The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1884-01-16
ABOLISH THE WHINE.
One IF Human Natures Most Dis
agreeable Features.
People who Enjoy Unhnppiness and
MIsery---An Actress as AN
American WIre."a

[Joe Howard in Philadelphia Pressl
The worst feature in human experience isa
whine.
Mr.. Barrett, an unusually intelligent jus
tice of our supreme court, has written a play
called IAN American Wife" which was pre-
sented at wallack's theatre Tuesday night
last, and received with favor by a critical,
though friendly, audience. Beyond chroni-
cling tho success Of the play, | nave nothing
to say OF 1t at present, with this exception:
Miss Rose Coghlan in the title role whines
through four long acts. She Is a well-born,
well bred rich American woman, married to
n titled foreigner, from whose m-treatment she
flies, and is discovered by tle audience in a
circle Of protecting and loving friends The
American Wife is a wilmer from Whineville.
Her vaults Of memory are oiled with recol-
~lections Of brutality, her soul Is made sad by
reflection. Prior to her husbands arrival
upon the scene ~forebodings dance before her
eyes and she sobs and signs in anticipation.
When the brutal husband appears and in
sists that his wife and child shall accompany
him to Ia belle France she is grieved ut the
thought Of leaving her friends, and suffers as
she forecasts IA further life of misery in Paris,
Under the skillful guidance of a legal friend
and possible lover, she concludes not to go
back with her husband, but then, being con-
fronted with the loss of he- son, the black
pail Of trouble envelops her, and her stifed
signs and groans find suggestive way through
Its sombre folds.
She doesn't smile from the beginning to the
end; there Is not a CLEAN Of joy, a suggestion
OF relief, a hint Of possible happiness. She
comes on like a funeral, she poses like a
graveyard, and the whole odor and atmos
phere Of the stage, so far as the American
Wife Is concerned, is sepulchral and gloomy.
How apt a type that is of many American
women. For heavens sake, what are they
hore fort They sigh because their plane OF
life Is lower than that on which they wish to
stand. II circumstances aid them, instead of
being happy and hopeful for the future, they
look with disgust at their past and whine
about their present, piling in front Of them
shadowy Instructions to further progress in
the desired direction.
or course you understand that Miss Cogh-
lnn, as an American wife. whined because
that was part Of the play. Personally, this
attractive actress has none OF the whine or
SWIVEL about her, and l thought, as saw her
downcast countenance, and watched the
various shadings of melancholy she displayed,
whether, after all, much Of the whine and
melancholy Of private life Is not the acting of
Il part Do you know 1 believe that people
relish u~nhappiuess and enjoy misery l have
In my mind Il woman whom I have known
since | was a little boy, about whom
circle all the natural joys Of earth,
whose cup contains the rich Juices Of the
choicest fruit, whose elevated plane affords a
wide horizon for usefulness, and Whose
sturdy physique would warrant her under
linking anything in the way OF travel or ia
tigue, and l cannot recall "A solitary smile, a
single instance of apparent glee in all this
lifetime. She grows fnt on It, She is a
strikiugly handsome woman up to the point
where her head joins her neck, and there, In
pite Of a shapely profile and n handsomely
outlined head, gloom has set Its seal. The
brow frnwns, the eyes tiAsh, the corners of
the mouth are drawn down, and a general
atmosphere of martyrdOm eThales from her
person.
Wen now, you know, l get very sick of
that sort of thing. Like other people who
write for or read The Press, l have troubles
and worries, and bothers and embarrass-
ments, many OF them serious, but none OF
them so imperiously dominant as to possess
my soul, aud drive the iron OF dismay into
my quivering heart. My soul has cheerier
aspirations, my heart prefers more tender
pulsations. II | cannot have cake ! am toler-
ably certain OF bread and butter, and there Is
no mar so handsome, so rich or gifted, so
potential in any realm of life that /, incon-
-spicuous and limited as / unquestionably am,
can afford to envy him. / occasionally visit
n c~nst-iron merchant in New York, who,
nt the head OF an enormous establishment,
manages property valued at 100000 the
income and outgo of which are many mill
ions OF dollars annually. Upon his middle
aged brow care rests at times very heavily,
and the last lime l called upon him he said,
with n sigh: al am always glad to have you
come, even when | am busiest, - for my bust
ness has nothing whatever to do with his and
my calls are purely social. Al am always
glad" he said, ito have you come in, be-
cause You seem so happy; IT cheers me up "
Well, now there il "A volume In that. was
unconscious until then of any special rndia-
ton in my appearance or conversation.
Among the visitors in my office is one wo-
man who has trouble, aud who does have
her full share Of ~shadowy existence; but mall
the years | have known and helped her, |
have never found her cheerful, / might al.
most say even pleasantly grateful l dare say
she prays for me; in fact, l know she does
Night after night, in the calm seclusion OF
her widowed chamber, she rests the bare
bones Of petition on the carpet OF unselhsh In
terest and sends, rs far as her power permits
her, petitions for my good. Far be II from
me to scott at any serious ceremony, whether
In my Judgment II means Aught or no, but
l v would Infinitely prefer that this good woman
would go from my office with a mile upon
her lip and the infant OF good cheer dancing
decorously in the innermost recesses Of her
heart, leaving the fragrant aroma of relief
behind her, than to know that she wrestled
with the angels for holrs, and made my
future veal her lifelong care. l am free TO
say I hate a wilmer.
One reason why Sarah Jewett doesn't make
a success in the "Glass OF Fashion is that her
character is an incessant grumbler, com
palmer and fault-finder. This world is duh
and ombre enough at best, and in these clos.
ing hours Of the year there may seem to be a
sort Of fitness in gloom, but ! dom like il. II
makes no one happier, no ons better, no one
easier.
Let us abolish the whine.
Why mott