The Washington herald., 1918-09-11

disgracefui intrigue with her riding
master or dancing teacher. or some
long haired poet or musician. who
neither bathes nor pays his board bill.
Or you read that some brilliant,
successful man 10 being sued by his
wife for divorce because Of his affair
with Hottie Coughdrops of the chorus.
who 10 a frowsy. gum-chewing flapper,
with brains as scrambled as her hair,
and whose moral sense is as short and
spotted as her skirts.
We ask ourselves why these other
wise sane and sensible men and
women engage In such follies, and
the only answer Is that they have
reached the age OF indiscretion. They
are in the forties. They are on the
danger line.
That men and women at middle age
should suddenly imagine themselves
in love with others besides their own
wives or husbands and desire to
change partners. should really occa-
sion no surprise. II is the logical
working out Of a condition of mat
rimony that most people are too blind
to see, and too lazy and self-cen-
tered to protect themselves against
No matter how much in love
couple may be when they marry,
with marriage there generally comes
cessation of love-making and the
fattering that both the man and
the woman have been in the habit
of heaping upon each other. They
strike the dead level. monotonous
jog trot of domestic life In which
they take each others good qualities
for granted. and only their faults
call for notice.
Now, the heart can no more feed
upon husks and be satisfied than
can the body. Suddenly there comes
a day when the man and woman
realize that they are starved for SEN
timent, and with IL also comes the
realization that they are growing old,
and that their day for romance Is
nearly over, and that IL they do not
take II quickly. IT will be too late.
1t is Cupid's last call to the dining
car.
Perhaps at this danger hour there
comes across the path of the woman
man who notices her. who COM
pliments her, who is interested in
what she thinks. who pays her the
tribute OF understanding her, and
all the starved vanity, the hunger
ing for appreciation, the thirsting
for praise that has devoured her so
long, rush out and overwhelm her
good sense. her judgment-even her
moral principles.
She feels her youth come back
to her. She is intoxicated by the
knowledge that she can attract,
and still rouse the admiration of
men. To all intents. and purposes.
she is a drunken woman, drunk on
the last draught OF romance that
was left in her cup. and at the
follies this leads her to commit,
surely the angels must weep in
pity.
Practically the same thing hap
pens to the man when he. too,
reaches the danger line To his
wife he has merely become Papa"
the family work horse who pulls
the domestic wagon; the cash regis
ter, whose chief function in life is
to be manipulated so that she and
the children can get the most
money out OF II to buy fine clothes.
and plea esures. 1t has been years
since wife told husband that he was
the handsomest man she knew, or
accused him of being fascinating.
and he has gotten out OF the way
Of thinking of himself as being at
tractive. or that women enjoy his
society. or admire him.
Then comes the day when he be-
gins TO think that. after all a man
is still young when he is on the
right side OF fifty. and when he
wonders II he has forgotten how he
used to make love. and IL his hand
has lost its cunning in sowing a few
wild oats. And then he Is simply
game for any adventures who
comes along and tells him that he
still has the figure OF an Apollo,
and that iron gray hair gives a man
an irresistibly romantic look, and
that the way he makes love makes
the young fellows seem like anna
teurs. and who pretends to be afraid
of him because he is such a devil
Of fellow with the women.
The remedy for obliterating the
danger line is as obvious as the
cause OF the line itself. II lies in
husbands and wives remember ring
that there is an Indian summer of
the heart as well as Of the year.
and that IL they are not holding
down their claim when this second
blossoming of romance comes.
somebody is mighty apt to jump to
get II.
When man quits making love
to his wife. some other man is very
sure to begin. and the only way a
woman can be certain that no other
woman tells her husband that he is
a heart smasher, is to tell him that
so often herself she won't give the
other woman a chance.