Woman's World

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 202, 24 February 1914, Page 6

Woman's World

MEN WHO SHIULD NOT MARRY EXCEEDINGLY CAXDII) ADMISSIONS There are hundreds in' men in this world who outfit never to marry, and it is in accordance with Iho perversity of human nature that they are just the sort of men who invariably pet married (says a writer in a Home paper). They •make unsatisfactory husbands, no mutter how perfect their wives may be; they make unsatisfactory fathers, no matter how lovable, their children may 1)0. They are deficient in domestic ami paternal instinct. I urn one of those men myself. Hut it has taken me 21) years to realise the fact, and in the course of those year* I have played havoc with the happiness of two women. Here, however, is a characteristic which most of the men who ought not to marry share in common. Until they have made _uo end of mischief they do not acknowledge their disabilities even to themselves. ,At first they are not even aware of them, and, paradoxically enough in their early manhood they feel an urgent need of marriage.

DECEIVERS EVER. They are matrimonial gipsies. Marriage is in their blood, but their all'ections rove. They are faithless, inconstant. There, is nothing settled, nothing delinite, nothing final about theii natures. I have met a dozen men af.flictud in this fashion; and, like myself, they all married young. . It ia a perfect rule, a rule without exception, that a man never should many till lie knows his own mind. These men ■do not begin- to fathom their own mind till they attain to middle age, and it is very doubtful, even then, whether they know their own mind in relation to women and home life. I I married at IS, and the mere fact that I did this proves practically that I ought never to have married at all; for a young man of sense, with genuine domestic leanings, distrusts his own , judgment at this age. Unless he is very ] sure of the girl, he is very doubtful of himself. I. was very sure of myself, and did not even trouble to ponder whether the girl would still be the girl I wanted by the time I was 40. I have always been what is known as a "woman's man," and that also is an I argument against my right to marry. I For the man who is not. a man's man | is not normal, and few abnormal men > make good husbands. The man who is I more popular with girls than with his fellow men usually lacks stability, solidity and that indescribable quality called I ''mannishness" which not only makes dim popular with other men, hut constant and worthy as a husband and a father. The average girl likes him because he treats her differently—understands her better than the average man. She likes him because he seems more romantic, and when he tells her, in his confidential way, that he "gets on with the gifls better than with other fellows," she takes this as a compliment to her sex, whereas in reality it is an insult. It is not necessary for a man to understand women in order to make a desirable husband for one woman; it •is far 'bettor that he should not trouble, his head in any way about another woman.

ROMANTIC LOVIOR MAKES POOR HUSBAND. The man who makes the most romantic lover usually makes the poorest husband. He has too lntioh appreciation for the illusions of life, too little tfcmign* for the grim realities of life. Ther» are exceptions to this rule—very beautiful exceptions—but it is none the less a rule. I'erfect marriage is the exaltation of the commonplace, and love is the thing that exalts it. The man with a romantic mind finds it easy enough to exalt love, but extraordinarily difficult to do anything \vjth the commonplace except despise, it. That is one reason why he so often makes a bad husband. When his divinity is clad in gorgeous frocks she appeals to him; when his wife's fiocks 'begin to wear out and have to be replaced at his expense there is no longer anything divine about her raiment. A home, in the abstract, is to •him a haven of rest, of sheer delight: ■but when he acquires a home of his own he is conscious chie-lly of its ties, its limitations and its expense. The ordinary man settles down. He i* content without illusions. Married life may not be exactly ecstatic in his case, but ill least it is full of sweetness. On the other hand, the' man who ought not to man-, never settles down. As ■soon as the lirst fond illusions have been dispelled, as soon as the iiitimaev of everyday life witji a human little' woman has b-en : il:lish,.;|. J k . leaves it to his mate to settle down, and comes by degrees to regard her as a glorilic'd housekeeper. The girl he married becomes, in short, aiioih,..- girl, less fair to gaze upon, less desirable. Hi- roving ins'inels get to work. lie is not really a husband, hut merely a man with a wife. So it was with me. T married a girl of 10 when t wa,s IS, and by the time I was 20 1 could barely tolerate the sight of her. Wo were'poor, and she had become a household drudge. Probably, if I had been a man's man. 1 should not have blundered; hut even if I iiad blundered 1 should not have shipwrecked my .married life. I should have sought relief in men's company. Hut I was a woman's man, and sou»bt diversion-consolation, 1 called il.-inUie society of women.

DESLHCAULIO COXDHT. -\aturally, my discontent grew. These other girls, seen only at their best. seemed immeasurably superior to mv wife at licr worst—cleaning "rales, scrubbing lloors; and since I had the knack of causing girls to like uic the;, speedily found something romantic iii the hideous fact that I was unhappilv married. One of them, moreover, encouraged me to make love to her. grew loud of me. 1 did not actually violate the marriage laws or the seventh commandment, but 1 went lo dances three •or four times a week in the winter cycled and picnicked with "iris in tin' summer. 1 neglected my wife shamoH'lly; 1 reduced her housekeeper money because 1 was spending motv than I could ailord on mv own amusement And I was less frc(|iicntlv in mv •own home than a bachelor resorts to •uncongenial lodgings. PRICES OF FURS

I'ibulous pnees have been oll'ered for hlack fox lurs, „o the London ( . un - ( ,. xpomlent of I he Wellington IVsl reported recently, in Wellington at present |s a gentleman interested in d,e fur trade, and in conversation will, a reporter the other day he gave some particulars of the prices asked. l!|„,k foxes arc a very rare species, and the furs are ''"iisoquently very valuable. Anvthin" t0... .CIOO to £2OO is « reasonable sum oi a pelt, and as much as V.SOU has la-en given 0 n the London market for a

perfect specimen. The small Canadian province of Prince F.dwnrd Islnnd is the only part of the world where these foxes arc bred. Recently the Russian (iovernnicnl sent a representative to the island to endeavor to buy live pairs of foxes for breeding purposes. He oll'ored WKM) dullars (£ltillll) for a pair, but the ranch owner asked L2IIIIII. The representative communicated with his principals, and was told to accept the offer, lint in the meantime the fox-breed-er had changed his mind and refused to sell. The foxes were required for breeding purposes iu order that a supply of furs might be obtained for the Russian Royal Family. As each pair of animals can he relied on to prodmo from eight to twelve young foxes in a year, the bargain would have been a good one. Four pelts are required for I a set of furs, and the dill'creiice in cost [ if the manufacturer has his own brecdI ing animals can he seen to bu very con- ', siderable.

' THE PURSUIT OF PLEASURE ! There is a notable change coming over the habit* of those who live to pursue pleasure (writes a London correspondent). The old custom used Lo be "dinner, theatre, home." And it is still the same with hundreds of people; though with others it is "dinner, theatre, supper and home." Hut among many of the well-to-do, it is "theatre, supper, dancing and home," in the small hours. In recent years some of our largest restaurants and hotels laid themselves out for after-theatre, suppers. The Carlton and Savoy, between 11 o'clock and halfpast 12 o'clock, presented seme of Ihe most remark-aide sights iu the world. Scores of handsomely dressed women and men in the latest fashions, the women expensively, often extravagantly, costumed, crowded round the supper tables. The work became so heavy for the administration at several of the ■hotels that it was almost impossible,to keep pace with it. In the case of one house, where a license of over £3OO a year is paid, fifty additional waiters had to he employed, partly to meet the i increased requirements of patrons, and ] partly owing to the recent Shops Act. Rut within the past twelve month several new clubs have sprung into existence, which can best be described as < ■supper and dancing clubs. There is the ! Four Hundred, the Lotus, the" 1 Murray and the Cabaret, all well conducted, and all proving counter attractions to the smart hotels. After the theatre these places are crowded for supper, and then I follow a few dances. These smart night clubs take at least 5110 people from such places as the Savoy, the Carlton, '.he Cecil. Romanos and other old restaurants and as all these houses have to | close at half-an-hour after midnight, I they cannot compete with clubs which [are permitted to he open through all | the hours. The London Hololkoopors' (Association has taken up the grievance, ;and is endeavoring to induce the aulho- • rities to permit people who take sup- | per to remain on the premises till, say, 2 o'clock in the morning. The restaurants and hotels ask to cater for the new demand. They are under very costly and severe restrictions, compared with the clubs. The latter only pay a liveshilling registration fee, and an excise duly on intoxicants actually consumed. Foreign visitors who are accustomed to late hours in their own countries consider themselves treated as children when packed oil' home at half-past 12 o'clock from the supper rooms of such ■places as the Savoy and the Carlton. The night club subscriptions are a small matter, and it is quite easy for most •people to obtain admission as a mem•.her's friend. But there is usually a | keen supervision as to membership,' for j the committees are exceedingly careful to have no rowdiness, or gambling, and j thereby attract the attention of 1!;u [police.

ORIGIN OF SILK Wrought sill; was brought from Persia to Greece in ;S2;> B.C. It was known in Rome at the time of Tiberius, when the Senate prohibited the use of plate of massive gold, and forbade men to debase themselves by wearing silk, fit onlv for women, lleliogaballus first wore a garment of silk in 220 A.D. Silk was" at first of the same value as gold, weight for weight, and was believed to grow on trees. Silkworms were brought from India to Europe iu the sixth century. Charlemagne sent Oll'a, King of Mercia. a gift of two silk vests. The manufacture wa, encouraged by Roger, King of Sicily, at Palermo, when the ■Sicilians not only, bred the silkworms, but spun and wove the silk. The manufacture, spread into Italy and Spain, and also into the south ofFian.e a little before the reign of Francis L, about 1.HI); and Henry propagated niiil•borry trees and silkworms throughout ■the kingdom about HiOO. In lOngdam! silk mantles were worn bv some women •of the nobility at a ball "at Keuilworlh Castle iu 12S0.