The San Juan County index. (Aztec, N.M.) 1890-19??, 1899-05-26

This particular Mrs. Widow, as the
Germans put 1t, was the relict Of a
Leipsic merchant, who had left her
well provided for. says the New York
Commercial Advertiser. She was a
short. stout. prosperous looking wom-
an Of somewhere about go. with beau
titul white hair. She bought It at that
nice place In Munich, and with It
dressed her head In a more elaborate
n French way than is common
among German women Of her years.
She also eschewed the caps with which
they commonly make themselves so
unnecessarily old lady" In fact. so
far as looks went, the Frau Verwitt-
wete ran the American ann in the
pension a close second. And they adj
mired each other NATURALIZATION they
were on speaking terms. The Frau
NerWittwete was on her travels. too.
To be sure she was not a dozen blocks
away from where she had always Iiv-
ed, having married and settled I'm Leip-
sic and stayed in 1t right along with
only an occasional break In the wav
OF a cure at some Bad. But all
through the years when she had had
70 bide at home and keep her hus-
bands house. as German wives are ex-
pected to do. she had nourished a Sc
cret desire to see the world. a longing
to travel. And the death Of her Herr
Gemahl, which is to say her lord and
master, together with his substantial
n%achlass, had set her free at last to
indulge her lifelong wish. She ac-
cordingly sold her house and estab-
lished herself in that popular pension
through which a cosmopolitan stream
Of travel poured. II was a vlcarious
way Of seeing the world, but German
women, even in their COS, are shy
about setting of on their travels alone.
especially Frau Verwittwete. The hab-
It of being looked after and decided
for by a man keeps them down. even
after he is gone. The principle on
which all German life is based. that
the man is herr i'm hause as well as
in the shop, leaves its mark. That
mark lay like a clog on that Frau Yer
wittwete, though she was clever
enough to realize it and to rebel
An~ - ~ 9RAAANCu uuL lUlUOLenL
way, which expressed itself in the dec
laration flung many times and def
antly into the faces OF the Germans
among her fellow-pensionaires IF 1
had my life to live over
again, my friends, 1 should 20
to America and marry an Am
erican. They make the best hus-
bands" This opinion, the strongest
evidently and most important which
the Frau Verwittwete had arrived at
In her travels, was all the more fatter-
ing to that famous benedict, the Amer
lean husband, in that it was based up
on the American wife. of whom the
usual constant current swept through
that pension. Their air Of personal in
dependence and financial security in
spired the Frau Verwittwete alike with
admiration, envy and dislike. In fact.
to tell the whole truth, as she would
when her temper got the better of her.
the Frau Verwittwete and a higher
opinion Of the American husband
whom she did not see than of the
American wife whom she did. Just as.
now and again, she would wax senti-
mental and spout Schiller's Jungfrau
like any Backfsch. so now and again
she would fall back into such conven-
tional claptrap as that favorite among
German women, in which they vaunt
themselves as superior to American
ome in wifely affection and devo-
ton. The German wife does not go
OFF roaming the world at her husbands
expense and leaving him to shift for
himself in his deserted home. She
stays in it with him" the Frau Yer
wittwete would say at one time. At
another she would reply to the same
sentiment from another of the Ger
man boarders. yes. but why does
she stay? Because she has to. Ger
man men won't let their wives 60 off
and have a good time without them.