The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-12-14

There is only one possible discov-
cry more terrible than a mans find
ing that the girl he married for her
quiet gentleness is in reality a ter
magant. 1T is better to dwell in
desert land than with a contentious
and fretful woman. What is a man
to do who finds out that his wife is
a vixen? The ducking stool is out
of fashion and the Jail yawns for a
wife beaten. Is the case a hopeless
one, and must he settle down to let
that tongue wag on forever? 1t is a
! serious question, and because there
are so many men whose lives are a
torture on account of their fretful,
complaining, scolding wives, 1T is out
of place to joke.
There is a congenita1 tendency in
some women to nag and fret and fuss.
God help them! They are as much
to be pitied as blamed. In dealing
with them the first experiment should
be made with-silence. 1t is not too
much to say that the very existence
of any home is imperiled by the pres
ence of a ShreW. for the disposition:
to fume and scold is certain to in,
crease with the passing years and the
growing burdens of life. And no mat
ter how patient a man may be, con-
tinuous dropping wears away a stone.
The quietest and most placid temper
is liable to explode under the inces-
SAINT strain of a viXen'S fault-findlng,
and as back talk" is sure to provoke
a quarrel, the husband of a shrew
must learn to hold his peace.
Tt is not enough, however. simply.
to be still, for a woman who is the
victim Of this loathsome infirmity will
talk as long as anyone will listen. But
there is a psychological law in which
there lies some hope. She will not
talk to herself. 1t is among the bare
possibilities Of life that if she sees
her husband clap on his hat every
time she opens her batteries she may
learn to keep still for fear of being
left alone. -.
This, however, is but a slender hope.
E'he disease is too deeply seated for
superficial treatment, and requires
heroic measures. Nothing but the ex
ercise Of masculine authority, backed
by the highest kind of moral power,
will work a lasting cure, and it is be-
cause husbands hesitate to resort to
this extreme measure that so many
homes are wrecked by shreWS. 4
Most men are utterly dispirited by
a ShreW's ceaSeleSS Outcry against life.
A few experiments convince them of
the incalculable' force of this unhap-
by disposition, and they give it UP as
consolation. Still other men are too
courteous to oppose and struggle with
a woman. There is in every true gen.
tleman an instructive Difference for
her sex and tolerance for her little
weaknesses. Nothing is more often
sive than the assertion Of his superior
strength and will. And nothing is
more dangerous. The moment people
lose self-control they resort to vio-
lence. There is but step between
resistance and beating. The in
stnctiVe fear that a blow will be the
consequence of a brawl has kept many
a man quiet and patient Until he found
rest in the grave. For all men who
do not possess the highest type of
moral power and the most perfect
self-control, there is no safe way but
silence and nOnresistance.
There are. however, men who pos
sess qualifications for delivering
women from the influences of this
devil Of fretfulness and fault-fnding
and it Is their duty to exercise their
powers, not only for their own sakes
but for their wives. For the finer ma
lures of such women are as sure to &C
to pieces under the evil influence OF
this pernicious habit as are those OF
their husbands.
What must a man do, then? Rests
it.. Stand firm and f1at-footed against
it. Tell his wife he will not have it
Warn her that she will ruin her owl
soul and his, and perhaps break vi
the home. This is not matter to be
minced! Tt is not a vice 70 be excused
or condoned, being every bit as serious
as drunkenness. A common .'scold'' il
not a whit more respectable than al
inebriate. Termagants do not rec
and fall down in stupor. They do no
smash furniture and pawn their jewelr.
for whisky. But they do fill the cups
of their husbands and their children
with bitterness. They quench all do
mestic JOY. They throw a continue
shadow over the household. And thu
shrew ought to know it. There is M
real obligation on a gentleman to per.
NIT his life and his home to be ruined
from a sense of chivalry. His wife is