Show i I Breaking Engagement I IBY BY DOROTHY yA y yA YOUNG man writes me a worried A and harassed letter saying that he has c ceased to love o c the girl to whom he Is betrothed and asking if he shall break the engagement or go goen goen en cn and marr marry her To this question I unhesitatingly answer answer answer an an- Son break breal the eng engagement every time under such circumstances Smash the betrothal ring into atoms if ir you OU have tho the slightest suspicion that tho the woman you ou are aro about to marry is not your our ordained heaven affinity or if it you ou have the Ule faintest doubt that you OU would pine pint away and die 1 if tf you OU didn't get bet her Duck and run l If IS you IOU are at the tho very church door if It you DU ascertain that tho the temperature affection has gono down a single degree or you OU feel teel that you have tho the slightest chill about your pedal extremities when you yon ou think about looking at the same face across the breakfast table for tor tho the next thirty or tort forty o years ears Better Bettor for you you you-a a thousand times better for her the her the temporary sting of or ofa ofa a broken engagement than the lite lifelong long ache acho of a broken heart If the ties that hold a man to a woman before marriage arc are so go like gossamer samel that they can bo be broken they ought to bo be broken for tor they are aro of ot such fragile fragUe material that when tho the pull and strain strain- of or married life come upon them the they I will giue e 1 way May and then the damage will be bo far more disastrous than it was I during the betrothal When hen a a. man and woman get married married married mar mar- ried they give hostages to fortune They R assume sume obligations that the they must keep and no matter how great the mistake no matter what the thea vagaries vagaries va va- a garies garles of or the tho heart they thoy are aro in honor bound to stand to the bargain they thoy have made H d it seems to me that nat there mere is 15 no oin- oin er cr subject that we regard with ith such Quixotic Idiocy as we do du an engage engage- ment Custom and convention combine combine com com- bine to turn an engagement which should bo be merel merely a a. sparring match to tr try each others other's temper into a ring event and the woman v ho ho withdraws withdraws' from tram It Is looked u upon on with contempt as a 3 quitter and a flirt while the man who throws up his hands and lies Bes down Is despised as a coward who didn't have havo enough courage to go through with the thing This is a Il false view of or tho the situation To a degree a betrothal Is a sort of ot understudy of ot matrimony and in the freedom of ot Increased compani companionship the very definiteness of or the association it brings about a man and a woman have opportunities of or getting an Insight in insight insight In- In sight into each others other's characters that the they never no had before If It then the they discover that the they are uncongenial that they have different tastes In everything from politics politics' to topic topie topie pie pic or i if they merely bore each other how much wiser to part parl In time and find their re real l mates instead of ot marrying marrying marrying mar mar- and giving gl a lifelong imitation of ot the domestic experiences of or the Kilkenny Kilkenny Kilkenny Kil Kil- kenny cats It is a significant fact that In th the south where the marriage engagement Is la a fetter tetter that is broken by a breath and there is la n no breach of lor suit the pro rata of or divorce Is less than anywhere 1 Where else In the country |