The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-08-07
THINK OF the WIpoWs.
Why There Are So Many More
Of Them Than Of WiaowerS.
SOME Eessoss for IN es.ess That
VIII Surprise You wemAa.s
CampAniea

~ NN-t-E%tttsNt &1tt SUI fHt<r 4EfA4tt
population and By whom the labor
market Is flocds~i. bot the widows. :,
and addccing statistics in evidence. We
added that the widows ganaher a.
MANY Is i,sIa.6si and the widosers
S>s.6fs. being an excess OF sci Gao
women. So great su excess of widows
ever widowers sas scarcely 70 be ex-
reetcd. and must lie regarded as de-
paorahle thing. which scents 10 sur
gest AT once some default or vice in our
social life" The greater longevity Of
women than of men becomes a
i factor in the advanced stages cf
7 life. On reference TO the census of
England and Wales for 1881 We find
that wlsiowers Of S5 and upward mum
herei iSa, Ia, and widows of CORE
spending age S7sa .s77. whereas AZ Is
the wiaowers numbered 9Q.ssG, and
the widows 2Sa.sii; ard again. At As
the wiiowers -s.ssss. AMI the widows
/ iaS,6se. 20 that the excess is stu
greater where longevity sas nothing
to do with H. Fur every ltse wi.iowers
{ IN France there are i9i widows. How
young. too. in our own country some
are left widows is shown hv the CEN
sns OF England and Wales OF 1881. Al
which date there were ss.lsa widows
at the age OF q. Fifiv-two thousand
widows seems great number at an
axe when, according 10 some authofi-
lies, most women should marry, e.
pscialsv in these times.
A long "a women do not snhinit to
the fate which weighs on their natural
mates or companions. but marry men
old enough 10 be their fathers. grand
fathers or great graudfatheFs t0t;sn
widowersl from an unwiliingneSs 20
/ face the battle Of life. or from love of
ease and show. so long viii there he
/ gross inequality between the number
of widows and widowers. That mar
risge on the part Of men Is becoming
later through the greater struggle al
| life, the advantages and destinations
/ OF clab life and other reasons, l. a we'll
known fact. Now. from the fact OF
men not only marrying often when
i far advanced in manhood, but some
/ times when nearer the end than the
beginning, 10 which must he added re-
marriage often more than once, and
marrying then not women of cor
responding or approximately cor
responding age. but Young women,
/ ii must follow in the ordinary
course of things. without the necessity
ef any calculation or reference 10 the
statistics. that such women must be
/ left widows long before the natural
termination Of their lives. Some have
seen in the fact II wonan's greater
longevity a reason why she should
marry man somewhat younger than
I h.r - h.f ia 20
companion in her latter DAYS ss well
+ a. in her eariier~~a season. indeed, In
/ which she often stands soreiy in need
OF protector. The difficulty OF find
ing a suitable companion later in life
| should certainly dictate TO women the
| importance. so far as practicable, of
securing lifelong companion. IL is
hardly necessary Ia mention that TO
/ do So is one OF the essential conditions
of true martiage-tbe ideal marriage.
which, be il said by the way, is often
a very different thing from the base,
mercenarv conntsrselts OF today,
which pass under the euphemism Of
"holy mstfimony.
II is obvious that tae idea Of en-
deavoring TO procure companion for
life. should for many reasons, be up
permosf in the mind OF a woman In
tent ON marrying Does observation
show that woman invariably exercises
the foresight Just Indicated We
think not. bat should sayssrather the
contrary. So eager are some, we do
not saw all. Ia enter the bonds of wed
lock. that IL they can reasonably hope
that the prospective coveted husband
VIII get through the marriage ceremo-
ny and the honeymoon. they seem
toIerably contented. Even In this
limited forecast they are sometimes
led astrsy By enthusiasm. Only last
spring We knew an eidarly swain uf
sixty five summers. or Whereabouts.
who. being captisated by fair young
charmer, must needs marry her IL is
true he got through the ceremony. but
he was not 50 successful with the hon
eymoon, for IL came 20 pass on the
fifth day that his soul was required OF
him. These amorous veterans. never
lheless. do not always so expeditions
~ shuttle of this mortal coil and leave
this sphere OF marriage for the one
where they never marry. nor are
given in marriage" but rather seem
to take new lease OF life. What Is,
however, the lease OF life of man
of fifty or sixty in compari-
son with that of maid
of twenty or twenty-siveY
One III the correspondents of the
fiaiiH Telegraph correspondence OF last
Autumn showed well how the union
OF MAY and December was one of the
most fertile sources of the failure Of
marriage. While May was fuil of
pleasure 10 come. December was chew
ing the cud OF past ones. The one
had lived, the other wanted To live.
and here they parted company on the
threshold oil their married life. A
Young woman marrying a man of ike
age may have 10 exercise self-denisl.
the vers quintessence of true mar
riage bat she inspires and encourages
him she Is the KEY to unlock the
treasures aud stofes Of his manhood
she is the right person in the right
place on the contrary, tor many OBJ
vious reasons, in marrying a man at
the end of his manhood. she often
drags him down. Gross disparity was
forbidden hy Jewish Law givers, and
also rs the most enlightened OF pagan
LEGISLATOR Is il wise % prudent Ia
peYriit the yigor OF manhood to be
dissipaied or wasted, and 10 allow pos
terity TO owe its origin % the waning
strength ~ odd menY Is il certainly
contrary Ia the warning voice oil the
most intelligent and disinterested Of
the medical profession. who are un-
queStionably the best eonnselors on
this subject
Marriage in its essence f~ The duty
Of one sex towards the other, aud may
Re approximately expressed a. the
eompiemeniing and supplementing
development and utilization respect
lively OF manhood and womanbood,
aud Ne are not asare, apart from this.
that il differs from any other union
let geen man and woman 40 Tar az
morality is concerned. The KEY is not
more necessary 70 the 10 K. nor the
cord 10 the bow. than Is man and
WOMAN 90 each other ia respect 10 the
perfection 81 human life they are, in
deed, as the poet Longfeliox says,
- seless each without the other.
This wido1-making vice of marital
disparity is bat one feature in that
hs nIenlal PROCLAMATION which Is the
curse and disgrace of oar aye, as il Was
that u the decline " Rome Looking
on cur society OF today the reader wiii
realize the irntA conveyed IN the
sorsis Of Mr. Hepworth Dixon. IN The
W bite Conquest Mature putst8e
sexes on earth ia pairs, AMI man de-
stfoys that balance 81 the cost 81 his
moral death The social evil ii
bat the reflection or shadow 81 an un-
social eysi. and ws must NOT. there
lore wneAar ~ eli st.s ausrfasss ~ tfsss