The Washington herald., 1917-08-17
PICKING THE WINNER.
by DOROTHY DIX.
The Worlds Highest Paid Woman Writer.

A young man asks me how a youth
can tell which is the right girl when
1t comes to picking out wife.
There isn't any way to tell with
absolute surety. son. There is no in
fallible test that you can apply to
a girl either mentally. morally, or
physically which will settle beyond any
peradventure II she is the one par
ticular woman In the world for you
and the one destined by nature for
your mate.
Marriage is the great guessing game
in which the chances are fifty-ffty
on your stumbling on the right an
swer and being happy ever after, or
laundering on the wrong answer and
pulling up in the divorce court. II
is the one act in life in which neither
age. wisdom, nor previous experience
count for a cent or are any guide
to our feet.
You see callow youths with not
enough judgment and intelligence to
be trusted to buy their own neck
ties picking out wives who turn out
to be three-tine winners. And you
see elderly millionaires with barrels
of brains and a judgment so clear
and cool that 1t sends stocks up or
down as II decides a matter of finance,
who pick out for their second wives
chorus girls young enough to be their
granddaughters.
Nobody knows how a wedding is
going to turn out. least OF all do the
high contracting parties know, be-
cause they don't know how they are
going to turn out themselves. 1t is
common thing to see a girl who was
society butterfly before marriag
turn around and become a domestic
grub after marriage. 1t is equally
common to see the girl who has been
Cinderella before marriage dust the
ashes OFF Of her as soon as she enters
the holy estate and do nothing the
balance Of her life but see how fast
she can spend her husbands money.
Also many a girl who before ma arriage
was so mild and meek that butter
would not melt in her mouth develops
after marriage into a wife with the
continuous curtain lecture habit.
Every girl is mystery wrapped UT
In chiffon, and no man knows what
he is getting until he takes his prize
package home with him, and then it's
too late to change.
Nor is the uncertainty OF woman the
only difficulty in the case. Really,
the chief difficulty is that the man
doesn't know what he wants himself
in wife, or rather he wants one
thing in a sweetheart and another
in a wife, which is absurd as want
ing a garment which would be a
swell bathing suit and a smart suit to
wear to business
Therefore, son. in trying to decide
which Is the right girl, try to get
some mental picture Of your own
ideal of wife. Do you want a wife
who will be thrifty and economical.
or do you want one who will be a
good spender and look like a fashion
plate? Do you want a wife to dance
the fox trot with you, or one who will
nave cooked you a good dish of corn
ed beef and cabbage for your din
ner? Do you want a wife who will
be a companion TO you, or who will
sit at your feet and ask you what
you think she thinks? Do you want
wife who will play golf with you
and who is an out OF doors woman,
or whose idea OF sport and excitement
centers around the bargain table in
a department store?
II you will decide these questions,
the trick Of picking out the right girl
for a wife isn't such marvel of
legerdemain as 1t is supposed to be.
For all married happiness rests al
last on Congeniality and community
interests, and when man and
woman have these nothing else mat
ters. All the little difficulties are
swallowed up in the big delight OF
living with one who has the same
tastes and habits, the same ideals