The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1906-12-22
Old Ideals Haze Departed.

rank in the community by being mar
ried. Women are largely self-support-
ing. It is today almost an unheard
of thing that a man shall remain
single to support his unmarried sis
tiers. Before the civil war. an epoch
which materially changed other social
conditions in this country, for all time.
it was a frequent occurrence that
man quietly and unselfshly gave up,
/ his own preference for marriage that
| he might toll for the maintenance of
his sisters.
The war-cIoud that broke in terrific
storm over the states in 1851, swept
away from north and south into low
/ " graves, a vast host of bread-Win-
| ners. It spared and sent home to their
Womenkind another host of invalids
and eripples. Women undertook as
| they had not done before, tasks OF
great wars in modern times. in every
country under the sun, are followed
by this result Women are forced into
the open and learn to take care of
themselves and of those who depend
| upon them.
A girl who pays her own way, who
buys her own clothing and has her
own bank account seldom marries In
the first flush of gir1hood, She grows
fastidious, too, sets a high value on
herself, is unwilling to marry unless
she meets her ideal lover, and then
she counts the cost. Is he likely to be
able to give her the comforts she now
possesses, or with their combined eff
forts can they establish the sort Of
home that she craves2 The questions
are seriously considered in her own
mind.
College training for both sexes has
| become general and it likewise defers
marriage until q late period. A stu
dent enters college between Is and 20
and spends four years in its compara-
tive seelusion- If profession is to
follow that means from three to five
additional years absorbed in getting
ready for life. The young doctor, the
| young lawyer, the young Journalist
cannot leap into success a. a bound;
several more years are occupied in
the endeavor to gain clients or prac
tice or to find a job that is both agree
/ able and remuneratiye.
| At least naIT the g1rI-graduates OF
our colleges undertake advanced
studies after they receive their diplo-
| engage in business. At glance it is
| evident that they cannot marry until
/ they have reached certain maturity.
/ At present, the girl who marries at
| 80 is much oftener met than she who
is a bride at 20, and the man who
Inarries at 10 is not now exceptional
or looked upon as in the least an old
fellow who is out of date. The man of
40 may perhaps have bride Is years
his Junior. The man who marries at
| 20 is quite likely to choose as a Iasste
a girl some years older than himself.
Here enters the intangible law Of
averages.
Whether or not the present custom
is one for congratulation or regret, it
is a little difficult to determine. OF
one thing we may be sure and that is
that the old, sweet and exquisite ideal
of the simple home suffers from the
undue discretion and excessive eau
ton of twentieth century young peo-
pie. A home to be beautiful need not
be extravagant. Childless couples are
less exceptional than of old. People
who marry late have small families.
and they have, though sometimes they
do not dream it, lost much of the hap
piness that might have been theirs
had they been content to settle down
early, and enjoy the trials and tri.
unphs of the day of small things.
Copyright, 1906. by Joseph B. Bowleao