Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 70, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 May 1909 — Flower Vandals Are at Their Old Tricks. [ARTICLE]

Flower Vandals Are at Their Old Tricks.

Probably the act pf entering another’p yard and taking a few flowers does not seem very bad to the person that does it, and often the act is committed by children in the most thoughtless manner. The effect on th& owner is disappointing to'say the least. Many a property owner has spent much time and taken lots of pride in Raising flowers and watched the budding and flowering with great delight, and scarcely picked any of the flowers themselves and some morning stepped out to view them and And that some one had taken them during the night. Frequently not only the blossoms were taken but the flowers themselves were pulled up by this root# and other acts of covert vandalism committed.

The commission of an act of this sort by any person old enough to .know right from wrong indicates a weakness that is next to criminal in the person. It is difficult to apprehend a person in stealing flowers or ; injuring the flower beds, and it .seems that the-only way to correct the habit is by appealing to the respectability of the persons who possibly have hever given any thought to the matter. We have been told that flower stealing is generally done by young .men and young women of the giddy age, who are sq much impressed with their own importance that they have no regard for the rights or the sacred- ■ ness of the property of others. Often the microbe of love is working on them and in their rapture they are scarcely conscious of what they are doing. The male will grab a whole flower bed in search of some posy to compare with his affinity, while the young lady will garner a few flowers to wear next her heart to keep her constantly in mind of her masculine jewel. This maidenly and boyish bliss that not only makes the heart throb with animation and the blood to tingle with delight is no new thing, and during all the ages the kidlets have been attacked by cupid’s agents and caused to think that the particular brand of love they possessed was the triumphant variety that made the whole world side step while they occupied the center of the stage. Rensselaer is not the only city that has if. It is in Fair Oaks and Wheatfield, Remington and Monticello, Delphi and Indianapolis, Boston and New Orleans, Honolulu and St. Petersburg. It revels in the rural districts and in the thickest parts of the crowded cities, and thrives as well on the foul air of the metropolis as it does on the freßh ozone of the agricultural sections. And when*two hearts of two sixteen year old kids get the idea that they are beating as one, it is quite probable that they may forget that your flower garden is your own property. It is to these otherwise harmless and in the long run quite necessary adjuncts of society that we wish to appeal and urge them to guard against the flower stealing variety of love. Talk flowers, buy flowerß, grow flowers, step off the sidewalk if necessary to inhale the sweet fragrance of the flowers in another’s lawn, but donl; be guilty of taking them. It is dishonest and righteously angers the owner.