The Washington herald., 1911-06-08
PLAN HIT UPON BY MAN
TO PREVENT DRIVELING
COMNONPLACES ATHOME
BY JULIA CHANDLER MANI.

"Conjugal conversation is about as in
teresting as an almanac and as sparkling
as a mud puddle" said the first man de-
spondently.
Every night when a fellow gets home
from a hard day at the Office he is
greeted with a budget OF household news,
and what the neighbors are doing, and 1t
is about the last straw to him when he
wants his dinner and a chance to relax.
He is told right of the bat that Tommy
needs a new pair Of shoes and that
Marjorie has torn a snag in her Sun
ay-go-to-meeting frock: that the new
maid spends most of her time hanging
over the gate talking to the man who de-
Iivers the groceries and that the woman
in the fiat below has complained to the
landlord because your bull pup got it into
his head the night before to have
knock-dcwn, drag-out fight with the cat
and disturbed the peace of the neigh
borhood.
Nice sort Of thing to stimulate jaded
brainT'
Story Not Finished.
But" said the second man, you have
not finished your story. You have not
recited the line Of languages handed out
to the wife by the brilliant partner Of her
joys and sorrows. Doesn't 1t go some
thing like this?
Dinner late again, Mary? I can't see
why you don't train a cook to have
things ready in time. If there were twen-
ty servants in this house I don't be-
lieve I would ever get a meal on time.
Where's the evening paper? The puppy
tore it up! That terrier is getting to be
perfect nuisance. Dinner ct last. What
sort of soup is this? Tastes like dish
water. Tommy, do keep your mouth shut
until you are spoken to. In my day chill
dren were seen and not heard.
Tries to Change Them.
Here Mary tries TO change the con-
versation by asking if he has had hard
day at the office. at which opportunity
he grabs to unload all the worries of
the day for the inspiration of his wife at
the dinner table.
Inspiration did say? Great in
spiration there"
"JoveT' exclaimed the first man, 'T
believe you are somewhere near right"
II never realized how petty and nag
ging are conjugal conversations" went on
the second man, unheeding the Interrupt
ton, until one evening callers came in
Immediately after such q dinner as 1
have described had taken place In my
own house.
Suddenly my wife turned from the
fiattest, most driveling of commonpIaces
to a sparkling effort to be interesting
THE driveling commonplaces had been
mine The sparkling interest was for
the stranger, and the transition was so
sudden that it came to me with a shock
and made me think.
when the callers had gone and the
childreTf were in bed 1 called my wife
down to the living room and we had
heart-to-heart talk. out of which grew
few rules that changed the whole COM
plexion Of our married life and lifted
the atmosphere of chronic depression
from our home.
The Saving Plan.
THE plan hit upon was that neither
my wife nor I would discuss the trials of
our respective fields of work at any time
except during one hour in each day, a
stipulated time set aside for this pur-
pose. Each of us was to have a half
of this hour for the frank confiding Of our
difficulties and worries. and the other was
TO lend ear and heart to the recital, help
ing with suggestions, where suggestions