Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1907-01-12
Aunt Rebekah's Letter to a Husband.

My Dear Nephew Thomas: Your let
ter made me feel very sad. How many
of your husbands would walk right out
of harness today and leave the remain.
der of the team in the rut if YOU weren,t
bound to feel mean about it? Then. too.
you know you would be Missed out of the
country by your fellow sufferers. Well
If you have heaps of misery you have
plenty of company.
But see here-you might avert the
greater part of your misery by simply
home.
If you refuse n man an order for
goods do you thunder at him? You don't
tell him, in tones that can be heard for n
square, that he Ought to know better
than to ask you to buy goods with bust
ness IN such bad condition. With coal
so high and the rent to pay and yarious
ether expenses to meet, the idea of ex
pectlng you to lay gu; more money is too
ridiculous to be considered for n mo
ment." No! You at least give him =
hearing, and if you must refuse him YOU
do it like gentleman.
At the end of the week you expcct to
hand out the pay envelopes to your ON
pioyes; they have worked for their money
and You give it To them and don't dare
growl about it. How is it at home
Your wife has worked saved. managed
that your home may be what it is-WbDt
does she get for her labor? You pay the
4lils. you say! Why. shouldn't youE
Ism she your wife! Hasn't she worked
for yout If she worked half as hard far.
any one else she would receive nj Jaosf
~ per week and her board and lodging
-Four whole dollars week in actu1i
money-think of it. Two hundred ana
elght dollars year given her without +
grow. How many hard working. ttIp
conscientious, devoted wives receive fhaf
amount?
You give your wife all the money vo,,
say. Yes. she may hold the money far
the butcher, the baker. the, grocer. t6a
ice and milk men from FRIDAY night
until Monday morning and after ma Vim,
their bills keeps the change. There maS
be as much as fifty cents over Well
johnnie needs stockings" you hint
and perhaps she couldn't do better ti,an
buy him pair, the poor little fellowH'
This has gone on week in and week
out, the change always going for
something for house or family. At last
Your wife needed something for herself
and you were amazed. Hadn't You given
her every cent you could spare? If she
hadn't managed to get mt enough for
her own personal requirements. was that
your fault? you asked her.
a year, two years OF this. and what
happens? This particular woman. this
won't stand such treatment-what does
she do? What does any woman do under
such circumstances? One of two things.
either remain true to aer husband or not
You are fortunate in that your wife has
chosen the former course. she has cried
and prayed and reasoned it all out with
herself and decided that since the man
of her choice has no money for clothes or
necessities for his wife, she must earn
it herself
So she takes in sewing, or lets out
rooms-and many Il penny that she earns
goes toward making your home more
comfortable. Now things go more
smoothly-there are fewer. if any,
wrangles over money. Your wife actually
begins to dress up again. There are
times when she looks real sweet and
you tell her so, pleasantly, but she treats
your remarks with Indifference you
turned from her with d sigh and heavy
heart. Why does she treat you so in
differently when YOU do everything to
make her happy? Everything but sup
port her, yes-you never noticed how she
looked nor apparently cared, until she
earned her own clothes. She might have
gone in rags while the money for them
was to come from your own pocket.
She was willing TO work, to save TO
manage, so long as she was an equal
partner, but when You showed her INTO
the position of an upper servant without
the upper servants wages. to her rea-
soning, you shut her out of your heart.
And so you must take the consequences.
She is going her own way, you may 60
yours, the breach growing wider daily.
| am sorry for you; even yet you may
turn back. Let me know how things 60.
Aunt Rebekah in Philadelphia Even
ing Bulletin.