The San Francisco call., 1903-12-14
4 Word TO the Married.

Copyright 1903. by Joseph 3. BoWles)
There is only one possible discovery
more terrible than a mans finding that
the girl he marries for her quiet gen
tleness is in reality a termagant 1t
is better 10 dwell in desert land than
with a cor tentious and fretful woman :"
What is a man 10 do who tnds out
that his wife is a vixen? The ducking
stool is cut Of fashion and the Jail
yawns for wife beater. Is the case a
hopeless one and must he settle
down TO let that tongue wag on for
ever? II is a serious question. and be
lives are a torture on account OF heir
fretful complaining wives, it is out Of
place 10 joke.
There is a congenitaI tendency in
some women 10 nag and fret and fuss
God help them, They are IS much to
be pitied as blamed In dealing with
them the rirst experiment should b.
made with-silence- It is not 700 much
10 say that the very existence Of any
home is imperiled by the presence Of 4
shrew. for the disposition TO fume and
scold is certain TO increase with the
passing years and the growing burdens
OF life. And no matter how patient
man may be, continuous dropping
wears away a stone The Quietest and
most placid temper is liable 10 explode
under the incesssnt strain II vixens
fault finding. and as back talk" is
sure 10 provoke A quarrel. the husband
o. = shrew must learn 10 hold his peace.
1t is not enough, however, simply TO
be still. for a woman VINO is the victim
n this lOathsOme infirmity VIII talk as
long as any one viii listen. But there
is psychological law ia which
there lies some hope. She viii not
talk TO herself It 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
% keep still for fear Of being left alone.
This. however, is but A slender hope
The disease is too deeply seated for su-
perhcial treatment and requires heroic
measures. Nothing but the exercise
Of masculine authority backed by the
highest kind Of moral power viii work
lasting cure. and it is because husbands
hesitate TO resort to this extreme meas
ure that so many homes are wrecked
by shrews
Most men are utterly dispirited by a
shrew's ceaseless outcry against life
a few experiments convince them Of
the incalculable force Of this unhappy
disposition, and they give il up as a
bad Job and fly to the saloon for conso-
lstiOn. Still other men are too cour-
man. There is in every true gentleman
an instructive Difference for her sex and
tolerance for her little weaknesses
Nothing is more offensive than his su-
perior strength and will And nothing
is more dangerous. The moment peO-
PIE lose sflf-contrOl they resort to vio-
lence. There is but a step between
resistance and wife beating. An in
stiDctive fear that a blow will be the
consequence Of a brawI has kept many
q 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 seIf-con-
trol there is no safe way but silence
and non-resistance.
There are, however, men who possess
qualifications for delivering women
from the Influences OF this devil Of fret
fulness and fault-fnding. and lt is their
duty 10 exercise their powers, not only
for their own sakes, but for their
wives. For the finer natures Of such
women are as sure TO go TO pieces nm
der the evil influences Of this pernic-
ious habit as arc those Of :heir hus-
bands
What must man do. then? Resist
H. Stand firm and fat-footed against
u Tell his wife he will nof have ~
Warn her that she will ruin her own
soul and his and perhaps break up the
home This is not a matter to he
minced! It is not vice to be EXCUSED
or condoned, being every bit as serious
as drunkenness. A common s.scold'' fs
not a whit more respectable than an
lneoriate. Termagants do not reel and
fall down in a stupor. They do NOT
smash furniture and pawn their Jewell
~ for whiskey. But they do dll the
cups Of their husbands and their chill
oren with bitterness. They ouepch ali
domestic Joy. They throw a continual
shadow over the household. And the
shrew ought TO know it. There is no
real obligation on a gentleman to per
NIT his life and his home to be ruined
rom a sense Of chivalry. His wife
is woman, but she is also a moral
agent and accountable for her conduct.
What such women need is to he
brought face 10 face with the moral
depravity Of shrewishness. Poor
things, They are often sick and nerv-
Gus. Those natures are as delicateIv
tuned as Apollo's Tyre. The little dis
cords Of daily life produce agony.
Trifes are exaggerated into enormities.
It's hard We lay our pity at their
feet. But still-they too are endowed
with personal responsibility and with a
free Will They have no right TO be
home wreckers and heart breakers.
even II they are women They have
consciences-let their husbands appeal
TO that sublime tribunal Let such
husbands be as calm and as just. but
as stern and exacting as God himself
Many a woman who is now in some