The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-20
THE AMERICAN HUSBAND
HE is A DOCILE, PATIENT ANIMAL,
WELL BROKEN TO HARNESS.
Whatever May he the Faults of the
American Man, He CompeIs Admi-
ration in the Role of BENEDICT.

/,
directing the servants, and ministering 20
| their Cords comfort.
The husband formerly ruled supreme at
his own fireside. receiving the homage of
| the family, who bent to his will and obeyed
| his orders. During the last fifty years,
| however the part" Of better-half has been
! getting less and less attractive in America.
| one prerogative after another having been
| escamote by the enterprising wives. These
modern Delilahs have yearly shipped off
mora and more of Samson's lux
| uriaut curls and added those orna-
| ments to their own coiffures,
until in the majority of families the hus-
band finds himself reduced to a state of
| bondage compared with which the biblical
| hero enjoyed a pampered idleness Times
| have changed, indeed in America since the
| native chief sat in dignified repose bediz-
| encd with all the finery at hand, while the
| ladies of the family waited tremblingy
! upon him. To-day the American husband
| turn the grindstOne all the year round
| without murmur, and his pretty tyrants
| enjoy the elegant leisure that a century
ago would have been considered mascu-
| line luxury
To America must be given the credit Ct
| having produced the model husband a new
I species, as 1t were, of the genus homo In 10
| role does our compatrfot appear to such ad-
| vantage as in that of Benedict AS a boy
| he is often too advanced for his years or his
| information; in youth he is conspicuous
| neither for his culture nor his unselishness.
| But once in matrimonial harness this I'M
! trained animal becomes bridle-wise with
| surprising rapidity, and proceeds for the
rest of his career to go through his PAGES,
waltzing, kneeling and saluting with hardly
| a touch of the whip. Whether this is the
result of superior craftsmanship on the part
of American women or a trait peculiar to
sons of Uncle Sam, is hard to say, but the
our fair equestrians rarely meet with re-
bellious mount
AIRY one who has observed marital ways
in other lands will realize that in no coun-
try have the men effaced themselves so
gracefully with In this respect no for
with our domestic article. In English.
French and German families the husband Is
all-powerful. The stable is mounted guests
are asked and the year planned out to suit
the husbands occupations and pleasure.
Here he is rarely consulted until such mat
tiers have been decided upon by the ladies',
when the head of the house is called to
sign the checks.
WELL TRAINED.
1 have had occasion more than once to be-
wall the shortcomings of the American man,
so take particular pleasure in applauding
the modesty and good temper with which
he fills this part. He is trained from the
beginning to give all and expect little in re-
turn, an American girl rarely bringing any
dot to her husband, no matter how wealthy
her family may be, or If. as occasionally
happens, an income is allowed a bride by
her parents she expects to spend it on her
toilets or pleasures. This condition of the
matrimonial market exists in no other
country; even in England, where marriages
de CONVEYANCE are rare, settlements form
an inevitable prelude to conjugal bliss.
The fact that she contributes little or
nothing to the common income in no way
embarraSses an American wife; her preten-
sions ar usually in an inverse proportion
to her personal means A man knew some
years ago deliberately chose his bride from
an impecuniouS family lin the hope that her
simple surroundings had inculcated homely
taste), and announced to an incredulous cir
Gle of friends at his last bachelor dinner that
he Intended to pass his evenings In future
by his fireSide between his book and his
pretty spouse. Poor, innocent, confiding
mortal! His wife quickly became the belle
of the fastest set in town, having had more
than she wanted of fireSideS and quiet even
ings before her marriage. Her one idea was
to go about as much as possible, and when
not so occupied to fill her house with COM
pany. 1t may be laid down as an axiom in
this connection that a man marries to OBJ
tain home and girl to get away from
one; hence disappointment on both sides.
The couple in question have in all proba-
bility not passed an evening at home alone
since they were married, whether in town
or in the country, the lady rarely stopping
in the round of her gayeties until she col
lapses from fatigue. Their home is typical
good example of the existence that most of
our smart people lead. The principal
floors are give up to entertaining. The
third is Occur ed by the spacious sitting,
bath and sleeping rooms of the lady. A 10x
IL middle chamber suffices for my lord,
the only den" that he can rightly call his
10 Trln no FRI
about as private as the sidewalk, which is
turned into cloak room whenever the
couple receive. making it impossible to keep
books or papers of value there, or even to
use it as a smoking room after dinner so
that his men guests sit cheerlessly around
the dismantled dining table while the ladies
are enjoying suite of parlors above.
THE MANS PLACE.
At first the idea of such an unequal divi-
sion of the house shocks our sense of JUS
tice until we reflect that the American hus-
band is not expected to remain at home.
That's not his place. If he is not down
town making money. fashion dictates that
he must be at some clubhouse playing
game A man who remains at home, and
reads or chats with the ladies of his fam
lily, is considered lore and unmanly
There seems to be no ne IL an American
house for the head of t. More than once
when the friend have referred to has
asked me, at the club. b, dine zen familie"
with him., we have found, On arriving, that
Madame" having an evening off, had
gone to bed and forgotten to order any din
ner, Whereupon We returned to the club for
our meal. When. however, his wife Is in
good health, she expects her weary husband
to accompany her to dinner opera or ball
night after night, oblivious of the work the
morrow holds in store for him.
In family ! know paterfamiaS g0eS by
the name of the purse" The more one sdes
of American households the more appro-
pirate that name appears. Everything is
expected of the husband, and he is accorded
no definite place In return. He leaves the
house at $50. When he returns, at s. if his
wife is entertaining one two men at tea
| II would be construed the height of indeli-
cacy for him to intrude on that circle for
his arrival would cast chill that only his
departure could remove When q coupIe
dine cut the husband is always la bette noire
of the hostess, as no woman wants to sit
next to a married man. if she can help il.
The few married men who have had the
courage to break away from such traditions
and amuse themselves with yachts salmon
| rivers or grass bachelor" trips to Europe
while secretly admired by the women, are
! fruwred upon by society dangerous ex-
amples. likely to sow thesseeds OF discomfort
among their comrades; but ii is the COM
monest thing in the world for an American
| wife 10 take the children and go abroad on
a tour
| Imagine a German or Italian wife an
nouneing to her spouse that she had de-
! cided to run over TO England for a year
with her children, that they might learn
| English. The mind recoils in horror from
| the idea of the catastrophe that would en-
| sue.
THE POOR CREATURES.
Glance around New York ballroom, a
Il