The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-09-19
RJJRDENS OF UNMARRIED MEN


 .sPerhaps like the swallow
 He'll migrate beyond the sea'
 Toward a strange land Far, far from home, and Joy' ana
 love-"
 There is a. popular belief to the ef- feet that no man is so care-Iree "e those who have as yet steereu clear of Hymen's altar. But let me lsl yoo a thing or two of the woes WHICH nui den the unmarried man. If ne hVes in a boardfng place, he does not nave any too happy time of it, because or the maidens, spinsters and Wldowss who have covert designs on' hfrn. II he lives under his own parental TOOL affairs are no better. Mothers are eternally trying to make a match ioi him with the girls whom he ooesn want; steering him clear of girls, any one of whom might really appeal to him. He is rich picking for his male friends If they are short of money, he is the one they go to, to borrow cash to tide them over their dlHcul- ties. ,.
 :"You have only yourself to keep, they say. You would not miss the amount"
 His married sister and her children have the trick of wheeling money out of his pocket, giving the same excuse; he has only himself and can well spare the sum badly needed. IT there are any dangerous jobs, 1t IS the unmarried men who are required to fill them If business is poor, it's the unmarried man who finds a reduction of the amount in his pay envelope. 1,o oryo no r1nd enough to keep himself decently.
 The. married man, who works beside him, not having suffered a cut in his salary, may be enjoying a good home, furnished by an indulgent father-in- law, with a regular seat in an auto mobile, and yacht as we'll He only laughs at the plight of the boob who is foolish enough to stay single, and get the brunt of ife's battles.
 The longer man stays single, the more fearful his relatives are lest he should marry, and thereby they would forfeit what he has accumulated. His his cousins and his aunts drop the word broadcast that he dislikes women, and wouldn't marry the best woman that ever put her foot in shoe leather.
 The single man wonders vaguely why the nice young women who are on such friendly terms with his sis ters and his cousins and his aunts, waste but scant courtesy, upon him, and encourage young men who are by long odds his inferior The single man is a target for Mrs. Grundy's, in If he is seen dining at cafe after the show, with, a gfddy creature bepainted and powdered who wants tighIballs, and insists on dan cing between. the courses, Madame Grundy stamps him then and there as a sport. and the kind of man who won't marry.
 He realizes the remarks that are being made about him at the time, but he is powerless to refute the in- He cannot publish the fact that his companion is valuable out -of-town customer. The single man has been assigned by his firm to escort this fair customer about-dine her. and wine her, at the firms exS her the places she is
 The firm knows better than to call on anyone, who is married to perform these gallantries.
 Friends name their babies after the single man whether he will or not. He is pressed into being the god father to such a child. Thereafter, at every anniversary of its birth god father has to dig down deep >in his pockets for a gold-piece of substantial amopnt to celebrate the natal day of the young hopeful. There is no end of the toys he has to buy for the mar ried mans children, which raises the problem in his mind whether or not it would be a wise plan to corner the
 
 with the demand made upon him. He cannot enjoy simply the friendship of the opposite sex, for the reason that they think he ought to be on marriage intent. If not, why not? Thus his married friends have the laugh on him in every direction. Once in a while the unmarried man is able to turn the laugh on them. When a war draft comes, is he not offered first oppor- unity to fight, and protect the homes of his married brethren? No matter where he goes he is leaving no broken up-home weeping wife and babes be- hind him. If he is destined not to re- turn he is putting no attractive widow in the matrimonial market. He does a world, of good in his own way. Never having known the Joy of being called father, he never misses little clinging arms about his neck that are flesh of his flesh and blood of his blood He may have his own burdens, but he doesn't let people know about them.