Omaha daily bee., 1913-10-10
By VIRGINIA t. VAN DE WATER.


The day. is long" said the unhappy
wife. the day IL longv' y
She was talking to a young woman who
had been married for several years, as
suring her that husbands bear watch
ing" .. ~
But my husband is at home with me
every evening" said the young matron
SO l know he is all right"
The older woman shook her head and
made the remark quoted above.
All men must be watched" she in
sisted. The price Of faithful husband
is constant vigilance on the part Of the
wife, Very few man are good, my dear"
This kind Of talk is so common among
some women that one wonders how much
of 1t is the result OF observation, how
much Of conviction and how much of IL
Is affectation.
II It Is the outcome OF observation, Il is
mistake to tell happy women of such
unfortunate conclusions II II is a convic.
ton based upon personal experience
surely ones pride might keep her quiet
on this subject. II this strain of conver-
sation Is an affectation. II is not worth
considering; at least It would not be
were 1t not for the unhappy fact that II
leads other women to believe that men
are as bad as their traducers declare
them to be.
For, at the risk Of being smiled at as
a credulous person who is easily duped
by appearances, insist that believe
that the average husband is faithful to
the wife whom he loves and who is
faithful to him. know, as do all of US
that there are men who are false to their
marriage vows. just as there are men
who are liars and cheats. But II one
pauses to consider the various married
couples one knows will be forced to
admit that among them are many good
husbands! Might one not then, frown
upon the kind OF statement made by the
cynical wife I have mentioned7
But" she says, 'in all my life have
known less than a half dozen good men,"
Truly she had been unluckyi For by
good men" she means men who lead
clean, decent lives. One wonders among
what kind OF persons her lot has been
cast. And yet, let us listen TO another
woman.
"To keep husband" she says, "one
must watch him continually. And one
must also amuse him. It is not natural
for a husband to be faithful to a woman
when she ceases to be amusing and at.
tractive."
DO women believe this? II So Heaven
help them or give them wisdom7 For
they have indeed been unfortunate, or
they are very wrong in their ideas.
1 do not hold any brief for men. but
when hear such opinions as those re-
corded above, in my mind l see a long
line of men whom / wish / could show
to these Risanthropic women, They
stand forth, not in ones or twos, but in
groups, and Of some Of them it might be
said "of whom the world was not
worthy" OF others, one can but say
that they were good husbands, yet when
one considers what that means 1t is
aigh praise.
May I just call attention to few who
shall be nameless here, but who are as
real as life and truth. One had a wife
afflIcted-poor creature!-with a cancer
of the breast. She was pRthetically SEN
sitlve about having anyone know OF her
trouble, and would allow nobody but her
husband to attend to the dressing of the
cancer. This he did, morning anu night
for the years through which she fingered
here. He also saw the children ready for
breakfast and school each day (for this
couple could afford but one maid. and
that an indifferent one), sat at the table
with them, then arranged the sick wom-
ans tray with his own hands and took
it TO her. coaxing her to eat as he chatted
brightly with her, At noontime he would
run home from the office long enough
to look in upon her and 'see 81 she was
all right" At night he was her nurse,
and read TO her when pain kept her
awake. This lasted until death freed
her.
Who was amusing" this man? Did
ne need watching"
Another husband, a newspaper man,
who had a delicate wife and a still more
delicate and fretful child. would come
home from the office at a. m. and take
care OF the nervous baby until break
fast time before he sought his own bed,
in order that the weary mother might
sleep. Was this the amusement" he
must have or be unfaithful?
A certain poor clerk lays aside from
his lunch money each week enough TO
bring home box Of choice bonbons TO
his wife on Saturday, as that is what he
used to do before they were married. and,