The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-07-22
ONE MANS IDEA OF
THE PERFECT WIFE.
THE advertisement appeared to be

/" HE advertisement appeared to be
quite serious. 1t was to the eff
feet that "a gentleman of good
appearance who owned a pretty little
home" wanted a wife. He described
the ideal of his dreams. The woman
who could aspire to the position of wife
to him must be young and good look
ing These were the first essentials.
Only one other was named. She must
know how to cook. Young, good look
ing and know how to cookl
Some men, especially American men,
consider that to make the ideal wife
a woman must have education and in
telligence. They would not like to,
spend their lives sitting three times
day opposite an ignoramus. Millions
of the money that has contributed to
wonan's higher education have been
given by men who reasoned that the
more highly cultivated a woman is in
tellectually the better it will be for her
self, her husband and the human race.
In Europe it is conceded that the su-
perior attraction of American girls is
largely that they know something and
are not afraid to speak their minds.
Liberty and a liberal education have
enhanced to a high degree the natural
charm of their sex. They know how to
be an intellectual companion to a man
as well as tender, sympathetic wife.
One would think, therefore, that man
who describes himself as a gentle
man. would mention that the woman
he sought for his wife should be at
least moderately we'll educated.
But. no! None of that for our gen
tleman who makes known his desire
for a life companion. She must just
be good looking and know how to cook,
that's ALL
Sociological experts are beginning to
discover that wifehood and mother
hood are vocation of themselves, that,
in fact, a considerable proportion of
the wives and mothers in civilization
ought never to have been married at
ALL They lack the infinite womanly
sympathy and tactfulness needed to
manage both a husband and children.
One would expect, therefore. that
gentleman when he sought a wife
would look for a girl possessed of those
especially feminine qualities of refine
ment, tactfulness and large sympathy.
which alone can make a home happy.
But, no. This gentleman himself
knows best the qualifications he most
desires in a life partner, and the sole
measure of them is the ability to cook.
She may be as ignorant as Hotten-
tot, she may have the temper of
Xantippe and may shock his sense of
refinement forty times a day. Alice
samee she knows how to cook
No less remarkable is this gentle.
mans modest summing up of his own
distinguished qualifications for found
ing civilized home. The enlightened
woman of today certainly demands that
the man she honors with her hand shall
be intelligent, refined and unfailingly
courteous toward her; in brief, that,
besides possessing the ordinary quail
ties considered requisite in a husband.
he shall be one whom she will not be
ashamed of when she takes him out,
this at the very least.
But our gentleman who wants wife
is sure that all womankind will
straightway jump for him when they
learn that he sis of good appearance
and owns a pretty homel" What
noble family tree these two will plant
and rear together, tree whose leaves