The evening world., 1921-06-14

hNi III ONNi NOuhNiy S'Sl '
plete travel, including six journeys ar
cinated observation have convinced m
TO the devastating influence of the ma
] personally wouldn't live with her ffte
OF my life and travels, sickness, sorl
>ud few other beautiful results of Il
1he broadside is launched by C.
Kay Scott, novelist, essayist, editor.
critic and globe trotter, whom l asked
to tell the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth about the nag
ging woman. The reason ! went to
Mr.. Scott, a New Yorker, now cozily
domiciled in a charming cottage
among the pines of Buzzards Bay.
Mass, is because in his recently pub
lished clever first novel, Blind Mice"
he has drawn perhaps the most per-
feet type of nagging woman to be
found in fiction. His Mamie Mer-
went is an exact illustration of Henry
James's definition of realism: "The
individual caught in the fact"
Therefore, / thought that this tall
ing blue eyes that are such contrast
TO his deeply tanned, rugged face,
might be able not only to define our
prize domestic pest, but might-just
possibly-suggest some methods of
controlling or circumventing her.
II want to put myself on record at
the very beginning" Mr.. Scott as
sured me, in his slow. softly modu-
lated voice, las NOT saying that all
women nag. All weak persons are
naggers in one way or another. 1t is
the eternal resource of inferiority.
Some men nag, and l hate a male
nagger worse than female nagger.
This is the nagging woman: She
usually hates the people she most
admres. She welcomes trouble be-
cause it brings HER into notice. She
expects to receive in exactly the same
ID portion that she fails to give. She
decries herself because the object of
self depreciation is twofOld: First.
to disarm others by throwing your
self on their mercy; second, to bolster
up your self-rCspect by compelling
tEon to deny your shortcomings. The
sasle principle underlieS the fact that
il always gives the weak person the
greatest delight to discover in others
the faults OF which she is mot con-
scious in herself Consequently, she
continually brings out the worst in
others, rather than the best. And 50
the jangling goes on until the self
respecting party wishes to commit
murder
as the nagger born or made?"
asked Mr.. Scott.
Both" he answered promptly
'13orn that way, and encouraged by
the experiences of childhood. Nag
ging is the device of the weak, and
when it succeeds it gives the child n
taste of power. She has produced a
result. SO she does it again.
"As she grows older she hOpelessly
attempts to retain by the use Of
threats and prosecutions the attcn-
tion that no longer comes by virtue
Of her attractivenCss. And the longer
she is married, the more she counts
on the Inconvenience and cmDarras SIS
ment it would mean to her husband
to leave her. Likewise, the less at
tention she can secure from him the
more she demands from her children
and so the vicious circle grows wider
but is there nothing that can be
done to or with herr" I asked the
author of Blind Mice" published, by
the way, by George II. Doran Com
pany. Il have known men of real
physical and intellectual vigOr to give
up perfectly harmless pleasures and
friendships because of domestic nag
ging. have asked them why they
did it, and they said that they simply
couldn't live in a perpetual row. In
all your travels, have you found no
husband who could cope with the
naggcr?"
Mr. Scott shook a gloomy negative
head
Everybody is helpless" he oh
served; "men especially so on account
uf sex chivalry. They cannot cOntcm-
plate personal violence on a creature
physically weaker than they and so,
until they are ready to break away
forever anything in the world seems
a small sacrifice for the sake of peace.
During my hunting trips in Africa !
feared mosquitoes and vermn more
han lions, elephants or pythOnS,
-ihs bigger and botrCr the man the
more he is at her mercy. He is out
of his element because little natures
cope with petty problcms better than
biEGe" people 1t should not be $50,
but il is. II the brave person could
adopt the methods Of the coward he
would be lnNnclDle-Oul ne can't. lilS
strength irritatcs hcr-shc Will f)rgiy,
anything Csc more easily. And S,
clashes arise hour by hour and day
by day.
We spoke Of men of different ma
; t,Ona'itics and their respective re-
II actions to the nagscr. | suggested
\ that possibly the Englishman, with
\ Lis legal permission to beat his VIII,
\ provided the stick be no bigger
\ than his thumb--mIght cope with
tagging more successfully than tho
american.
81 think he does worse" NJ Scott
smssod De British spouse. "Hr J.
} repressod and So the sting,
lklc and fn,tcr
The Southern Spariarl docs be-.
His inhia.tiuns are !. SIS serious
T,bcats her up and then W"sps wiz
L. So they nave a period OF mu.ur
Et-unti. she starts i'm again.
,t.it.te - no Wu, ,f ,ul,us tir' ul-
none that is legal. NJIE
R kves equally well On violence, o.,
M bribery, miscr,ue0s. sweet TEN
.NT IN Ind supl lnenrsg-..n flCt. on ,V,l..