The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1896-03-13
Why Men n Not Marry

Why Men o Not Mnrry.
l am III receipt Of the following ;n',r.
estlng letter written by a mru VITO.
after the usual fashion of the M ,i,. seq.
places all women on the dcfcn>;,r. H,
Whites:
Dear Madame: In a rc>rn; is !.
the Recorder you speak so W,vn'y rL.:,.
the present methods of wives who !. m,
none of the burdens of their hu~,,nd>
that | must congratulate you. For my
have decided not to marry Why: Well,
you have stated one of the reasons. but
there are others. Young women of the
present day think that men are made of
money. They expect expensive sup
pers, flowers. fruit. candy, theaters, &C..
and give nothing in return and they
make no bones of letting man know
their wishes. either. 1t is Il fact ,Eu,
the young women of today play i game
of highlifc blackmail upon tlrj; a,.
mirers. They would be Mortified if asked
to accept. a IS or $40 bill in cash IF IN
a man, but they often demand much
more ny suggesting a theater or sup
per when they know who will have to
pay, for it. Men are afraid to marry
such women, even though they are " ill.,
ing to spend their money on them Tor
.&1A SAiAAf pIedSuIe, lnev are IA :lIN
TO make wives of them. If girl really
wants to prove to man that she will
make a good wife, let her practice, econ
omy when in the company of the man
who ,pleases her, and ten to one he'll
pop the question. Yours truly.
thought my little bit of sympathetic
bait would catch a bite in the shape of
a confession from some man with a
n -
CHIP on his shoulder. While l think
there is vast amount of common sense
and truth in the letter. yet l must take
up my cudgel for my sex to certain
extent. | believe there is a tendency
among the sterner sex to dwell with
morbid regret upon the money they
spend in the society of the young lady
at whose house they are welcome guests,
and to place among an entirely different
class OF investments the money that
passes over the bar, the cigar counter
and the pooltable. There is no account
ing for the workings of the modern met
ropolitan masculine mind, where none
tary expenditures for personal comforts
are concerned, Haven't you observed
him-the him you know so well-pat
himself on the back when he sinks mon
ey on collars and cuffs. hannels. laundry
and tailor bills, neckties and pocket
handkerchiefs, and call his own stten.
ton with pride to his virtuous thrift,
while he greans inwardly at the amount
involved? Certainly you have. Think
OF all the good things he could have had
with the money thrown away on striped
socks!
1t has been my observation that sacri-
fees on tho altar of a pretty girls ice
CRY. while pooltable losses and the re-
suits of shaking dice sink into oblivion
with comparative ease. While much
that }. u. =. says is true with regard
to, feminine expectancy of flowers and
other favors at his hands, it is also worth
while to mention, in her behalf, that the
young man of today has fancy fo~
posing as an .opulcnt young person. 10
whom money is mere incident. because
ne is on such familiar terms with it,
There is a sad lack of honesty. sincerity
and earnestness among both young men
and young women of the present time
l believe there is more sincerity among
the young women than the men. now
ever, and that if he adopted different
standard and assumed to stand upon it.
ne would find her to be a sympathetic
and encouraging friend. The young man
OF today is an intolerable poser.
Women are always glad to know why a
man does not marry, and in the present
leap year the knowledge may possess a
practical value. Now, in the beginning
J. d. Q.'s letter is absolutely absurd
He asserts that he is willing to take a
girl out for an evenings pleasure, and
spend three times more money than he is
able to spend, but that he would be
afraid to marry such woman. Why
does he take her out? To simply enjoy
her society? Not altogether. He wants
to play the part of a swell, and show
her and the world and the other fellow
that he has as much money as the other
fellow has. You can see J. D. Q. and
his class any evening in the week dining
a stylish and dashng, perfectly reputa~
bic, although unchaperoned, young wom-
an in the tirst-class restaurants of New
York city. Marry her? Certainly not :!
If he married her, he couldn't dine in
that restaurant even by himself, let
alone take her along. Neither could he
swell into a florists and order a box of
American beauties for her. But who
ever heard of a man sending his wife
American beauties. Wives do not ex,
pect it. and wives rarely dine out, and
more rarely drive in cabs, and only now
and then go to theaters. The modern
man who does not marry has various
reasons for the course he pursues. Some
times it is because he does not fall i'll
love deeply. enough. to make him unhap;,
py. Sometimes it is because he is fond
of the luxuries that he is only able to
purchase for one-like ]. D. Q. He
trifles with the best sentiments of his
nature until he no longer possesses
any sentiment, and then pronounces the
women ut fault. This works degenera-
ton in him, and makes new woman out
of her--Haryot Holt Cahoon in New
York Recorder.
The Lenghtening of Youth.
hot