The Washington herald., 1917-05-21
THE G,OUCH
By DU 0THY DIX.
The Worlds Highest Paid Woman Writer.

A good, thrifty. industrious. devoted
woman Of my acquaintance has the mis-
fortune 70 be married TO a man who has
perpetual Crouch. The man Is one Of
those domestic wet blankets who can
beat any patent fire extinguisher in put
ting out the fire on the hearthstone OF a
home. The very sound Of his key in the
lock sends the temperature OF the house
down TO the freezing point and rubs the
smile on Of every lip.
Nothing that this mans wife does ever
pleases him, although she Is an excellent
cook and wonderful manager. and no
man comes home at night 10 cleaner
house or a better dinner.
He growls like dog over his food. He
growls when his wife is forced to ask
him for the necessary money for daily
expenses. He growls at the children, and
he makes the home so disagreeable by
his surliness that all OF the woman's old
friends have dropped away from her, and
the neighbors avoid the house as II II
were a plague spot
The woman lives in a state of dread
and terror Of her husbands temper that
makes her life nerve-racking. She never
knows what chance word Of hers may
| send him on into one of his abusive
RACES, or plunge him into a frozen silence
that is equally hard to endure. She must
forever walk on eggs, trying diplomat
ically to propitiate him, apologizing for
things she has never done: trying 70
keep out of sight everything that might
possibly veX him. and TO steer the con-
versation away from subjects that irri-
tate him.
But all I'm vain is her trouble. He is
always looking for faults, and he dis
covers them. He Is always seeking causes
of offense and he finds them in her simp-
lest word and action, and then there
lensue scenes that leave the woman ex-
| hausted in body. bruised in spirit, and
soul sick
And she has grown tired OF IL all. She
! is only 90 years old, and the prospect Of
| spending the balance of her life under
such conditions is a horror that she can
not endure, so she is going to take her
children and leave this miserable hus-
band.
In my opinion she can't do it too quick
ly nor go too far from him. II women
ever have a hand in making the divorce
laws they will pass blithely and gayly
over such trivial matters as unfaithful-
ness and drunkenness in men, and make
the chief causes for which divorces shall
/ be granted habitual grouchiness, and III
/ temper, and incurable stinginess.
These are the vices in husbands that
break women's hearts. and turn life into
( dust and ashes in their teeth. These are
the things that make marriage a failure,
and women look forward to the peace Of
| the grave.
! For these are the ever-present anlic-
tions that are always with a woman,
that she rises up and sits down with.
that she eats and drinks with. that she
! cannot escape from night or day. They
are like the pebble in the shoe. the thorn
in the flesh, the continual dropping OF a
little water that runs one mad.
1t Is not the big troubles OF life that
are hard to bear. It is the little ones.
II Is not the occasional big sins that Il
/ is hard TO forgive. II is the continual
| little meannesses. the little cruelties, the
| daily ragging and goading that are be-
yond the pale OF forgiveness.
/ The bad husbands Of the world are not
the ones that fall into some sudden temp
tation and commit some wrong against
/ their wives. and are sorry for it and try
/ to make reparation for Il. The worst
husbands are the men OF punctilious out
ward morality who take advantage OF
their wives dependence on them to ty-
rannize over them and torture them.
| a man may have all the weaknesses 10
which flesh in heir, and yet be adorable
to live with, tender. kind and generous
and arfectionate TO his wife. He may be
a pillar OF virtue. and be hard. cold and
a miser. a husband who makes every
hour of his wife's life bitter to her.
| There isn't a woman in the worh who
couldn't forgive an affinity to her hus-
band easier than she can his daily nag
ging about the size OF the grocery bill
There isn't a wife who wouldn't rather
/ her husband came home roaring drunk
once a month and beat her IL he was
pleasant and agreeable the balance OF
the time. than for him TO be as sober