The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-07-12
70 HUSBANDS
Ella Wheeler Wilcox Chides
Her Married Sisters.
SAYS AMERICAN WIVES
Are the Most Fortunate and
Least AppreCiative.

innocence, and to keep the flowers Of love
and respect green In the hearts Of her
children.
She has had no other object or ambition
than her husbands welfare.
How many women in America today can
say that they have made their husbands
welfare the leading thought Of their hearts
during the last flve years?
Captain Dreyfus was accused OF a das-
tardly and ignoble act. and at his trial
proven guilty. Yet his wife believed IN
his innocence. and today her belief Is
shared by the greater portion Of the unpre-
diced world.
Many husbands have been accused by
neighborhood gossip OF lesser mtsdemean-
ors, and their wives have listened and be-
ueved and closed their hearts against
them.
Many husbands, sitting face TO face with
their wives, year after year, in the home.
are yet exiles.
To be an exile from loves court Is far
more terrible than to be an exile from
ones country.
It was undoubtedly the consciousness
that he was deeply and ardently loved and
believed m by his wife which kept Captain
Dreyfus from going mad during those aw-
full years.
There are men who dwell In beautiful
homes and who enjoy every freedom which
a land of independence allows its citizens.
yet who feel themselves utterly alone and
In exile from happiness because they are
objects Of indifference to their wives.
S1afu
Of goodness in the church and who de-
voted their lives 10 benevolent work and
to feeding and clothing the poor. while
their husbands starved and shivered for
the lack Of affection in their homes.
There are women so terribly free from all
evil
They discourage a man and he goes to
the devil;
There are people whose virtues result in
appalling
And they prove a great aid to HIS
Majesty's calling.
One woman OF this type bemoans the
fact today that her husband Is unfaithful
TO her. All her hosts OF club and church
friends look upon her as a martyr and
upon him as a monster.
! remember the couple in the early years
of their marriage. The young woman was
brilliant in mind, and the husband was In
every respect her equal
The wife longed for distinction, however,
and the husband longed for a sweet. do
nestle life. His ideal OF happiness was to
find his wife at home when he returned.
and to see love in her eyes. Instead he
found her absent at reform clubs. and
when they met he saw only ambition IN
her eyes, not love. She talked to him Of
the great work she was doing for human
ity, and told him of the compliments her
speech had received.
There were three little words which
would have given him more qualification
than all her brilliant orations.
The years have gone by. and the woman
Is a success, according to the ideas Of
other women.
But the husband finds love and compan-
ionship elsewhere, and the world says:
What a brute. not to appreciate that
noble wife OF his!'
Our friends keep q critical eye on our
deeds,
But the fine .nterlining Of causes-who
needs?
The hong list Of heartaehes, which leads
to rash acts,
Would bring pity. not blame, II the world |
knew. the facts
Too many OF our cultured young women |
marry without a due sense Of what wife |
hood means.
The average bride Of the middle and up |
per classes has no ideal for her own con-
Duct except to keep chaste. But she feels |
40 sense Of responsibility. she expects |
her husband to assume all the responsible |
lies. He Is to be very successful IN money |
matters. and she is TO be enyIed Of all her I
associates. He = to be all devotion and /
never to make her the least bit unhappy. |
Il she has a headache he Is to watch over |
Ter with the creates, solicitude. and what
.ver she does Is 20 Be right IN his eyes.
OF the worry and strain Of his daily life
n business she never thinks. OF his need /
Il her close sympathy and thoughtful eon-
tideratiOn she Is blindly unconf cious.
That upon these qualities. together with
Ter tact and discretion, rest much Of his
.hance Of prosperity and all us hope of
happiness she Is quite ignorant. / do not
ay This Is true OF every American girl
Who narries. but DO say - Il true Of
-est number Of those who belong 70 what
S generally termed the upper classes.
A French woman remark, 70 me rscsnt-
y that American wives impressed her a.
he most fortunate Of beings o. the face of
he earth, and az the same time as the
rost unap1rec-stye.
''NOzt1ers else" she said. ''and I have
Ive6 in many lands. do wives receive suca
eviction and consideration and care as IN
america, and nowhere else have ever
ould wives less conscious o; their bless
ngs or 20 indifferent % the nsn EA0
lave for than"
II seems a misfortune that ne American
Tomen shO1ld make such an impression
pom foreigner.
MeznxhIls, I have no doubt that many a |,
rifs ~ho h selfish and indifferent nov.
rouid become the soul q devotion saoUi5
81 husband De ant into exile. OF Esss ~
D be the victim Of aay great disaster.
u il a cuT5oIs quality IN naEy Tonsa
sat they exhibit no sesctson for husband
: children save In TINES OF sscknezs -
anger. Whea ithsy ars ready 20 sacrincs
ssiF lives % save the szdersrA
believe half the misery "A families -
le res8it Of this pecallarity q css % both
aries
A woman vii nag her husband TO ees-
sration Eesa he is in perfect hezlta and
sgieci him Ia score - wzys. sa- osee
I bin fail II. sae viii waIk ten =iies 20
. him plaster tsE kSs back