The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1889-04-18

He is seIfabsorbed, has no time for
such fonleries. She Is mistress OF the
art almost unknown to American
men or indulged in at the chst of con
science pangs which kill pleasure, the
delightful art of sauntering. And
vet there is no boredom in her leisure.
She has no time for friendships, she
can choose and enjoy the company of
men and women whom she likes and
understands. Men have no concep-
tion of the wealth Of meaning in that
word Of four letters-'chat." Wo
men can write letters, they can pay
calls, they can shop. | could write an
idyl of the shopper. Women find the
world interesting. They read the
newspaper and enjoy the gossip side of
news as much as if they saw the story
put upon the stage 1t is to them a
spectacle, something to look on at
and be amused by. They are taken
care of. Come veal, come woe, they
pat their hands or hiss, knowing that
short of a financial point all these
things are one to them
This is one side. 1t is gold. The
other side is not silver. 1t is lead or
something equally heavy and dull.
Women are lonely. They miss their
husbands What amount of compan-
ionship exists between the American
woman and the man? He starts for
his office as soon as his breakfast is
hurriedly swallowed. He does not
come home at the lunch hour. He is
barely in season for a late dinner.
Very possibly he belongs to a club and
has an engagement as soon as dinner
is done Ii not that his head is in
bank or counting-houSe and he stu
dies the stock quotations in the nights
paper and counts as against possible
rise Of wheat the days gossip with
which his wife is overfowing very
small potatoes. They have callers or
they 60 to the opera or theater. 1t
may easily happen that they do not
spend ten minutes in conversation
with each other during the day.
American men are always in hurry.
They seem to live for the sole purpose
of catching trains. They have no
tlllic lO dlUuSG VI dIliuSSu. L HS
conditions of modern life separate
them from women. The lives of men
grow more and more simple-business
comprehends the whole. The lives
OF women grow more compleN-every-
thing which is not business is given
over to them. A man past the roman
tic epoch who honestly enjoys talking
-, 4
The everyday sort of man takes pains
to be detained somewhere until all the
guests have departed from his wite's
5 o'clock tea The couple live in diff
/ ferent worlds.
She goes in for Wagner or Greek
plays. He does not dabble in litera-
ture. She finds an occupation in So
ciety he gets more comfort out of 4
fast trotter. She inter ests herself In
Christian science OF is fascinated by
the Salvation army. He begs her not
to break her neck on her latest hobby
and picks mp his billiard cue. She
keeps close up to the minute with hel
information, is au courant with wha
is going forward, quick, sensitive. He
Is apt TO be unresponsive. He know:
little of what interests her. She know:
nothing of what interests him. From
June to October they are separated
altogether, From October to June
they lead lives that have few points OF
coincidence.
| Outside of the gilded circles. ther,
are many occupations which make ths
! LONELINESS of women something more
obvious if not more real. That stree
car conductor who has not seen hi:
baby's eyes open by daylight since
her birth, turns up with some frequen
| cy. A pretty little woman whom
knew very well, facilitates herself tha
she is never lett to herself long. Hel
husband is night watchman or night
clerk offs some description, and is us
ually fast asleep on the bed all day il
one OF the two rooms they occupy
When he is at work she is asleep, anc
when she is awake he is sleeping, ant
so they are together all the time. Th,
little creature doesn't know a person
i'll the city except her butchers an,
grocsrs Eeierks, and lives a life a
Jneiy as it she had not heighbor il
twenty i've miles
fBeaantuF weather, said "a bre wn
| eye II wenlan against whom l brushed
| aetitfcsiti,A on a ferry boat the othe
niorning.s.-, H
Fine day ;every body's. out TO Sc
the openings Somehow l get rid q
| therbipss when 1 have "a chance t
walk out and see the street full @
people. She wanted to talk to som
one. She talked to me. Her peopl
Tive in Baltimore, her husband is
drummer, gone two monl hs at time
she has not a solitary acquaintance ex
cept the landlord of the apartmen
where she lives.
Every big city holds thousands q
women to whom such diversion, sucl
lonely lives, is all there is of matri
mony, all there is of happiness.
! One frequent source of unhappines
with men women oftener escape. The,
have not commonly much acute intel
lectual disturbance. They take tbei
religion with fewer questions. The
may have doubts, but they are not 5
much harrassed by them. All thei
I lives they have been used to mete
and bounds, and when an obstacl
! steps them, when they come to th