The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-07
MARRIED OR SINGLE q?
MISS PHOEBE COUzINs EXPRESSES
HERSELF on liATRIMONT.

Greater Responsibilities.
! From the Chicago Tribune.
] In view Of the recent avowal Of Miss
! Phoebe Couzins that only death prevented
/ her marriage 10 the late millionaire.
/ James c. Fair. the sub-joined interview.
l previously published in a san Francisco
paper. is the more interesting. It is also
/ a thought-producor for the prospective
/ bachelor girl;
/ read the other day began the writer.
/ that whenever young Girl consulted
/ Mary Anderson about becoming an act
ress. she Invariably met with that dis
couraging advice Punch gives to people
about to marry. Don't
That gave me an idea and 1 went 10
see Miss Phoebe couzins. Miss Coughs"
1 asked. suppose that was ten years
younger. and thought that / was ten times
cleverer than l am; in short, suppose that
1 was a schoolgirl, that my head was
fun Of the new woman, that had made
up my mind never. never to marry. and
intended TO be Independent Of my own
men folks-what advice, in the light of
your own experience. would you give me?''
Miss Couzins' hair is just softened with
silver she has dark eyes, and her smile
is very gentle. She smiled as she said:
well, let me tell you a little Of my
own experience. That might explain
something.
In the first place. never had to BAT
tie for independence. Everything was
made beautifully easy for me. No obsta-
cles were put in my way. and 1 became
a lawyer as easily as any man could.
lived in my own home. among my friends.
who petted and praised me- and. if any
thing, urged me on the path which as 4
girl l had chosen"
And do you wish they hadn't?" I ask
ed, surprised at her tone.
'I-don' know"
She said it hcsitatingly, thoughtfuly.
Then began eagerly, "a business
life, a public life for women"
Public life for a woman" she said
speaking slowly rs fraught with hard
snip, and 1 had a good start i'm the race.
almost an ideal one. ! have had the sue
cess, the excitement, the adulation. But
l have been i'll and of late have had trou-
bic. ! am left alone now and | feel like
a tree standing bare, whose branches have
been Topped on"
She leaned her head YEARLY on a soft.
plump hand and 1 noticed the black
mourning rings on her white fingers
when l confided my 1eeting ambition
10 go on the stage to my father" said.
after pause, The woke from his absorb
ton in business just long enough to tell me
sternly that he'd rather see me i'm my
grave. Tel me, was your father as lib
eral?'
My father would have been better
pleased If 1 had not entered public life.
although he never opposed my wishes in
that respect Men don't like their women
folk to be different. do they? If a girl
dances every dance at party there's no
one so pleased as her own father or broth
er. And if she's neglected there's none so
savage as he. / suppose that he feels it
sort Of reflection on himself. It's
survival Of the old idea that an old maii
is a disgrace to the family"
Il suppose your father wished you to
marry, too?"
mo, my father knew that my temporal
ment is very realistic. He never wished
me TO marry man of only ordinary at
tainments. We were very dear to each
other, my father and l. 1t was only before
his death-when he VINO had always stood
between me and trouble was about to
leave me-that he expressed d regret that
there was no strong arm TO protect me.
He realized that disillusion would be very
painful TO me. You know, I ideaIized wo-
men, and when l found out how narrow
how little-minded they are. it was an
/ other blow to me-"
1 didn't say anything to that. How
! could /? And she went on.
When l was in Washington first they
/ all said: o. this won't last. She'll be
! snapped up / have been on the verge
I of matrimony several times l don't know
4 why l have never married. Destiny,
/ suppose" she said, laughing. AT the
/ time l was born perhaps the stars that
! We're in conjunction had nothing about
matrimony in them. Still, you know
4 what the Bible says about true repent
/ anee coming never so latei Only, if I'm
TO walk down the other side Of the hill
/ with a man, he must be rich. l could
/ have climbed, 1 could have helped poor
man build up a fortune when I was a
girl but" she added, becoming serious
again, my enthusiasms gone. I'm will
! ing now to leave the battling to the
4 young ones. / do believe, though, that
for woman. and for man. too, the nat
ural state, the fullest life. Is the married
one"
l looked up. But 1t was really Miss
Phoebe Couzins I was interviewing; and
she said 1t as simply. with quiet convic-
ton as If there was no such thing as
| woman's suffrage and woman indepen-
dence in the world.
" woman Wig remains single"
/ said, may miss much joy, but she misses
I more unhappiness. OF course. there are
!
Yes, there are the children" she
smiled again. Il think" she said quietly,
I there are many more happy marriages
1 than unhappy ones. And that same in
stinct of motherhood. which is strong in
every woman, goes far toward making a
wife content"
IF you had your youth to live over
1 again would you do as you have done?'
Il don't know" She sat for a moment
thinking, then she said:
1t was evidently my fate to be the kind
of woman ! am"
i l thought TO myself that the real test of
a woman's opinion is the way she brings
up her daughter. l remembered harum-
scarum girl friend of mine who became
a demure wife and mother. She told me
/ in all seriousness that her daughter
should never have the liberty she herself
| had had.
They say il is as much a mothers in
stinct 10 marry her daughter off as II Is
10 nurse her when she is a baby. If
you had daughter, Miss Couzins. would
you advise her to adopt a professionals
( be like yourself for Instance"
She sat for a moment her hands in her