Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-20
SHE FACES CREDITORS
BRAVE HUSBANDS, TOO, OFTEN
LEAVE TASK TO HER.
Mountaineer Femininity Who Have
Never Handled Coin of Their
Country.

Written for The Evening Star by Grace Dufae
Boylan.
Second thoughts are best in nine cases out
of ten For instance. woman was Gods
second thought. And II she is not best
there Is something wrong with her, for she
was certainly a good intention. Her orig
inal mission. to keep peace in Eden, has,
never been changed or taken away from
her, although sometimes since the world
has grown older. II not WISER she has tired
forever waving her white banner of peace,
and has watched, unconcerned, while the
old garden put forth nettles and swords.
The lot of the reconeler is not altogether
pleasant. Adam probably sent his obedient
lady Eve to interview the angel and get
him to extend their lease-a custom fol-
lowed to this day by husbands everywhere.
For there Is not one man in fifty who will
not send his wife to the door to meet
creditor and to satisfy the butcher-and his
two inseparable companions, the baker and
candlestick maker-with soft promises Of
payment next week, no matter what the
financial outlook may really be.
Good, jolly happy-go-lucky fellows most
Of these husbands are They treat their
friends with lavish generosity and lend
money when they have 1t to any one who
asks, cutting off, without a thought Of real
injury, the home supply. Such man will
take his wife out to the theater and a little
supper and tuck a rose In her hair as ten
derby as in the old sweethearting days. And
she, too, will forget in the joy Of it all that
tomorrow the man will call the third time
for the rent and that the sneer Of the gro
GERS boy will stay in her mind all day.
Generally Honorable.
I believe that the average woman Is much
more honorable in matters of money than
the majority Of men, and that an unpaid
bill Is always phantom and a disturber of
dreams to her. Those little bilets that
come at the breakfast hour, with their
significant please remit" are messages of
doom to her. Her heart sinks with shame
and the overwhelming sense Of her utter
helplessness. She is party to deceit and n
partaker of unpaidfor property; and her
husbands CHEEKY advice to Let the other
fellow worry" does not comfort her
L wish l could do something to earn
money" she walls. And the blthe gentle
man drinking his coffee with the air of a
man at peace with all the, world answers:
What! My wife go out and shift for her
self? l guess not. Not while 1 can take
care of her.
The hopeless part Of It all is that he does
not take care of her. Instead, he subjects
her delicate spirit to the most wretched
humiliation and pain that a right minded
woman can suffer- and she would rather
dispense a thousand times with all the lit
tie attentions he showers upon her than to
have luxuries for which he has not paid.
Il will pay them when I cam he says, If
he Is good natured, or, II In another mood
"I'll pay when I get ready" But that does
not reassure her, for either way the day of
settlement seems afar off. No matter how
ever tenderly she may love the man she
has married genial. generous optimst that
he Is, there are times when she would trade
him off for a scoundrel, II among his glar-
ing vices the latter had the redeeming
quality Of paying his debts ~
the wife of a debtor are three creatures sim
flarly placed. Only the hand Of the deliverer
can help two of these, and even that can
not always set the woman free. For stronger
than bars Of steel and more fierce and
vital than the circle Of yelping hounds is
the bond of love.
What a woman do? is a question that
is not easily answered in this case. She
may hate debt worse than she despises sins
Of greater blackness. But IL she is married
to man who lacks the sense of honor in
that one particular she Is as helpless as
any shackled prisoner in the world. knew
one woman who sold every little piece Of
jewelry that she possessed, and her table
silver BESIDES in order to pay the long-suf-
fering grocer. But in a few weeks the bills
were upon her again and she had nothing
left to sell. She did not tell her husband Of
her sacrifice, because he would have taken
1t hard that she would part with his love
gifts for the sake of a few old bills. For
he was man of sentiment, and the appeals
beard and white apron, were as humorous
to him as the troubles Of the traditional inn
keeper in d comic opera.
She Must Endure.
There is no way, so far as I have been
able to learn, to remedy the evil which is
responsible for as much domestic discord
and establishment as drink or drugs or
cruelty. The law provides an escape for
the woman who fears for her life. but there
is no help for her whose finest sensibilities
are so offended that she feels like thief
and an imposter and is unable to look
tradesman in the face. 1t is bitter state
Of affairs for a high-minded woman, and
It is not at all to be wondered at that she
finally braves the criticism Of the family
and the grief Of the neighbors and goes out
to find something to do.
There is more than one woman in office
or store who is there because she wants to
keep her Self-respect and guard her hus-
bands name from contempt She may be
amply provided with clothes and food and
fire, ana her children may have two pairs
of shoes apiece and plenty Of toys and COM
forts. Her seeming aff1uence is not likely
to make her popular in the place where she
has gone to work. and she may even get
into resolution in the lack-lfst book Of
labor association as one who has crowded
out needy worker. But, nevertheless, the
poorest woman of them all is not In greater
need of money than she. And she keeps at
her hard task just for the sake OF paying
the debts Of her household.
Never See Money.
Down in the mountains Of North Caro-
lima and eastern Tennessee there are women
who have lived to green old age and have
never felt coin Of the realm in their hands
or seen the fascinating and elusive green
back The people raise little corn and a
few razor backs and trade them in the viii
lage for flour and tobacco. Or they hew
out half dozen cedar ties and haul them,
by bullock and Sled down the barren hills
to the nearest station and receive in return
homespun and calico, and molasses. Some
times the women do this work, parttcu-
larly If the men folk are engaged In the
more profitable and interesting occupation
Of moonshindng. as the making of untaxed
whisky is called on its native heath. And.
after telling the trees with the ringing
blows Of her ak. it Is nothing for one Of
these mild-eyed daughters Of the forest to
throw rope yoke and primitive harness on
one of the sturdy little steers and, after
hitching the heavily laden sled to 1t. mount
the high and shifting pile OF ties and start
off down the steep and rough mountain
road with no other means OF guiding her
beast Of burden than a short rawhide whip |
and the language of gee" and haw.
1t may be ten miles to the trading place; |
1t may be as many more. But she gets
there, and returns triumphant with her
barter Money means nothing to her. be-