New-York tribune., 1907-12-29
LEAP YEAR
DRAWS NEAR.
BOLD SINGLE MEN SHOW
SIGNS OF FEAR.
The BashfM Cheer, the Married Jeer,
but WidOzcs Burnish Their
Hunting Gear.
BY NJ. w. Mount.

AS 1903, with all the dsqueting accompanimenfs
of leap year. approaches. the married man boldly
confronts the world and carries himself with d
fearless air that, in itself. proclais the fact that
his fate Is sealed and he has nothing TO dread and
nothing expect in the way of matrimonial
proposals.
To the unmarried man those caoalistic numbers
I9Os convey rising and setting of $50 suns u1on
a world set with snares for him. He knows tnat
he walk warily indeed if he would avoid
changing his gait to a lifelong twostep, and the
prospect of 366 days--with their usual quota OF
moont nights thrown in TO upset his mental
equilibrium makes him tremble.
Who knows what encouragement may be awak-
ened in romantic feminine heart by a looa
of unguarded but purely Platonic admiration; or
what declaration of recipro6 IL devotion might fol-
low the pressure of uncoveted- ha ID?
Unquestionably the vacant gaze and limp hand
clasp will be in vogue among unmarried men for
the next twelve months. 1t will not be safe for
them to squeeze any feminine fingers not other
wise appropriated, and even then safety is merely
q matter of circumstances.
The timid man who wants TO marry and is afraid
to take the initial step heaves sigh of joyful re-
lief at the near approach of leap year. 1T last.
he feels he has fair field and-he hopes-plenty
of favor in the domain of prospective matrimony.
Conscious of his personal and. it may De, pecuni-
ary attractions. he IS hopeful that some fair one
will offer to take him at his face value or 10 share
his fortune with him. He IS almost certain that
q will incline to accept the disinterested and
fattering proposal At the very least, he argues.
he will have an opportunity to make choice be-
tween hair of peroxide blond tint and that grown
dusky upon pure walnut juice.
His joyful anticipations not shared by the
ma jorty of tirnid men-and it is wonderful how
the ranks of these have been sweled at the recoi-
lection that freedom to and wed ceases to be
a masculine prerogative upon the stroke of Il
o'clock on the night of December 81, 1907. The
worlds army of bachelors. young and old. Is de-
moralized for man lives who can foresee from
what point woman will attack or just how she
will make captive. while all affected by a
realizing of their own helplessness when the
ultimate moment shall arrive for them.
How to avoid proposal from some lone woman
or to be more exact. some spnster-for A widow
is likely to bless her choice with anything but a
lone hand-and how TO say no gracefully should
such a proposal prove unavoidable, is troubling the
minds of many single men to-day. They are look
ing up statistics to just how many more
women than there I'm their own cities so
as 10 form definite idea of how good their
chances may be of escape from the matrimonial
lasso. The preponderance in the numbers of women
in New York, Baltimore and the older cities Is so
great that bachelor residents in these seriously
a years sojourn In the Klondike.
where man would need TO prove superiority over
his fellows in many respects in order 10 attract
even one proposal of marriage.