The Washington herald., 1918-03-18
LIKE FATHERLIKE SON
By DOROTHY DIX,
THE WORLDS HIGHEST PAID WOMAN WRITER.

A young girl said TO me the other
day:
when you marry do you always
have TO buy a pig in a poke. as the
irish say? Is there no way OF telling
on the safe side Of the altar what sort
Of husband a man will make? I've
seen 30 many OF my friends make ter
rible mistakes-mArry men who we're
generous, tender and considerate In
the days OF courtship, and who turned
into grumpy. surly. stingy husbands.
Il thought each Of these girls had
gotten a Prince Charming when I at
tended their weddings. When 1 visit
them now 1 perceive that they have
got Old Man Trouble as life partners
and 1t scares me blue when think OF
taking my own header into the sea Of
matrimony.
What brand Of husband is my own
now delightful young man going TO
make? Am going TO spend the bal
ance OF my life burning Joss sticks be-
fore the great God Luck, or cursing
my hoodoo? Isn't there any magic
mirror in which a girl can see how
her best beau will look as a hus-
band? Isn't there any fortune teller
who can foretell how he is going to
treat her? It's the most important
thing in the world for a girl to know
and it's the secret that she never fnds
out until It is too late for the knowl-
edge TO do her any good.
Believe me. there are millions of
other girls like / am who never look
at a young man without saying 60
themselves, oh, you're a perfect lamb
now and 1 could fall in love with you
as easy as falling off log. but won
der what sort OF a husband you'd
make and don't know how to find
out"
You never can tell what the latent
potentialities OF any individual are for
good or evil" I said in reply. their
development depends so much on cir
Cumstances. Therefore, it is impos-
sihle to propheSy with absolute ac-
curacy the kind OF a husband that any
given man will make. but there's one
way by which you can get a mighty
good line on him and make a guess
that would be the right one nine times
out of ten.
and mother the once over with a care
ful eye, observing how father treats
mother and getting the general at
mOsphere of the home.
Observe whether the family perks
up and looks brighter, as IL something
pleasant was about TO happen, or
whether II takes to the cyclone cellar
when father-in-law's latch key ia
heard in the door. Notice whether
father-in-law leads in cheerful con-
Yersation, or whether he gloOms
grouches and never speaks except TO
find fault. Particularly notice II
mother-in-law's face wears a strained
expression when father-in-law is
around and II she only relaxes and
draws a sigh OF relief when he starts
forth TO work, OF golf.
Talk TO mother-in-law about the
| money problem and find out whether
she has a personal allowance. OF
whether she has to screw every penny
out OF father-in-law. Observe father.
in-law's attitude towards mother-in.
law, whether it is tender. sympathetic
and understanding. or whether il Il
| cOntemptuous. overbearing and selfish
That will give you father-in-law'i
| number and when you have his num-
ber you have got his sons nUmoel
and can form a very accurate estima'
! ton Of what your own married lif,
will be il you marry son. For the old
| proverb. like father like son. hold.
| good nowhere else so surely as in tn,
| domestic circle.
Here you have all the combined
| forces of heredity and environment &C
make a man like his father. To begin
with, the boy starts OF. most likely
with the same temper. nerves and
! disposition that his father has. Tc
! these he adds childish impressions
early teaching. force of habit, all q
the influence that run our plastic ma.
lures when We are young into a moulC
! that we cannot break when We are old
The man who has a surly. dis
| agreeable. ADVANTAGEOUS father make!