The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-07-03


it,"
It's all very well to try to tell mar
RED woman how. to rum her husband,
but the directions do not always work
out satisfactorily. What one man Will
stand for another won't. The woman
with an income aside from that which
Ter hussand provides does not figure in
this discourse. She can he as indie
pendent as she likes The husband,
who cannot earn much, must pertorce
grin and bear it. Married life Is quite
a different story for the woman who
Elepends entirely upon the HUSBAND Tor
her maintenance, be she the wife OF a
mechanic, or a merchant prince. The
one who is the bread winner. has the
say-so in the house. It depends en-
tire,y upon his wishes as to what sort
of establishment she may keep UP.
1 have known Of many a millionaire
who could provide a home of unllrn-
.ited s1plendor, if he would. But instead
he provides just a sitting-room, bed
room and bath for his wife. I know
the wives of several working men as
we'll Cne of them tells me that her
husband gives her his pay envelope,
unopened; others say their husbands
take out from their weekly wages the
amount of money they think they are
entitled to for their own enjoyment.
such as smoking ami going to ball
games. It is quite useless either for
the mechanics CIR millionaires wife to
contend with her liege lord. What
husband does not give UP Of his own
! free will, a wife can neither threaten
nor coax from him. OF the two meth
DDS of course coaxing is by far the
better.
| Every wife should know that when
she commences to threaten, and De
belligerent toward her husband the
llittle affection that exists will not last
| long. What a wife cannot accomplish
by fair means, cannot be done by foul.
No wife can force the money out OF
mans pocket, against his will. The
average man thinks he is a pretty fair
Judge of his wife's needs. That much
he usually is willing to give up. even
though he does grumble.
No woman can hold her own against
a tight-fsted wage Garner, by letting
her anger get the masterys of her bet
ter Judgment. She should try every
plan known, to bring her husband to
| her way of seeing matters ere she al
lows herself to give way to rage o.
tears q scr A.
I A rich man T know Of compeass his
wife to keep a strict account of7ah her
expenditures even to five cents for a
trolley ride, and two cents for post
age stamp. She is a beautiful. inter
esting woman, being quite a belle, and
was something of a coquette before
her marriage. After the knot was tied
he became proof against her cajolery
and soft Establishments. She came
from a family in reduced circum-
4. u L. Il, 1,I
band for every cent She has tried
coaxing and rebellion, tears and so
phistries. His is one of those natures
hard as flint. He takes advantage Oh
being, the bread-earner. She makes nc
ibones of telling her friends that she
would have been happier with the poo1
bookkeeper who loved her in earlier
days, had she wed him, than she is
! now with this mill-owner, who has
literally money to burn.
| The wife of a poor man, is what her
husband will allow her to be. She
| hears all the fine talk of setting hel
foot down, asserting herself raising 9
row if he does not come over with the
amount of his wages. which she thinks
marriage ring on her finger, entities
her to spend for him. But when al
that is said and done, she realizes that
the one who earns the money for the
| household, holds the whip-handle, and
can give or withheld Just as he pleases
It's a mistake for a wife to begin mar
rage by iternizing and reckoning to g
cent just how much she will need fol
expenses. In every family, be this
number two. or half a. dozen, the need
for unthought Of necessities will croI
out.
How is wife to meet them unless
she has a little bag Of small change
or few bills laid by to Insure againsi
troubling her husband for trif1ing ex-
tras? How can any woman nowadays
who keeps house, tell exa~tly what hen
household expenses are to be week te
week? If one necessity comes down If
rice, another scars in cost There's
only one way out 0 matrimonial
difficulty. That is TO have one cper
pocketbook between husband and wife
The bread Garner has right to know
how his money is to be spent There
should he no evasion on the wife'e
part A good wife is always mans
lbest banker.
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