Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1906-08-04
Is a Wife a Handicap!

Another good worker ruined" is the
comment of the heads of some firms
when told that a valued worke" is about
to enter the holy bonds.
The trouble begins says the manager
of a big firm employing many workers.
when the man becomes engaged. For
merly he didn't mind an extra half
hour or > at his desk; but the modern
frivolous. thoughtless girl expects so
many evenings out at popular amuse-
ments that her fance throws down his
work the moment the clock strikes out
the limit of business hours.
His mind is full of some party at
which he has promised to be punctual
An engaged or married man tries to serve
two masters, one masculine and the other
feminine, and usually he fails because
he puts the feminine tyrant first"
This is all somewhat new. In story
books the very moment the hero is ac-
cepted by the beautiful heroine he sets
to work to prove himself worthy of her
He is fired by ambition to carve out
golden fortune and lay it at the beloved
ones feet. And this is as it should be-
If a man becomes less self-reliant
weaker willed or more effeminate as the
result of an engagement or marriage
the woman in the case must be very
much to blame.
She has no right to lower his ideas
of industry and duty. Neither should
she lead him into temptation to neg
lect his work for the sake of little social
frpperies. dances and evening parties.
These things are the trimmings of life.
not the substances And no man whose
mind is filled with such tritles can settle
down to the hard, steady grind of mod
ern business life.
A wife who ''mollycoddes' and cos
sets and man. and teaches him to put
his ease and little personal comforts be-
fore his ambition and work, is weakening
his character.
A husband who sets out to business
every morning with his mind occupied
bv little home worries and cares cannot
concentrate his attention on the work of
the day. Wives who telephone continu-
ally to their husbands in the city. telling
them mot to forget to bring home that
fish" or that they must go to the library
and change that book" are spelling their
husbands chances of success. 4 man
who wants to get on In the world must
forget, from the moment lie enters his
office till the time he leaves ii, that he
has a wife and a home.
For the demands OF twentieth century
business life are stern and real. If his
wife's trivial headaches and petty little
domestic grievances obtrude themselves
into his brain during business hours, a
man is untitled to cope with the work on
hand.
wife is a serious business handicap
to n man if she insists on going to the
office. makes her husband take her out to
lunch. see her off at the station or forces
him to share in the hundred and one lit
tie domestic distractions so many women
insist on burdening their better halves
with.
4 mans office hours should he sacred
property Nobody has a right to invade
disturb or distract him when he is at
work. save for d really grave and serious
reason.
And no fiancee or wife has any excuse
for uttering a word of complaint if n
mans business necessitateS his remaining
late at the office. 1t is pleasant to have
an early dinner, coy evening by the
fireside or Il hand at bridge with a few
friends and CHEEKY little supper to fol-
low.
But man cannot make his living by
these charming evening rpcreatlons; and
overtime and late nights ut business are
"aU in the days work TO be accepted
cheerfullv and in the right spirit by the
sweetheart or wife Of the bread winner.
II is not right Of her to ''mollycoddle"
n man bv teaching him that he is
martyr or slave to cruel employers,
when he is merely doing his duty by
working extra hard when pressure of
business demands.
\ wife who makes her husband soft
and self-indulgent is weakening his
will and reducing his worth and value
in the business or profession he fol-
lows.
She ought to be proud of his ambi-
ton. zeal and industry instead of trying
To persuade him to shirk work and re-
sponsibility. Many men have too much
backbone and strength to be beguied by
domestic Delilahs anxious through mis-
taken devotion TO turn manliness into
..mollycoddling.
The love and tender consideration Of
n woman should make a man stronger
and more steadfasct in his devotion 10
duty.
It is ''mollyceddrHg" and tempting a