The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1882-06-24
..Mv husband does not understand

me- says another woman. He Is
honest in all the relations of life. He is
not unkind, but he never reads a poem
with me, or knows whether am dressed
in red flannel or cardinal velvet"
Here is another:
ssMy husband is thoroughly good. He
hasn't single bad habit, and 1 know ne
loves me dearly, but, Notwithstanding,
he hurts me in the tenderest places. He
often forgets to put in an appearance
when have invited guests, and never
takes me to the opera, or seems to. care
whether have any amusement OF not.
Still another: -s.
s.My husband is the best man in the
world, buthe never seems to think can
get tired taking care of children or cook
ing his dinner. He eats and sleeps as
if he thought it my business to drudge
from morning till night"
The following remark heard made
not long ago by one of the loveliest
women whom it has ever been my good
fortune to meet. Those who do not
comprehend the fineness of feminine
sensibilities may be at a loss to discover
where the loneliness comes in; but it is
there all the same. There had been
some lively and good-natured compare
sons of husbands of our acquaintance,
when the lady spoken of remarked, with
heightened color and flashing eyes:
81 don't think it is very good taste for
a wife to talk about her husband, but
what will you think when tell you that
my husband never asked me to take
plate of ice-cream in his lifep He knows
there is nothing like SO well. We often
have it for dessert, of course; but many
times when we have been out walking l
have 50 wished. when passing ice-cream
saloons, that he would ask me to go in,
and because he hasn't has spoiled many
a walk
''Wellr' remarked plain-spoken old
maid, 81 can conceive of your husbands
not thinking of such thing, but |
cannot conceive of wife who is on any
decent terms with her husband who
would refuse to ask for what she wanted.
Why didn't you tell him you would like
some ice-creamp'' l1..
''My husband knows my liking for ice
cream, and it is his business to ask me-"
was the sensitive rather than the sensi-
Bile reply. Now this wife credits her
husband with kind heart, and perfect
honesty of purpose. She even admits
that if the invitation had come from her
he would gladly have accompanied her
to any number of ice-cream saloons.
This complaint seems silly as well as I'M
womanly, but it doubtless had its birth
in other neglects which she did not speak
of. The failure of husband to invite
his wife to partake of ice-cream could
hardly furnish grounds for divorce, but
seems in this instance to have been ssthe
feather that broke the camel's back"
Taken by itself it is certainly too absurd
for moments notice, but it can not be
isolated. Such state of affairs can only
come from the EXTREMIST and most NOR
bid sensitiveness, and how much a
woman can do to overcome such con-
dition is the present question. Certainly
not by brooding over apparent neglect,
much less by talking aboutit In these
degenerate days the woman who has an
honest man for her husband is to be
congratulated. If he is also kind, gen.
erous and provident, she has certainly
drawn prize in the great lottery. 1t
must be true that these wives who have
nothing to complain of, and yet who
suffer SO much from lack of husbandly
appreciation and sympathy, do not place
a proper value on manly qualities. Is it
not possible for wife, in consideration of
the cardinal virtues, to get on comforta-
bly, and lovingly with failure in the
minor pointsP Such failure is inevitable.
If the bread-winner head is full of
business, to the exclusion of the new
poem or favorite opera, ought wife to
feel aggrieyed? If in the worry and
press of commercial affairs man forgets
that his wife has invited guests to dim
ner, is it the part of common sense to be
made miserable by it, since the husband
will come home sober when he does
come, and SOLICITORS only for the comfort
of his family? 1t is impossible for most
men to understand how vital these things
are to women. Even the best and ten
derest will not infrequently fall short of
the mark in such matters. Women as a
rule enjoy details. Men as rule abhor
them. Why weep and pity ones self
because of this fact? Shall we be
wretched because our oak tree is not an
asparagus bed as wellp
am not writing now of husbands who
willfully hurt their wives feelings, but
of men who are great and good in the
large, and who fail in the small simply
because the small does not appeal to
them. This determination to find quail
tiles that do not exist, to force responses
from lips which may be warm and low
ing, but which are dumb to your wish,
is fruitful source of misery in married
life. Its effects are broad and far-reach-
ing. Education will ultimately develop
more thoughtfulness in men and more
philosophy in women, and for future
generations, as well as for present COM
fort, wives would do well to consider the
inevitableness of the situation, and as far
as possible adapt themselves to it. Most
OF the class who suffer from not being
understood could extract much more
comfort from life if they would only