The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1911-08-19


men, drearily.
yes, He knows-and perhaps we
know also wherein we made our mis-
takes, wherein we were to blame, for
the fault is ours, too, in some degree.
No man and no woman is wholly to
blame for marriage being failure,
In some way every husband and every
wife is responsible for the others
sin.
For myself, l know that I never
sit down before my own desolate
hearthstone without putting dust and
ashes on my head, and feeling that |
did my part in wrecking our home. |
did it ignorantly, unintentionally,
blunderingly, but did it in part, and
l believe that if l had my married
life to live over again could make it
a success instead of the CHASTITY trag-
edy it has been.
City Beau Marries Village Belle.
u married young girl who was
beautiful, gay, vivacious, fond of
pleasure and excitement and amuse-
ment. She was a poor girl, reared in
a small village. In all of her life she
had never had a pretty gown, a Jewel
or any of the frills that women crave.
Nor had she had any amusement. She
had never been to supper in a restau-
rant, had never seen play, never
Travelled fifty miles from the dull and
sordid little town in which she lived.
i knew all of this, of course, but
did not realize what it meant until
after it was too late. That was my
first mistake-not understanding the
danger of what I was doing. The girl
| married was woman who was fam
ished for the gaities and frivolities of
life, and perhaps she was no more to
be blamed for overindulgence in
them than the starving man is who
kills himself by gorging himself on
food if no hand restraints him.
az was city bred. All my life had
had plenty of money to indulge my
tastes. was weary of society, tired
Of the theatre, restaurant life had
long since palled upon me. When l
married l wanted to settle down.
wanted the peace and quiet of home
But this avid young creature was
mad for the very things for which
was weary. She could not get enough
of the glare and glitter of the cafes.
She would have camped in a theatre
lobby if she could. She danced her
slippers to ribbons.
Il was cruelty disappointed in her.
Her unappeasable desire for amuse-
ment seemed to me to show her not
only soulless and heartless, but abso
lutely vulgar. At first | made frantic
efforts to restrain her; | argued with
her, pleaded with her, but without
avail; and then, sorely wounded, l
turned from her in pride and anger
and let her go her own gait uncheck-
ed.
His Fatal Mistake.
THAT is where | made my mistake
I failed to protect her. We became
one of those forlorn couples whose
marriage is mockery and who have
nothing in common except the loathed
chain which binds them together. We
scarcely even met at meals, for she
was generally dining out and going to
some entertainment afterward while l
spent my evenings reading or working
on some law case. OF course, l never
saw her in the mornings, because she
didn't get up until noon, and she spent
much of the time away from home, in
Europe, or at some of the fashionable
resorts in this country.
Naturally, the inevitable happened;
that always happens when a young
and beautiful married woman
ranges society alone The 9TH
er man appeared. There was a nasty
scandal, and divorce, and the other
night when / saw in restaurant the
woman who had been the little coun-
try girl l married she was haggard-
eyed, overdressed, with hard, painted
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