The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1873-03-27
EACH AFTER HIS KIND.
CLUB LIFE AND FAMILYLHE IMPAR-
TALLY COMPARED.


CLUB LIFE AND FAMILY LIFE IMPAR-
TALLY COMPARED.
The Requirements OF Husbands and the
Shortcomings OF American Wives.
From the New York TribuDeI
Under lhe title of the Housewives Horror,
the London Weekly papers hare lately dla-
cussed pretty freely ciub.liIe, and its bearings
upon that domestic bliss which We have been
led to think was one of EDgsnd's safest bull
warks Of civiliz ltion and religion. Ciub-lfe
there belongs 10 every grade OF society; but
with us, 1t is bat In It's homage, and has
scarcely developed influences enough of any
sort for us to determine whether 1t Will prove
In our la8er, freer, but purer social atmosphere
as destructive 10 the family as lis English
enemies assert. Outside of half dozen o.
the large cities iu this country, Clubs are un.
known. There Is vague feminine prejudice
against them which d-ters men Ia smaller
towns from forming them. a man alone may
have courage TO risk life 10 assault parapet,
or tyranny; but he must have good backing
ere be faces the cold stare OF pettlcoated re-
speclability abroad, and fearful silence from
the wronged domestic element at home. That
young men should associate themselves to-
gether for purely literary or scientific pur-i
poses, Is rational enough, In woman's tudg-
ment, and here and there a wife may be
found willing that her husband should Join
them, aud have at least one pursuit Of which
she has no knowledge, and ride hobby
which will not bear pilion behind. But
that men, especially married men, ehould
comblne 10 furnish for themselves place OF
meeting which shall offer at once qualification
tor their literary, artistic, or social needs, and
subserve also the purposes OF home, ls an.
infringement on the rights OF the family which
no woman with grain of spirit will endure.
What does 1t matter, at the close OF the
day y work In Countlng-ro0m or ONCE, that
the club offers luxurious chairs and Gurr0und-.
ings, deliclously. cooked dinner, with Smiths
Wit and Jones's wisdom to aid Its digestion,
and, above all, quiet, to enjoy bis pos!-pfan,'
napkins, lougn mutton, and noley children,
and ior entertainment his wile's gossip OF
kitchen denquents or Mrs. Smiths last bal!
True, he married for better or for worse; but
must 1t be all worse and never better True
again, bis wife must endure tough mutt0n,:
children and Biddy ad nauseam; for her there,
is no inviting door Of escape by club or else.
sharp and heavy enough to keep
clubs and their temptations, as we said,.
ont of the social lie Of our villages
and towns, which Is notably under
feminine control. In New York or-any large
city the position of the parties is different.
Any woman of intelligence can appreciate the
raison d'etre OF clubs mere, for not only bach
elOre, but married men. 1t is true that II the
husband of q fashionable woman have money
enough (there, to begin with, ls the sin laid
promptly at his own door, he Deed not lhe,
annoyed with ill-coOked dinners or noisy chil.
dren. IL five cases out OF ten 10 New York
he leaves his Office TO hnd both not Ia bome,'
but in hotel OF boardiDg-hc house, where.
children can be put out Of sight, and the COOK
ought to be on par With that OF the ciUS.
Bnt man is sgregarious; 1t is TO satisfy his need:
of society, not dinners. he knocks Tor admia-
sion at the door Of the Century, the Union,
or the Knlckerbecker. Bis wife, to be sure,
offers him society according to the Ideas
of herself and her kind; night alter night
you may see him In full dress, fat, heavy,
dull-eyed, smiling namely on the back
chairs In an opera.box, or jsmmed In the
drawing-room doors at ball while the young
people waltz and shove past him, and tramp
ON his toes. Young Parks and hls set, none
OF them past nineteen, hustle him out OF the
way With their glggllng sweethearts In tullei
and roses. He begins to feel himself block
-One OF the impedimeDts In the way OF the
world. Is this all of Intercourse he Is TO have
with his kind Is this the highest mental en-.
joyment which American society can offer
nim-to bs poked In the ribs by Parks's pro-
trudIDg elbows, 10 listen 10 his partners inanl-
ties, or to guzzle champagne and hsli-warm
terrupia at midnight, when he would rather
be In bed What wonder II he flies for s::ety
and succor to the ease and quiet and luxury
oil his club-room, where be can choose com.
panions after hls kind grave, wise or witty
and where neither tulle nor roses, nor the
sound OF q giggle, shall ever enter 10 make
him afraid.
"Each after his kind" Our fashionable
women eeem TO have accepted the wisdom OF
this plan. they allow their husbands to sub
sLilule clnb for old-lushUned home life; and
All nAkn
&C., form feminine alliances as pleasant, We
hope. as profitable. TIE appliances which
money furnishes for making lie easy nova.
DAYS serve 10 slide all such old-:lme weights
as househ eeplng, cooking and Biddies, as well
az noisy children, of the shoulders OF lady OF
ton. The story goes that one Of them meet
Ing French bonnie and her charge the Other
panlon on tho pictureequeness OF the turns
out, both baoy and nurse, and then bridging
her nose with her eyeglasses cried. "But,
surely, you are the woman whom hired last
summer TO take charge Of my Lucille. And
this Is my little angel How she grows ~ The
mother If The New York Gracchl Keeps her
Jewels In fourth story nursery, and 8hoW8
them to her friends and herself only on rare
occasions, and when In very full dress Indeed:
Her husband fnds his home at bis club, and
she hers elsewhere; but they are upon most
irieEdly terms usually, and exchange opin.
Ions on all subjects with the utmost good
temper anG courtesy when they meet.
Seriously, there Is little hope, IT II even be
desirable, that the purely domestic life OF the
country and inland towns should ever be pos
sible in the hurried, breathless routine OF the
city. cultured man requires IN hls on.
hours from work some other mental pabuum
than housekeeping troubles or gossip, be wants
glmpses OF art, literature, suggestive and
Stimulating society; it Is actually the grist for
next days mill 10 grind. Isit not possible for
a woman to furnish her husband this, together
with The charm and love OF his home? Some
oil the salons of Paris and of German cities al
ford pictures of the simplest and purest family
life, with qualification for the highest estneuo
tastes. Could our ladies bring home nothing
from abroad better than dresses OF WORMS,
and nice Judgment In majolicaf q,
HOTEL ARRIYALS-AAROH 20. /
CharIeston.
L Chamberlain, New York; Jas A Palmer,