The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1917-10-25
Little Problems
fcWarried Life
By
WILLIAM GEORGE JORDAN
THROWING OVERHEARD THE OLD
FRIENDS.
(CopyrlghD

prCtIrt. jTSl- JpppA 10 IdfSlllSH, near
j. three thousand years ago. when the
wind aCd the tempest rose. and the
great waves washing over the little
crart threatened to suhmerge it. they
threw Jonah overheard tcat the light
eneG ship might ride easier in waters
smoothed into peace and tranquility.
In this twentieth century, the old time
friends OF the husband are often sim
ilarly cast overheard from the ship of
matrimony that It's burden may be
lishrened and the waves of home dis
cord may be stilled. a
The direct primitive simplicity of
the Jonah incident is rarely followed
today. 1t Is usually accomplished by
tact and tactics, by seeming innocent
comments and criticisms, by delicate
diplomacy, by placing the friend 10 an
exposed position which makes it seem
that he merely fell overheard. II is
the final result OF gentle, gradual
pushes instead of one bold, fearless
toss.
When girl maTries she does not
feel that tke curtain has been rung
down on the nearest aud best in her
cid life. Her girl friends do not give
her up for lost aud feel that she has
passed forever out of their love. SYM
PATTY, res gard aud companionship. Her
he has but broadened; they will visit
her aui She them as of old; they will
take interest in her new world and
she Will retain ms best us SHE can the
threads of the Old relationships.
The husband usually is honestly glad
that her days alone may be heightened
little by these friends, that. she is
getting out OF life all the happiness
i5at she can. Of course he has very
Gttie appreciation of her old admir-
ers; her fervor of approval of their
good points seems to be more sen;!-
mental than judicial; he cannot i'm
aeipe what she can possibly have ever
seen In A, or Il. or The others down
the alphabet of her men friends. Wild
enthusiasm over them is hardly 10 he
expected but for her woman friends,
except when they camp around the
house at all hours and make it impos-
sible for him TO have quiet talk alone
with her, he is usually complaisa1tly
tolerant if not cordially eIccuce glng.
He does not always receive similac
courtesy aud consideration.
When q MAJ marrjes, even his
truest. wortElsst aud best friends,
those who haze been close to him, who
have been h.s coGtdants, his chums
and his comrades, feet with sadness
that it has now come 10 the parting of
the ways. They bid him goodbye. In
spirit II not In words, as though he
were going TO some island in the
South seas and they might never see
him again. Ii is not the natural drift
ing apart that comes from his a5sorp-
ton In his home. with new duties and
responsibilities that they fear; it is
that they will be disqualified by his
wife-and that her secret influence
will be turned against them. OF course
they do rot think she is just The oCe
they would have picked out for aim,
for n man rarely does approve Of his
friends wife as quite good enough tor
him. but they are willing to be mag
narir:o-s ard let loyalty and charity
wipe away prejudice, and even believe
That she is TIE wonder her husband
declares.
If she be wise. for Der own sake
nEd that &C her husband. she will try
10 make them her friends. too, and
guard care:G,iy against their even be-
Ing washed overheard. much less be-
ing thrown ruthlessly into a sea CT
foreetfUlDess. If they already happen
TO be her friends as well, they usually
will be admitted into the home on her
ticket and have q comfortable orches-
ira chair. but often, when 1t IS other
wise, the husband alone can issue but
a pass emitting the bearer 70 stand
ing room cDiy.
There are some wives who show a
strange jealousy in trlfles. They have
a hunger for allness; they are not sat
isfed with being merely supreme, and
first and best and most-they want to
be "only." They are not content with
being the sun of his life; they want to
be the sun and all the consultations,
too. They want to corner his emo
tiona; output and control the entire
market. They often seem to consider
his affection, regard, esteem. liking
and favor as his emotional cash and
that if he spends the least bit OF it
elsewhere It Is taking just SO much
from them. Their constant fear of
competition Is a poor tribute to their
own powers.
When q man FIRST tells bis sweet
heart or his wife about his best friend,
In his loyalty, generous pride, and con-
fdence that he Is speaking TO welcom-
lag ears, he may boom him unduly.
Soon he may become conscious in a
vague way that the audience is a bit
cool and unenthuslastic, his words do
not seem to carry over the footlights
and the applause Is faint and perfume
tory. When he tells Of the time when
they roomed together at college and
pledged eternal friendship, It seems TO
hor inst "A bit Young and sentimental