Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1906-12-21
EARLY MARRIAGES ARE NO
LONGER POPULAR
Attractions of Bachelor Life in Large
Measure Responsible for Changed
Conditions - Excessive eau
tion Among Young Folks.
BY MARGARET e. sANesTeR.

BY MARGARET e. SANGSTER.
If somebody who lived on this planet
100 years ago could return and walk
an unsupported observer through our
modern cities. one of the first notes
he would make in his tablets would be
to the effect that people no longer
married in their early twenties. In
his day he would remember, with a
puzzled shake of spectral head, that
the wedding bells rang for girls Of 16
and boys of 10 respectively, and that
such marriages were common and
matter of course.
Except in primitive communities,
apart from the beaten tracks of civili-
cation, girls and boys do not now mar
ry and take on themselves the respon-
sibilities of bringing up large families.
Marriage is more ana more postponed
until women have gone beyond 25, and
men 33 and "a years of age. What is
the occasion of the change?
The ghost could not grapple with
The problem. He would have nothing
In his experience of human life to ex-
plain 1t. With us affairs are differ
emit. We understand the forces that
combine to influence the prudent lover
| and to restrain the ardent one, and we
| quite sympathize with parents who are
aghast at the very thought that their
sons and daughters in some hour of
| impulse, may marry at the age they
thought entirely proper in their own
| case.
| Life in the great cities is extremely
easy for the bachelor whether he bH
man of large means or of compare,
lively limited income. When bachelor
apartment houses became the fashion,
they t6ok the place with many mel.
hat was once filled by the home ideal
A man used to fancy that he needed
wife to look after his domestic com
his tea, to mend his stockings ano
help him entertain his friends. These
were few of the prosaic details in
cluded in his theory of married life
As things are now managed. a single
man may live inexpensively and very
comfortably in rooms for which he
nays monthly or weekly rental. His
meals are obtained at a restaurant in
the building or in the neighborhood;
he is free to go and come without en-
cumbrance.
His visiting list may De long Oh
short. He may spend much money
Or little: live simply or luxuriously
as he may choose. His independence
IS absolute and at an instant's notice
he may give his landlord warning
store his furniture or resign the Ike,
Of his furnished room and go to the
end of the earth. He is a welcome
guest in the homes of married friends
and If he be gallant and debonaire HI
lis a favorite in society and, on tn,
whole, has a very good time.
The shadows of lonely future d,
not project themselves across the patl
of the man under 40. He declares tina
he cannot afford to marry, and yer,
possibly the fact that the cost of livinl
is constantly on the increase has mucl
to do with his contented and some
what selfish bachelor state. Their
are people who for a small remunera
ton will keep his clothing in order
and his linen immaculate. His din
ners are apt to be good, and he ma
, know, If he like, to a fraction, tn
amount he must spend annually t
| maintain his position, and the amour
he may save for rainy day.
, Il
With women the reasons for tn
t postponement of marriage are NOR
complex. The love of home, the Low
; of children and the need to be dea
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