El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-03-19
Marrying a Dresden Doll
Open Letter to the Boy Who Would
Wed n Girl Who Has Never
Learned to Do Anything.
By Dorothy Dis --


EY Dear BnIy-And so you are
M in love with Annette and you
are thinking Of asking her to
marry you. I don't blame you for be-
ing bewitched by her, son. She's as
pretty and as dainty and as fragile as
a Dresden statuette- And Just about
as practical and useful
I don't blame YOU for wanting her.
You want her on the eternal human
principle that makes US all prefer the
Injuries to the necessities of life; but
if you get her, what are you going to
do with her. son? What place has a
Dresden statuette in your scheme CT
life?
Try. at least. in selecting wife. to
show as much intelligence as you
would display in buying your clothes,
or ordering a meal You Wouldnt
spend your money for SILK socks and
patent leather shoes If you were pur-
chasing fOOtgear in which to tramp a
thousand miles. Neither would you eX-
pect TO be able to stay your stomach
on a diet composed wholly OF choco-
late cellars Yet these would not De
more incOngruOus and idiotic perform
ances than for a poor man, who has
his way 10 make in the world, TO PICK
out for himself a society butterfly Tor
a wife
The kind Of a wife you need is one
that Will be a help and not hind
rance to you. that will be a booster
and not a milestone about your neSh-
What you need is not an ethereal pc
ing to whom you can quote poetry, but
a husky helpmate who can Wrestle
with the pots and pans and Dutcner
bills and teething babies without botn-
ering you about them.
Believe me. son, that while temper
ament is very aluring in a girl, it IS
excess baggage in a wife. and the less
she has Of it the faster you will travel.
you viii have your work in getting on
in the world cut out for you without
having 10 stop to smooth down che
sensibilities of a wife who is too fine
and good for human natures daily
food.
Consider Annette and the way she
has been brought up 1 am not say
ing a word against the girl She has
my earnest pity. for she is the victim
of the fool American custom that
makes fond parents cultivate cham
payne tastes and habits in the daugh-
tiers. on beer incomes. She is a Dollar
Princess without even a dollar.
She can't cook. She can't sew She
can't clean up a house. She can't do
one useful thing on earth If you put
her where your wife belongs, in a little
flat. where it's her business to make
you q comfortable home, she viii give
you dyspepsia with her cooking; she
viii bring nervous prOStratlOn on you
with her tears, and she will break
your heart with her complaints
Things Will go from bad to worse, and
then in desperation, beaten, you VIII
give uu the fight and iOin the army
of miserable loafers about hotels
whose wives are too lazy to do any
thing but press button to have their
wants supplied, and who spend their
DAYS hunting bargains going to mat
inees and playing bridge. And the
husbands of these women are just one
lap ahead Of the wolf and are bound
for the poor house.
If you marry Annette that will be
mi ] h. a
sport Don't complain A woman is
more or less entitled to kick about the
sort Of husband she gets, because she
had TO take what was offered her. A
mans wife is of his own picking. She
represents his tastes and his Judgment,
and If he deliberately selects a fashion
plate. or a parlor ornament, he hasn't
any right to complain that she isn't a
washing machine, or gas range, when
he gets her home.
Marriage works no miracles in a
wOman's character, my boy. What she
was before the wedding ceremony was
read over her she is after marriage.
Only more so. For marriage is like a
mordant. 1t sets the dye Of a wom-
ans nature.
II a girl is pretty and silly and
frivolous before marriage. she will be
silly and frivolous and not pretty after
marriage. And if a girl is so selfish
she will let her old father work him
self to death for her be sure she will
ne a save uA4NEE 70 nGE nus DanQ-
And, by the same token. the girl who
is sensible and helpful and practical
and competent, who is a good daugh-
ter. and a good sister before marriage,
viii make wife whose price is be-
yOnd rubies
Furthermore. son, would call your
attention to the fact that Annette is as
delicate and fragile as a hot house
flower. There's something in that very
weakness that strikes a chivalric chord
in strong mans breast, and makes
him want to shelter her from all the
storms of life
It's lovely sentiment. my boy. but
fatal to act upon, for of all misfOr-
tunes that can happen to a man the
very worst is to be tied down to a
sickly wife 1t means nerves, which IN
turn means temper and bitter, unjust
speeches It means working your fin
gers to the bone to pay doctors. 1t
means never having one moments
peace or freedom 1t means going
from hard days work to a home that
is full Of Querulous complaints and
whining 1t means a life that is a
nightmare