Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-09-28


an avalanche of divorce lib
such as Is appalling Eng E&
land today, ten months after EH
the last gun was fred In Elan 'H
ders? Have American hus- lLE
bands and wives OF wealth f&6
and social Importance been IN
driven apart by the war rather
than drawn closer together? ~
From the evidence presented E
1t would seem So M
Slice the signing OF the arm
istice New York has witnessed EH
the smashup OF several domcs- Va
tic establishment, including nv
the ]. Gordon Douglasses the WI
Reginald Yanderbilts and the q
Sidney Breeses. Then Chi.
cago was startled by the sep.
aration OF the young Leander
McCormicks, married less
than year. and so the tale OF
discord runs. In each of these
unhappy cases the war and its
outgrowths plays q prominent \
part War has not made for
tranquil domestic happiness:
on the contrary, 1t has reused
passions and disscnsions IN
the hearts and minds OF hus.
bands and wives that time re.
fuses to heal With almost
one accord relief is sought
through divorce rather than
through any mental or spirit.
ual readjustmcnt. Is Il any
wonder that society asks what
the end may be?
The latest divorce on New York's
docket is occasioning extraordinary fore.
holdings and headshakings, for 1t concerns
the Charles E. Greenoughs, and 1t was
brought by Mrs Greenough In the State OF
New York, which necessarily explains
itself.
When these young people were married
ten years ago this was considered the hap.
piest match that New York society had
witnessed for a very long time Mrs
Greenough was the older OF Frederick
Whltridge's two daughters, an heiress,
and already a leader in the intellectual.
philanthropic element in society.
Greenough was n typical butterfly and
social lion, almost too handsome for
man. with black hair. gray-blue eyes and
smile that had made him famous in
Newport and wherever else society fore.
gathered.
With its usual shallow perceptions so.
ciety decided that this union was bound
to be perfect because the bride and groom
were both well-bred. good looking and
popular. No one went behind the returns,
10 one stopped to realize that the very
qualities that made Charles r. Greenough
favor1te protege OF Mrs. Ogden Goelet
and other fashionable New York matrons
band: that is. under the complications
brought about by modern social conditions
and later by the war.
The wife who suffers from sudden acute
attacks OF domestic unhappness is less to
be feared than the wife who becomes
chronically dissatisfied with her husband
and her marital condition. The former
usually RECEIVERS from her acute attacks;
the husband, although he may have been
i'll the right. has chance to plead for
mercy; the wife graciously forgves him
and they have a perfectly lovely time
making up"
The dissatisfied wife is quite a different
story. Her condition is usually due to
lack Of understanding between the two
Her husbands inclinations and tastes may
differ radically from hers and they cannot
meet on any common ground. Incompati-
bility is considered, by the thoughrcss, to
be slight grounds for divorce, whereas it
is one OF the most weighty and serious of
causes. lncompatiblity between husband
and wife invariably leads either one or
the other to seek companionship or solace
OF some sort in the wrong places, and so
leads direct to the divorce court.