The record., 1912-03-28
ROMANCE IN THE HOME
lNk8iLITY TO DETECT 1T CAUSE
OF MANY MiSERIES.
Domestic Duties Never Appear to Bo
Mere Drudeery When the House
wife Goes About Them in the
Proper Spirit.

The dullness of domestic life Is ono
by a certain type of the modern wo-
man. She chafes at the daily task,
the common round. To her il seems
that the four walls of her home par
take of the character of a prison house
and that all the romance, the pleasure.
and the interest OF life lie outside
Within she finds only drudgery ard
sordid conditions. She awakes in the
morning with a sigh. contemplating
the dreary duties. She seeks her rest
at night, bored and weary with the
tedium OF q days domestic toll.
She envies the woman who works
in the wider world. who mixes with
men in the mart, who carves for her
self a career, and who is free from
the endless irritations and annoyances
that beset and vex the woman in the
home.
Such thoughts as these increase her
discomfort. The monotony against
which she murmurs grows more griev-
Gus. She acquires a chronic querul-
'ousness that communicates itself to all
who come under her influence. The
husband feels IL and flies for comfort
TO his club. The children are con-
scious of IL and seek solace in other
scenes. And the plight of the woman
becomes more pitiful. She begins to
brood. She feels that she lives
wasted life.
She may become sour, narrow, pes
simistic, morbid, and nervous: all and
each OF which will be quickly reflect
ed in her health and appearance, till
she becomes the most melancholy in.
.fluence in an erstwhile happy home.
Inability to detect the romance of
.domesticity is more often than not the
reasons why the miseries depicted en-
ter presently into many married lives
that had opened under the most prom
Using auspices.
But what is the romance Of domestic
life? Wherein does it lie? Only
those who are unconscious of 1t will
ask the question.
Is there not. In the first place, ro-
nance in the very name of "family!"
Is II not one OF the most profoundly
interesting culminations Of ages of So
lcial evolution? A microcosm of the
state. ii should possess, in little, all
the interest of a stale. Whether 1t
be an autocracy, limited monarchy.
or a republic of two, il has foreign
relations which require the exercise
of the utmost tact. 1t has or should
have an annual budget. which may
cause much CONSERVATION in certain
quarters of the domestic menage. It
IS. concerned with commerce. The
quality and quantity of its imports,
although figuring under the mundane
names of bread and meat ard grocer.
les and such like, are Of as great i'm
portance 10 it as its foreign trade to
the most populace state.
1t has traffic-indirect, 1t is true
with foreign lands. Even the humble
currant that adorns Wednesdays roly
poly pudding grew on the sunny slopes
of Greece and each lump of sugar
dropped into the cup brings with it a
measure Of tropic heat of the south
ern sun.
The increase in the population of
the home is. in proportion. as far
reaching in its effects as in the growth
or dwindling of its people to the
greatest nation. 1t sends forth ennis
sarios to form fresh colonies, and,
more often than not, it maintains a
defensive force in the shape of doa
to guard 1t from the invasion of hostile
intruders.
1t may seem trivial. absurd, to draw
such parallels between the home and
the nation. But a deep truth under
lies such fancies. And were the la
bors Of housekeeping and the respon-
sibilitieS Of family life looked at in
the light Of their true importance. the
monotony and tedium with which, to
some minds. they are invested would
fall from them as the chrysalis husk
falls from the gorgeous wings of the
butterfly, permitting it TO soar into the
higher, brighter element for which 1t
IS fitted.