The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-07-12
ENGLAND's SURPLUS WIDOWS.
The Surprising Discovery That They
Number Nearly 100000.
From Tie san Franclsoo cal.


From the san Francisco Cali
1t appears from the last statistical returns
that there are about l. OO0. 900 more women
than men in England, and that these are
nearly all widows This is a very surpris-
ing discovery. 1t may be explained. how
ever. In England, as in all Old settled
countries, women predominant numerically
over men, partly in consequence Of the
superior vitality OF girl babes over
boy babies; partly because Of the large
number OF young men who go abroad to
seek their forum ). leaving th II SISTERS te-
hi d, AID partly becau Of the greater NOR
talty among men, owing TO the hazardous
nature OF the employment they follow.
According I the IDLE more boys arc born
III England than girls, the figures beng
l04,S ll males to 100000 females; but at 10
years Of age there are 100000 Iris TO every
94,SJO boys, ID the discrepancy increases
regul riy f'r twenty years afterwa d.
Why, however, should the excess Of
females consist mainly Of wild IS! In In liz
widow may not marry. IL was pr badly
20 avoid the crowding If the market that
Ie suttea was instituted. But IN Engla
widows may AID do MARI In fact, they
ere addicted TO the practice. How then
does It come that the ubsr Of widows so
largely pre- dominates over that of wldOwersG
men VINO marry young women than there
are you & men who marry old women. A
large class Of m postpone matrimOny
until late in life. They enjoy tn,
des late freedom Of the bachelor:
they are afraid of marrying on
scanty means; they dread the loss Of their
freedom; they nave never met the right
gill. Th they only resort to ma,rimoay
When the find they absolutely need female
rNry1r mic osh1 col
usual marry women of %, r, at any rate,
women under so. 1t is obvious that, all
otuer things being equal the chances are
that woman of % will ouClive man OF
10 The average life of men in easy cir
cumstances is not over sixty years. If the
husband dies at go, the wife, if she is mar
ried at 2j will be 40 at the time Of his
death, and she VIII have a fair prospect of
tweaty years more life. Hence the surplus
of widows
In a sagacious nation Of antiquity it was
held that women of forty made the best
wives, and boys on maUrimouy bent were
required 10 choose a helpneeJ of that age
or over. A similar rule was adopted by the
Oneida community in New York. But the
practice Is not popular, despite such shin
lights as George Eliot and Lord
Beaconsfield. Oar modern fashion which
| induces young men to postpone marriage
| unit, they are in position to give their
wives a horse and carriage. naturally
| lead to an accumulation of widows.
Girls complain that men do not marry.
| The complaint is yhreadbare it was the pet
! grievance Of the mothers and the grand
mothers of the present generation, yet
comfortable proportion of the fair COM
| plainants became mothers of families whel
their turns came. There are few girls in
! American society wuo cannot marry if
they choose. Only they must not reckon
OF starting in life where their mothers left
| off. If the daughter of a rich man proposes
| to enjoy as a married woman the comforts
and iuxuries she had in her maiden home g
must take a middle-aged man for her spouse
one who has drunk the cup of romance
o the dregs and for whom life has no illu-
sions. she will have her carriage, and her
servants, and her luxuries, but OF such
husband she may fairly expect some day to
be the widow. If she wants partner In
life with a heart as fresh as her own and a
capacity for savoring the sweet stiffness of
young love, she must take youth who's
buttons she will have to sew on, whose
dinner she will have TO oversee, if not 10
cook, and whose narrow income she will
have to exc out so as to make both ends
meet. In such case she may possibly never
wear widows weeds. Which alternative
offers the fairest prospect of happiness girls
must decide for themselves.