The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1903-11-06
BARS TO MATRIMONY
FEAR KEEPS MANY MEN FROM THE
BLISS OF Welded LIFE.
Some Instances of Lack of Sufti-
cient Pluck to Take The Fnteful
Trip to the Authorizations Reasons
That All Spell afraid"

That All Spell ..Afraid.'
"There is a great deal of specula-
ton" said we'll known lawyer, las
to why men are SO reluctant TO marry,
but one reason never seems TO occur to
the spectators. and that is that many
Of them are afraid to. No. am not
Joking. 1t is Il sober and we'll con
Eidered statement of fact, for which |
can adduce as many proofs as YOU
want, that many men would almost as
soon think of patting fierce bull on
the head or facing the midnight bur
glar as taking trip to the altar.
II remember as a boy an amusing
specimen of this kind of man in Iowa.
He was a farmer and was as notorious
for his amOrOus entalglcmcnts as for
his ingenuity in getting out of them
when marriage began to loom near.
1t WAS said he had been engaged a
dozen times, and though lie left all his
6ancees in the lurch he never found
any difficulty in getting Il successor
One day my father, who was his law
yer, asked him: Why don't you get
married, John? 1t isn't for want Of
opportunities. you know, and it's quite
time you thought Of settling down
"'Well. SIR John answered. it's this
way: You see, | like coOrtng well
enough, but l can hivver summon up
pluck to go any further. TO tell you
the truth, I'm afeard of getting tied
Tor life to one Of EN-
IF you have heard many breach Of
promise suits you will have observed
mony is the cause of a good proportion
Of them, though all the defendants
nave not the courage to say so.
zone client Of mine had allowed mat
tiers to proceed right to the eve Of the
wedding day, when he disappeared
mysteriously and was not discovered
for some months. The young lady
promptly sued him for damages for
breach, and at the hearing the reason
for his conduct came out. He admitted
that he was fond of the girl, but sun
dry exhibitions of her temper and jeal-
ousy which he had witnessed had so
scared him that he simply hadn't the
NO'tl 'St W iii'lll y ii'l. ilI'til W
marry her right enough he said, but
when it came to the point my courage
failed NE, and | thought ii safer TO
bolt
in another case in which a widow
sued Il wdowcr for playing her false
the defendant put in ii singular plea. 1t
seems that the widows family strongly
objected To the match, and rs passive
opposition was useless to prevent il ono
of the sons, Il StnlWart young fellow,
called on the middle aged Woocr and
told him that if he persisted in his suit
he Nhc SOM would give him such
thrashing as would rffcctually cure
him of any further sentiment. so
what could lo| the defendant pathct-
ically asked
''Thc more one secs behind the scenes
the more one realizes that there is often
great deal to be said for the man who
loves and runs away. one of my clients
a few years ago found himself in an
awkward Quaudary. lie had engaged
himself TO three girls at different times
and, having cancelled his engagements
with Two. was on the eve of marrying
NO. ). No sooner was his intention
known than the two Tilted ladies threat
encd him with legal proceedings If he
persisted in his proposed marriage, and
the favored lady in turn threatened Il
similar fate if he didn't
"llere was dilemma, for whatever
he did would end unplcnSantly. How
ever, like Il prudent man, he decided to
run the smaller risk. He pacilied his
two former iiancccS by canvcling his
engagement and prepared to face the
music of the third lady
'The mother-in-law is often a fatal
disturhcr of loves young dream. one
breach of promise defendant declared
that he would willingly have married
the plaintiff only he couldn't stand
her mother at any price and the pros
pect of having his married happiness
disturbed 10y her interference so scared
him that he decided 1t was more pru-
dent to break off the engagement. while
another frail lover actually stated in
court that he was afraid 10 marry the
plaintiff lest she should grow M like
her mother whose tongue and tenn
per had shown him some of the less
desirable possibilities of married life.
"One man whom | defended last year
seems to have had \ constitutional
dread of matrimony. lie had been en-
gagged TO the plaintiff no less than nine
years. -Four times the wedding day
had been fixed, and rs many times it
was adjourned by his wish Finally
he cried off altogcther and in court he
declared that, although he loved the
girl he felt he could never screw up
The courage To marry her. When lie
was asked the reason for his dltiidence
he said that he had seen So much of
the unhappy side of married life and
the difference between wouing and
wedding that he didn't feel equal to
running the risk.
''Thcse are but Il few from scores of
similar cases which have como within