Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-08-29
THE STACKER AND mATRImoNY
The Worlds Highest PAID Woman
Writer
BY DOROTHY DIX

YER since tn" report went forth
that d dependent VIE could SAY"
- a man from the CONSUMPTION draft
th, Wedding bells have been over
worked by slaCkcra who thought that
they would find safe refuge from
Wiz in matrimOny.
4 marriage a minute was the rec
ord for a space Of time in New York
a the matrimonial bureau And such
MARRIAGES as many OF them were.
Boys marrying women old enough to
be their mothers, or almost lhclr
grandmOthers Men marrying girls
with whom they were so little aC-
quainted they had TO ASK the girls
names in applying for their marriage
licenses Furtive eyed fellows lead
ing painted faced bleached haired
women to the altar-men marrying
anybody with enough skirts ON for
them to hide behind And they all
went away to live sCrappily ever after.
For what chance OF success could
such marriages possibly have? What
hope Of a man making a good huS.
band who entered into the most sac
red obligation OF life from the basest
motives, and who showed by his very
act that he was without loyalty, graf
itude or any sense of his obligations
and duties? You cant build a home
on such shifting sand as that.
II it were not such a sordid and
contemplate sight the spectacle of
a man getting married to avoid going
to war would be one that was sardoni-
cally humorous. 1t is jumping out of
the frying pan into the fire with a
vengeance. and the Stacker bride
groom will find his case similar to
that of the circus man who, fleeing
from the wife's wrath, took refuge in
the lions cage before which she stood
and shook her fist and tainted with
him, Come out Of that, you coward,
if you dare"
Certainly the man who thinks he
Is going to escape fighting by getting
married has another guess coming to
him. He will find that matrimony is
a fight that never ends, a fight of in
elinati0n, OF temperaments, of tastes,
Of habits, fight of all that goes to
make up two different personalities
"a battle royal over the latch key,
over the pocket book, over the wal
the potatoes were cooked, over the
multitudinous details that constitute
daily life, out Of which few come
alive and none unnamed.
= or course the Stacker who is afraid
to 60 to war thinks that he would
rather fight a woman than a man of
his own size. Alas, here, too, he is
due to have a bitter awakening from
his dreams of safety. A wife fights
with her tongue, swifter and tore
fatal in its action than any machine
gun. And she aims every time with
deadly and certain knowledge at some
weak spot in her husbands char
acter and every shot goes home And
against that fusillade of invective
there is no barrage of fire to protect
him.
at night, and exposed to the bomb
ardment of the family circle when
his wife turns her Big Berthas upon
him and lets him have a broad side
OF all the burning thoughts she has
been thinking while she waited up
for him, has wished himself safe in
the trenches where there was nothing
but a little shrapnel and bombs and
things to disturb q mans peace and
quiet.
Another thing that the Stacker who
would rather marry than enlist will
find out to his cost is that to avoid
a little trouble he has jumped into
lifelong trouble. To escape doing his
duty to his country for a few months
he has maze himself responsible for
duties that he will have to do to the
end of his days. To avoid bearing
his part Of the burden of citizenship
he has taken upon his back a burden
that he can never lay down.
For the war, at worst, can only last
very few years. Possibly it will