Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1878-01-04
Nan in the Millinery service.


Ifthere II one sight more ealculsstsl
10 display masculine awkwaFsness n
al Is pitiable wretehedness eaa ssse
perEectlon more than anything else i =
ihe spectacle Of . man carrying hoae
his wife's new bonnet, pinned up t. !
naper. The wretrhed creatars takes :
corner Of The wrapping heiuIeen ~
thamh and 6nneE lnsf ~ ne heaKl
millinnF hands Il % him. and - i
for his happy home. Usually be nc =
il out at arms length, although occass
ionalIy a p5esumplno0s being may se
seen who attempts to carry q "a tbs
easy, natural manner he has observe
his wife employ. In every case OF this
kind the hat i hopeless ruin before
he has walked three blocks. The ex-
tended position is his best held, and b.
then looks like boOm-deFrick lifting
butterfly. He tries to look uno9nceTned
and careless, but every woman he NEE 8
brings the hot bushes to his perp rrs
face by the peculiar glance ahe give
from the dangling bit OF millinery 10 b
face. She sometimes looks in horror s
the horrible maltrealment which she
knows the bat is receiving, but gener
aIlN she eazes at the biped with lock
OF mingled pity and amused contempt
In either case the iron enters the man
soul. His temples throb, and the beaded
perspiration rolls down his guilty look
ing face, and the harder he tries 20 look
unconcerned the more tbievish does hts
expression become, until the police lock
at him and form suspicious that he has
stolen the bonnet. We once knew .
hardened man who actually tried 70
whistle in a careless manner as he ear
ried his wife's hat home. The hrst
woman he met toned his whistle down
10 a miserable quaver, the second one
hushed Il TO a villainous sort of n tune
less hIssing noise. the third TRANSFORMED
il into hystericOl laughter, and as the
fourth woman bent her prylng gaze oa
the dangling bundle, and then lifted be-
smiling eyes to bis, the miserable man
sat down on the curbstone, put his feet
on the bonnet, and sobbed like child.
There is no use trying to conceal the
hat. We know one man who boxed up
his wife's Spring hat before he wou I
carry il home, then wrapped II up IN .
roll Of carpet and packed Il home on bis
back, but he met ninety-eight women
on the way and every last stwumanga-pres
out "Merciiul sakes What way "a
10 carry a bonnet!" And that nan fell
so bad that he died in Illinois, Of tbc
ague, about seven years after. II J.
very seldom that woman will let her
husband carry her bonnet home. When
she does, il is not token Of confidence
in his inherent gracefulness, but beeau:
she won't come down in her old one
Frequently they send the master Of ihc
house on this degrading errsnd, IN order
TO fill him with a realizing sense Of his
inferiority and general worthlessness
for il is a notable fact that man will
not scold his clerks, talk politics, o..
contradict bis wife for Eeek after b.
has performed this humilisting task. u
makes him feel weak and SMALL. IL
makes him deformed, awkward, help
less slave to the bit Of frippery dang
ling from his extended hand. A pin
flies out here, and bis heart stops beat
ing; a corner Of the tucked-in paper
frees itself and sticks up there, and his
reason totters on its throne; ribbon
pIowS out and huitcrs in the wind. and
he calls IN maudlin tones for the doctor
and the police; sometimes IN bis Ber-
v0us excitement he drops the hat to the
ground. and in q case Of this kind the
average man will 90 into convuisions
for week. This thing Of making mar
ried men carry home their wives hats
has been the cause Of more domestic in
felicity and unhappy divorces and sui
cIdes than any one thing underline azure
sky, and the legislature ought TO put .
stop to it by prOhibitOry enactmenis.
There iP no time TO lose, for this thing
viii set in again in a few weeks, and
prompt action IL necessary in order 10
save from humiliation and modification
that noble animal man.