The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-02-15
a MAN WITHOUT A VICE.
It is Probable That Another Like Him
Cannot ha Rn11nd

Cannot be Found.
BROOKLYN. n. Y, Feb. I4-This man
does not drink, does not use tobacco in any
form, is not a club man, never stays out
nights, and is devoted to the interests of his
family. In the eyes of his neighbors he is a
model man in every respect, but is he al
ways such in the estimation of his famIyg
The following letter furnishes some valu-
able testimony on this subject, and corrob-
CRATES the related experiences of many rela-
tives and inCimates of viceless men. As
only the illogical, and those who like to
misunderstood and misrepresent, win rush
to the conclusion that men with vices are
more desirable than men without, it seems
safe to publicly discuss this matter. This is
the communication:
81 am the wife of man without vice.
and as such l ought to be perfectly happy.
Instead of this l am abjectly miserable.
My husband does not only not drink intoxi-
eating liquors or use tobacco, but he has no
patience with, or respect for, the man who
does 4 his critical attitI is not always
conducive to happiness III the home, as
some Of my dearest friends and relatives
are vicious enough to like good cigars. NY
husband is the soul of honor, and is always
in demand as an investor of widows m.Les,
and much sought after as an executor
of wills. He always knows to the
uttermost fraction of mill the amount of
money he spends, and is equally well posted
as TO my expenditures. l cannot deny
either his generosity OF his justice, and AN
continually impressed with the feeling that
] am miserable sinner, and deserve good
CalviDistic blaze to punish me for my feel
ing. | always have a nervous chill when,
with his clockwork regularity, he asks to see
my account book, aud sometimes l would
s gsaly to Ole ne TO like escape vsri what
inquisition, though l know It is not. | can
not tell you how tiresome yes, how mad
dening it is to be forever telling ones other
self that the blame lies at bome OF course
should keep my accounts with neatness
and accuracy, and be glad to have my hus-
band add up the columns, and enumerate
with an occasional ominous pause and a
subsequent practical interrogative, my pur-
chases for the week. But l am not glad,
and the worst of it is, that more and more
dread and resent it as time goes on.
My husband is clean man. He
is refined and cultured man.
He IS also a man who believes in
overcoming all the weaknesses of the flesh.
He is perfunctorlly kind in illness, because
| his sensitive conscience causes him to
clearly show that he disapproves of sick
ness. With nervous troubles he has no pa
thence whatever. My last and most over
| whelming grievance would probably be
laughed to scorn by oil my neighbors. But
here it is, and in it lies my reason for writ
| ing to you: Since severe attack of malarial
| fever the sound Of a clock ticking in my
room at night almost drives me crazy. But
my husband insists that l shall over
come this weakness. This insistence is
| always an appeal to nv common sense, my
''better and higher self" as he calls it, and
he makes it so plain that I ought to be
ashamed OF myself tpat the result is inva-
riably a concession to his will. But my
nights are purgatorial. have stuffed my
ears with cotton, waiting of course till my
| bedsfellow was asleep, but all to no
| purpose. The clock was there, and
this device seemed only to intensity the
| anguish by giving to the monotonous
| tick q mutfied sound which was simply
devilish. Excuse the word, but that IS
what mean. In the morning my husband
| is always CHEEKY, and usually remarks that
he knew we should get the better of that
clock after awhile. AS ( know, or more
strictly speaking as | ought to know, that l
| should get the better of that clock, and as
| have very definite views concerning the
duty of a wife, l have up to date
allowed these facetous and hair-lifting
| remarks to pass without oral notice.
| In order to keep from breaking down en-
|
| there is no clock, and sleep an hour or two
every day. This is stealthy performance,
as you may imagine. My neighbors would
| say, and perhaps you will also, that my
| husband is right about the clock. But how
shall | go to work TO mend my wayss
| have bought various nerve remedies, which
| for evident reasons have not been entered in
my account book, and in consequence have
| been driven to out and out falsshood. l am
not liar by nature, but must constantly
conceal, and occasionally lie. if would pre-
vent quarrel. l know that neither argu-
ment nor entreaty will ever cause him to
excuse or condone weakness, and as | am
the wife of a man without vice what shall
| doW
What reply would the average wife make
to this graphic and interesting commune
| cation9 There are women, and not very fer
away at this writing, who, of Ter fair trial
| with that clock, would have thrown it out
| of the window if there had not been more
decent and amicable way of disposing of 1T.
| This husband is not man without vice.
! He is a thousand times more vicious than
| the man who smokes or even drinks in
| moderation, who loves his wife and cares
first of all for her comfort. He is crank,
a tyrant, a concelted, pufed-up
fool, who imagines that he knows it
all, and that his wife must accept
| him as the ruler and arbiter of her destiny.
| Such wife is very seriously handicapped,
| for she realizes that her husbands reputa-
ton for perfection would effectually shut
her out from all sympathy in the event of
an assertion of her Independence. 10 leave
| the bed of man SO opinionated, SO de-
termined that the wife's will shall bend to
his, would necessarily bring about state Of
affairs that could not easily be kept secret.
And to leave it because she could not bear
| the ticking of & clock.
Those who know from experience the in
| describable anguish that can result from
| SUCH small things will sympathize with this
wife, and IN every case advise her to look
out for herself if her husband is so inhuman
as to insist upon her endurance of an I'M
necessary annoyance.
There are cares and trials that cannot be
lodged or hidden. But it is an easy mat
ter to dispose of a clock. In talking with
a celebrated nerve specialist of this city
the writer was told that clocks should
always be excluded from bedrooms. This
gentleman also said that he had two men
patients under his charge who could not
endure the tick of q clock in the daytime.
''ff they were compelled to listen to this
sound at night, in less than a week they
would both be padded-room and straight
jacket patients" he added.
There are men who DO not use tobacco,
who do not drink or stay out nights, who
are splendid citizens and desirable neigh
bors, and who are guiltless of vices in the
ordiuorv accaptatipn of tho word Thav