day on a visit.
I While *h# was gone au anonymous note
> was **nt to her bu»band. tolling the story.
The hu*t*nd began drinking Throughout
f the wr*»ek w hile *be was gone be was drunk
and *u>'leti When on her return at the
• cud of the week, aa she stepped off the car.
i be met her aud cut her throat from ear
t to ear. i
‘ Ihe Jkmug woman** brother wtat to
"The girl had given up.
Her soul had been slain
by gossip."
i
"His family found his
frozen body at the door
In the morning.’
the ftmeqrt- « T£"
tb» strnnc.-r "’ho hurt 11 n . k
rhorch. wh- hn.l ut with her In hj P
»nd who had kiwod hor mod-bye. He »>"«
•I neror .0 nearly por.uaded t« to***
a Chrlsttnn .n on that nl = h '- • T .
talked to me all evenlns about the tuauty
of the Chrl.tlan life and before we parted
*hc prayed for me.’
• Another oa«e oeeurred In Philadelphia.
The victim wa* a young man whom 1 knew
well. He wa* at work one day In th.
of a manufacturing concern that emp ny
him when the deacon of the c '"' rt ' l
which the head of the firm waa a member
called. . ..
"Why have yon employed that fc.lo •
he arki-d "right year, ago he waa wild
and there were atoriea of his being In
some trouble.*'
The young man was discharged. The
head of the Ann explained :
“Deacon la one of the directors. 1
don’t like to let you go. but I must."
The young man wa* strong at first. lie
went to the deacon and said :
"What you said of me was true, hut that
wa* eight years ago. For eight years I
have d*ne nothing with which any one
could find fault. I challenge any on# t*
show anything wrong 1 have done."
The denenn answered “For my part,
when a man has made one mistake. T
never give him another chance tu bovi
ne** "*
"At first my friend was not d.vm*el
“1 will *how them that 1 can make my
way tn spite of them.** he said. But he
had no recommendations from his ia«t
employer The story of why lie was dis
charged followed him. He found work
but he had to •«*gln at the bottom of tae
ladder and tie never g<*t*befond tbe second
rung It** t»evame despondent. He drank.
«»!;»• night !-.'* recfciH** companions i«ft
him at in- family foaal in*
frniet. t*>*ly there next morning
In l.lttle Fall* two young men who
• had baa the reputation of being wtlj
Photograph of an Ancient
Ducking Stool Which Wae
Used to Punish Scandal Mon
gers and Gossiping Women by
Sousing Them In the Village
Pond.
hut who were both fine young fellows,
and who worked with me In my church,
went with me to Utica. We took a Turk
-1-h bath and like most persons after rn«
Lath, felt hungry. The last car to Little
Falls was nearly due and we had only
a few minutes to go to the lunch counter
and order a club sandwich. We heard the
car coming, took the sandwiches in onr
bands and ran to the car Sitting on the
front seat of the car we ate our sand
wiches and Joked and laughed *« young
men will. The next day the report cir
culated through the town that the two
young men had been seen desperately
drunk on n car coming from TTtlca.
I traced the story to Its beginning. f
found the woman who had started lL
*‘Ye>.'' she said. ‘‘l was on the car and I
saw the two boy*. They got on the car
with another young man, and all three
wore terribly drunk. Naturally I nipped
that slander before It reached it* full
Idoom. but T could not stop It before It.
I ad discouraged utterly one of the JT oun *
men. lie thought. “What’s the user and
took to drink again TTe left town and Is
drifting about the country sinking. I have
beard, from ore denth to another.
“A young girl, dying slowlv from J' 01 '*
sumption in a camp In the Adirondack*. I
regard as a victim of gossip, killed aa
surely bv it as though a knife had been
plunged Into her heart. A pretty, coquet
tish girl. «he had many admirers Some
one saw her In another town In the com
pany of a young man who looked like a
married man in her own town. The girl
was broken-hearted. The doctors say that
had not this blow fallen *he could have re
*l*fed the disease that was trying to gain
a foothold In her constitution. Tier vitality
Lnver**d and her hope destroyed by thla
malicious gossip, she cannot live.
"A friend of mine was engaged to a girl
to whom he was absolutely faithful. He
was making hi* plans for their marriage.
There wa* probably no happier young man
In the world than he. One evening he met
an acquaintance who was walking with a
young girl of questionable character. The
acquaintance asked them to excuse him
while he went Into a tobacco shop for a
cigar Th** delay was only one of five
minutes, but It waa fatal to my friend *
hapnlnesg
“Some one saw Mm talking with the
girl The person made haste to tell the
father of toy friends fiances The next
day the girl broke the engagement My
friend went to see her father, but tbe
father would not listen Discouraged. *h#
young man. as innocent ns a halve of the
wrong nscrllved to him. left the town, after
be had lost his business position thfwugh
the gor-sip The news that has come from
him I> not good news He should not have
yielded so easily, but It is not essy to battle
against such odds That young man’s fu
ture was slain by gossip
"When I wa* doing mission work I knew
a trained nurse who was an excellent mis
sion worker She became a pastor's assist
ant A* such It was her duty to visit
persons in the ptrl*h Ope woman re*
nented thi* visit. ‘What right have yon to
MnHtwr to mo?' she said. '! know your
story.*
“The nurse eame to me. and with wan.
miserable face told her *tory. I advised
h»*r t * go on with her work. Ahe did. but
the heart had gone out of her The work
wa* done In a perfunctory war Finally
she dropped out of If. The girl had given
tin her attempt to lead « righteous life.
Her *oq| had been slain by gvss'.p.
"I don't tuMleve In pointing one an evil
without ‘'liT'e-vtlng s reme I If
any one tell* you of an error made by
another, say to your Informant: ‘T atn very
* tv Let - go to him aud se- what wa
I ■’ do tn utlp him. Let u* show kin big
mistake"