Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 February 1901 — MEN IN LOVE WITH MEN. [ARTICLE]

MEN IN LOVE WITH MEN.

Carious Distances K Frlsnds Who Im CultiTstsd u Uuustuml ACsetiM. > Most people here heard of cams where love between two women has been eo deep and strong that it bas been the dominant power in the life of one of them, if not in both their lives; but it is not often one hears of a man falling in love with a person of his own sex. Such things do, however, occur now and then, and strangeJ* interesting reading they make. Until two years ago there were in practice at the bar, says London TitBits, a couple of middle-aged lawyers, between whom for close upon 20 years there had existed an affection of the strongest kind. These two men met St Cambridge, where they were both undergraduates, and the friendship which was there struck up soon ripened into a devoted attachment They became inseparable. When they left Cambridge, rather than be separated by their professions, one who was intended for the army joined his friend at the bar, going into the same chambers. For nearly 20 years these two men devoted themselves each other. They lived together and worked together; they never took any recreation or amusement apart; if one were ill the other nursed him, giving up any and every engagement except professional duties to do so. A case in some ways even more remarkable is one with which the present writer is directly acquainted. It is that of a young man of good position and considerable fortune, wha became strangely attached to/ft who had been secretary in the office of the former’s father. Although well educated and of gentlemanly manners, the secretary came of very humble parents, and for this reason the employer objected to his son .being on "terms of close friendship with him, as he was soon after meeting the young man. The father was an unreasonably proud person and as obstinate as the proverbial mule; and when his son declined to give up the friendship he dismissed the secretary at an hour’s notice as a means of gaining his object. The son, not from any obstinate tendencies, but from real affection for the secretary, refused to let this stand in the way of their friendship, and followed the secretary to a town where the latter had succeeded in getting a new situation. Enraged at this, the father wrote to his son declaring that unless the acquaintance were at once broken off the usual allowance would cease. This was done, because the son declined to comply with the demand, and after having enjoyed a certain income of £6OO a year, and nothing to do for it, he suddenly found himself stranded, practically penniless. But rather than give up his friend he entered an office. As, however, he had had no experience of office work, and his knowledge of many subjects had rusted through lying fallow, the highest salary he could command was a miserable 18 shillings a week.

Hearing of this, and believing that his son would soon repent and dissolve the friendship, for a time the father took no farther steps. But eventually he wrote to his son, demanding obedience under the penalty of being disinherited. Even this hail no effect. The son knew well that his father would do what he threatened if not obeyed, but rather than give up his friend he gave away his right to a fortune which has since been sworn at £IBO,OOO and continued to earn his 18 shillings a week until his father’s death, when a cousin, who had inherited the fortune in his stead, made him the offer of his own business^ The offer was accepted, and, taking the secretary into partnership, the young man who put friend before fortune started to Bee what could be made of the business. For a long time it was an uphill struggle, rendered more difficult by lack of funds, but by hard work and courage the partners set it firmly upon a solid basis, and it is now a very profitable concern indeed. The partners have a joint home, and go nowhere without each other. They are as much partners in their daily life as in their business, and if either of them regrets that the jon- sacrificed £IBO,OOO for love of another man it ik that other man, certainly not the son.