The Savannah morning news., 1904-07-25

old smock frock has long vanished
into the limbo Of mere curiosHies The
wife Of the professional man must have
her furs and frocks from the same ex-
penslve establishment as the Duchess.
mere IS ceaSeless never-ending
struggle 10 rise in a society whose
deity Of gold and whose worship is
lavish display. Il may create acute
ness, ambition and hard work, but il
does not increase the population.
Inc fashionable wife we'll educated.
accomplished and admirably dress
ed as the dear lady may
be has left the silly anti
quateo ideas of her grandmother far
behind her She VIII tell you so quite
frankly if you ask her. Society is such
a hard master that she absolutely has
no time for anything. Indeed. her Ia
Oors are so 9ncessant that they awake
feelings Of pity in the most hardened
bachelor. II is, Of course. necessary
10 leave the management Of the house
and Of the nursery-when there is 4
nursery-tO the servants. Children
waste so much time and are distinct
ly questionable. Therefore. let them
be avoided by all means.
Less fashionable wives are actuated
by similar motives. The fireside is no
longer the British ideal. Clubs for
both sexes grow and flourish. A cou-
pie no longer trot through life hand
in hand till death do Us part" In
every big town restaurant life has
commenced; in London il is in fun
swing. There must be amusements,
whether YOU sit in the stalls or up
per circle. And with the change in
the home-4as our grandparents kne "
and revered it-cOmes a desire 10 lessen
its liabilities to give fewer hostages
TO fortune, TO avoid the trouble, time
and expense of children.
City life does not aid the increase Of
the race. The towns are growing
larger, the country populations come
drifting in, lured by hopes that arc
often never realized. Years ago il
was said that a family living entire
ly in a town died out in three genera
tions. This may be no longer true, for
sanitation has made amazing strides
since the gloomy prophecy was uttered,
but at least city-bred children have
not the physical advantages Of those
who have learned the joys Of biTdnest-
ing. who know a primrose from but
tercup and a RABBIT from hare.
Still worse. the city-bred child in the
poorer quarters of the towns is re-
garded, covertly at least, as a nui-
sance. He plays in the streets TO the
disturbance of the traffic and the irri-
tation Of the police. He breaks win
dows and trips up pedestrians who are
in a hurry-and who is not nowadays
Landlords object to him strongly. Nc
children" is the frequent termination
of a lodgings-to-let advertisement.
The crush of population has produced
the fat, whether for the rich in the
southwest districts or the working
men in the east. The majority Of fats
are carefully constructed for the IN
married or the couple without a fam
lily The builders evidently had such
a folk in mind when they went 10
work Without a strip Of garden for
play ground. without even a chance OF
a walk without descending half
dozen flights of stairs, how can child
hope to thrive or to be anything but a
nuisance 10 his parents and then
neighbors? Flat jewellers number then
thousands and hundreds of thousands
They are not likely TO breed many sons
and daughters under the fiat regime
Selfshness grows manifest in the
bachelor. Whatever his position, he
knows that he travels the fastest who
travels alone. as Kipling has remarked
with poetic cynicism. If he be en-
ployed in shop or offce, he fnds that
the management favor his unfetterec
position among the richer classes. The
OBSTRUCTION O. luedie III d NuI heiDas
world has destroyed the mastery OF
Cu-lid.
For the bachelor there are chances Il
be taken, risks to be run, which may
result in fortune. Marriage is a handi-
cap. a doubtful luxury. So argues the
young man Of the twentieth century.
Is there a remedy? Not from legis-
lation or tricks of the taxes. That is
certain. Was there ever a remedy for
luxury or selfshness or ambition? Nc
examples occur to the writer.