The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1882-09-21
Girls Who harry Presidents.

The story that Mrs. Lincoln said be-
fore she married that the man she mar
ried would one day be president of the
United States, and that there are letters
now in existence written to friends of
her youth in which she reiterated the
assertion, is having quite a run in the
papers, and some are inclined to look
upon the prediction of the girl as mar
velous. We do not look upon it as
marvellous at all. 1t is simply one girl
out of a million guessing right All girls
think the same thing when they get
married, and before, and as somebody
has to be elected president, about one
girl out of a million hits it right. 1t is
safe to say that no girl ever married a
man unless she thought he had the
making of the smartest man in this
country. That is, where they marry for
love, and are really mashed to begin
with. A girl who is in love with a
young fellow, never sees his disadvan-
tages. She feels that by proper treat
ment and advice there is no position in
the world that he cannot fill, in time,
and she decides then and there to put
him in training for the presidency. No
matter if his head is number six, and
slopes the wrong way, she thinks it will
fill out. She is going to do her best on
him anyway. Take nine girls in ten
who marry little shrimps or big awk-
ward boys, and talk to them in conf
dence, and they viii tell you that their
husband is bound to make his mark in
the world, and that he will be president
some day. Of course nearly all of them
fail. Hundreds that start out with the
intention of being president, never get
above working in paint shop, or max
ing shoes, or driving team, or farming.
They lose their grip before the cam
paign opens. In a short but brilliant
career we have seen hundreds of young
fellows who started out from the dis
trict school to win the presidency. Up
to this time none of them have got there.
They have all got married to girls who
expected them to be presidents, but they
have gone ashore all along the stream
that leads to the White House. One is
holding down dry goods box in front
of store, while his wife supports him,
working in millinery store. Another
don't do much except on election day,
when he peddles tickets, or clerks at
the polls, and makes four dollars, and
lunches that day on herring and crack
ers at a grocery. Another is tending
bar, and he was the smartest of the lot,
! when the presidential fever was on.
Dozens of the boys who never had any
ambition to be president, are succeed
ing in business of various kinds, though
their wives have an idea yet, that if the
husband fails to be president the child
ren will, some of them, take the cake.
1t is proud day for woman when she
takes husband. and thinks how she
will surprise the other girls when she
escorts that husband to the White
House, but how disappointed she is
when he gets the nomination for ward
constable, and then gets beat. She then
begins to realize the horrors of disap-
pointed ambition. 1t is well for girls to
have high ambition for the men they
marry. but where there is such an
enormous supply of presidential mater
ial, and only one office, it looks to us as
though it would be better to settle on
some smaller office, say town supervisor
That is an office any woman may aspire
to, for her husband, and a greater por-
portion viii catch on. When girl mar
ries a young fellow and desires to
stimulate his ambition to become a
statesman, let her point to some super
visor or alderman, and say to him that
she will never rest contented until her
husband occupies that exalted position
Then fellow won't be so apt to be dis
couraged, but if you spring the presi-
dency on him he is apt to lose his cud.
-Peck'S San.