Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1906-03-16
TELLS HIS
LIFE STORY
WHAT A "WlFE DESERTER" HAS
TO SAY FOR HIM.
SELF,

tain strong prejudice on the part OF
the world and his wife--especially his
wiie-against the application of the
principle to the problem of desertion
To the world and his wife that ques
ton has but one side, the woman
considering. 1t matters not what eX
Jenuating circumstances. it matters
no. what infinite variety of UNSUITABLE
motives the man in the case may have
&c offer in explanation of his action
popular as well as judicial sympathy
always inclines dead weight upor
the side of the wife.
Like all other popular opinions re
sardins subjects on which from theil
very nature it is impossible to estab
llsh any hard and fast canons of judo
ment, this particular prejudice i.
rounded upon a false application O.
the theory OF chivalry. Our notions
upon that subject are as absurd as
they are unreal and unnatural. In or
Ger 10 fulfill the requirements of a sys
ten of conduct which has long since
outlived its usefulness as factor OF
civilization, public opinion continues
10 force men and women to play hay
Oc with the most sacred and intimate
relations of life.
refer to that false notion OF chiv-
cl,., u,hi oh -
courtship and which obliges man to
marry willynilly after he mas once
plghted his troth, quite irrespective
oil his better judgment and the prompt
ings of his heart should he discover
such a change in himself before the
fatal wedding day. refer to that same
false notion that, once married. it il
Better 10 live together cat and do.
existence than it is to pursue separ
ately an honorable and useful life An,
| refer particularly to that wrong con
ception of chivalry which would den
any modicum of it to The man VIII
may be driven to the unhappy actor
of deserving his wife and family.
| offer no apology for what | al
about 10 say in defense of myself Nc
body can completely understand tn
attitude of a man like myself unless
be another man VINO has stumble
against the same hard rough stone
ill his iourneying along the dry dust
road of matrimony.
To state the case with brutal brny
ltN. ! am a wife deserter. There
not a Just Judge ON the bench in Ner
York city nor is there decent man c
woman in Christendom who would no
upon the hard. bare evidence agains
me, Immediately condemn me for
precious rascal And vet | believe
have acted only for the best. AS
look back upon it now it seems to m
II was the very best. the only thin
1 could have possibly done at the
I'm G. in those sharp circumstance
Here is the unvarnished evidence an
hope will not be 100 hastily adjuds
ed either as a brute or as a weaklin,
AT least until the indulgent reader ha
read TO the end of my story
am Is years Old and an archtec
| was born and reared in little tow
III Michigan. My parents are we'll
dc farmers, but they were not able t
send me to college. which in boyhoo
had always been my ambition. | dc
rermined to make my own way throue
for had made up my mind to have
career. To this end | began teachin
school al IS years of age in the distric
where | was born, studying hard a
night preparing myself for the emit,
examinations at Ann Arbor and savins
all my money to defray the expenses
of my first year. | succeeded and b,
The practice of the most rigid econom,
] was able to give my undivided atten
ton during that first year 10 my st,r1
les
The second year was more Difficult
My original fund was now eXhauste
and | was obliged to work my wa
thiphSh iipHi tidl ol. tllI even
Thing. | became assistant to the jan
tor of one of the dormitories I acte
as local newspaper correspondent.
succeeded in writing several storit
for boys for a young peoples mag
zine. and at last | succeeded in gettiI
good paying situation at waiting {
tables in the best boarding house
The town Here at the end of my Sc
ond year in college met the girl wi
was later to become my wife.
She was student, like myself al
she, too, was working her way throus
college. She. with a girl friend of ne
from the same town. was employed o
Of class hours. She was sweet al
good and clever and as ambitious as
vas 1t was a case of love at fiji
sight. We had worked together
the boarding house for some thr
months when We became engaged
was graduated year before she W
and went to Chicago to take up arcl
lecture.
There I met the same difficulty
garding finances that | did when l I
dertook my college career, only in G.
cagO l found it more difficult to ma
my plans dovetail. was % years {
and had a sound university educati(