Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1890-08-21
THE CRUELTY or HusBANDsl
BY s. s. q. NJ.


With physical cruelty few wives have
any intimate acquaintance, but scenes
Of such actual torture are daily enacted
before the eyes of the whole world that
friends draw back astonished at the
passive endurance of the victim, at the
heartlessness of the iniurer. In q
crowded room chance brought together
q husband and wife, q young wife,
You may be sure. Experience to guide
her she had none. Love only was at
| the helm of her ship, named Happl5
ness, so lately launched upon the sea
of matrimony. At loves prompting
she thoughtlessly passed her hand
with caressing gesture adown the
| sleeve of her husbands coat There
was no time for words, only look OF
tenderness flashed into her eyes. peri
haps of Joy, at the possession OF such q!
wifely privilege. A few months beg
fore the maiden had no such right and
would have yelled her affection care
fully from the gaze of the world. You
think such action brought forth ana
other glance of love in return? All! do
you know husbands SO little? No. al
hasty frown, quick withdrawal of his
person from q tender trust was ALL
But was there not as much of cruelty
in that thoughtless disapproval as il
he had struck her blow in passing z
| Yes, truly, and of more subtle, pierce
/ ing kind. But all the world would
have seen the blow. She would have
been publicly mortified. Her escort
saw what did take place. His partner
q pretty, frivolous butterfly, saw i'll
i two or three friends standing near
were not unmindful of it. To be sure,i
she did not hear them say, as did,
"The way of the world, and smile
knowingly; but she had begun to read
| human nature. She felt the slight
would not probably go unremarked.
| I saw q husband kiss his wife at
parting in hasty, matter-of-fact way
heard him make q joke about it as h9
went out with party of men. / saw
her mount the stairs and go with
troubled eyes and downcast head To
| her bed chamber; but short tim6
after I saw her flying up the street, as
she passed crying out to me: Il have
stayed in so long have become cross
and morbid; am walking the blues off. :"
I saw her seem to forget it all and meet
him with smiling face, and hold her
lips up to be kissed again and again
until he actually forgot to offer her ca
resses. Hers really came to bore him.
Yet know him ready to give up his
last possession for that wife's sake.
But his cruelty was starving her.
I heard husband joke his wife in
public about her rather stupid unat-
Effectiveness. I saw her face flush and
the tears gather in her eyes. That she,
knew he daily gave up pleasure, denied
himself constantly for her sake, did not
heal this great, wide, open wound. I'll
ranked there forever unforgotten.
Thumbscrews could not have given
more pain. ( saw a man utterly forget
his wife in public place and pay COM
pliments and attention to some Younger
women until she rather unwisely. yet
half iokingly, exclaimed: "I'm not
going to stand this" Long will she
J feel that carelessness. / have seen q;
husband absolutely gloat over each
added birthday which passed over his
wife's head, constantly insinuating by
subtly turned remarks which only she
understood that she was nearing the
time when she would cease to be sol
young and attractive.
, We all know men who go out to-
their club without thought of how
the wife shall occupy her lonely hours
, who accept invitations which do not
include the wife; who constantly treat
the girls they have wooed and won so
warmly with matter-of-fact indifferA
ence, more careless than to the sisters
they have grown up with; who have q
charming little habit of publicly cor
! recting a wife's mistakes; who tram
pie over her rough-shod; and yet who
: would regard you with surprise and
horror If you said: II am awfully
, sorry to see that your cruelty has grad.
, ually crushed all love out of your
! wifes heart" Men go out in the
world, occupy their thoughts and at
/ tentions in various ways and forget.
q Women stay at home and brood until
: storms of tears come and they are sim
D ply broken down for day or two. II
Y is the fact that necessity does not force
! them to 60 out at once, before there is
1 time to grow excited and nervous; that
makes the difference. Did man CRY
: easily, he might well be thankful that
4 business forces itself upon his atten-
!. ton before the tears grew scalding hot
J. and absolutely refused to be kept back
v If both married men and married
v women would keep before them the
|. fact that the happiness of two lives
:. no longer one, depends wholly on each
{ other, there would be less talk of mar
" riage as failure.