The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1908-07-04
Welded COUPLES SHOULD PART
FOR A VACATION AT LEAST
ONCE IN YEAR.

A wise man says that at least once a I
year the members Of a family should /
have q vacation from each other. Wives
should 20 in one direction, he declares, |
husbands In another. BY doing this, IN
his opinion, failing interest is revived
and the danger Of growing tired Of each
other, which constantly threatens mar
ried folks, is averted.
Perhaps II IS because other people be-
lieve this also that 50 many wives 90
away to summer resorts on the Arst
varIn day and do not, return until the
cool breezes OF autumn make the city
tOlerable.
There is a great deal OF cCntumely
hurled at these wives. They are &C
cused Of Sinking their duties, Of selfish
ness. hard-heartedness and various
other high crimes and misdemeanors-
and few OF their critics seem to realize
how glad the husbands In the case are
to be rid OF their better halves for the
time
Sympathy Is Wasted.
A great deal OF sympathy IS wasted
on the stay-at-home man He is COM
rnIserated on every side. and pitied and
condoIed with. when the fact is that ne
is enjoying himself to the utmost
When the last trunk belonging to the
last member Of his family has been
checked and sent on. when he has said
the last goOd-by and promised for the
last time that yes. certainly he VIII
write; often; once a day, perhaps
the stay-at-home man feels like bird
recently loosed from his gilded cage
His responsibilities slip from his Shout
ders Ike water from a duck; he feels
II
free as a night Waterman. as gay as n
little darby dancing to a street piano
The first thought that suggests itsalf
70 the stay-at-hoIns man is that -oT
two or three mortal months he viii not
have 10 keep any regular hours. That
alone Is almost 10y enough to justify
the expense and everything else.
He dwells with delight on the idea
| that he can arise when he likes, break
| fast where he likes. lunch as he wishes.
dine at slny hour that strikes his fancy,
and come in when II gets too beastly
/ early to stay out
Can Do What He Likes.
/ He can 90 fishing without anyone sus-
/ pecting him OF being drowned II he does
not get back by a certain hour; can 81
/ out in a sailing yacht without having
| his club bOnnbarded with inquiries con
| corning mis- whereabouts. and can ride
IN a motor car all night long if he
wishes, without being sure that when he
does arrive at his dOmicfle he viii find
his wife weeping and planning either
her mourning or her divorce.
After all, there il nothing so aIluring
as personal freedom after bondage, how
ever charming the bondage may have
| been. That's the reason the stay-at-
home man is not to be condoled with
he Is as free as any orphaned bachelor
who ever lived.
His one duty is TO write that all-im-
portant daily letter, saying that he is
a lonely and miserable creature. This
done. he is his own man TO so and come
as he pleases.
I know a set Of bachelor men who
take a cottage in the suburbs each
summer. hire an old colored man as
cook, and have the time Of their lives
to use their own expression
They are constantly receiving urgent
communications from absent fancees
| and mothers and sisters urging them tc
/ "coYne away from that hot city for g
few weeks at least and get some fresh
air" The replies TO these missives arr
mastery efforts at diplomacy. Mucf
| as tho writer would love to leave the
heat and the discomfort behind him
they say, # viii he impossible for hin
to do ft-yet meanwhile he misses hil
/ dear ones more than he can ever hop'
J to express, etc, etc
. I overheard q conversation between
two martyrs Of the type described yes
waited to the ears Of the absentee Ia
dies. would have brought them back Z
their post inStanter.
! T,r-o