New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-07-17


Wed. practically unbreakable engagement that
Saa nns Of the institutions of regime that is
passing, is already as od-fashioned as the mid
Victorian gown with its STRENGTHENING train,
its disfiguring hustle and its colapsible hoop
skirt. Like the clothes of the moment, the
engagement now in vogue is short, smart and
snappy.
While TO the initiated t'might seem that the
country rs whole has preserved fair aver
age in the matter of June weddings, this year,
it is nevertheless fact that the relation of
an engagement to wedding is much less
fixed that it once was, and even with the
1leager statistics available it is being shown
Chat the number of broken engagements in any
given social circle is now far gre~~ss- than
those ending at the altar
This state of affairs is said ITO exist not be-
cause a wave of fckleness has been sweeping
over the land, but is accounted for by the fact
that the breaking of all engagement is no
longer monopoly in the hands of women.
For considerable time it has been growing
less and less difficult for girl to become
engaged. A solitaire finds it's way to the third
finger of her left hand with only fraction of
the effort once necessary to accomplish the
same end. 1t used to be a matter of clever
maneuvering, where subtlety and a shrewd
advantage taken of every trifing incident
were the only effective aids girl had for
bringing dazed youth to the point Of really
committing himself. Often the assistance
of mother who outdid Napoleon in cam
paignng proclivities was necessary before the
young man could be brought to actual
capitulation.
But all too often, In spite of the concentrated
energies of both mother and daughter, who
might also be aided by interested friends, the
coveted proposal would fail to materialze.
This catastrophe isn't occurring as often
now as it did in bygone seasons. For many years
women have known that as long custom
decreed that the man was the only authorized
person to speak the formula which would bring
an engagement about, there was always the
chance that those words might never be
spoken. They knew that set Of rules that
would permit them, as we'll as the man, to
speak at the psychological moment was all that
was necessary as safeguard. So the first bit
Of remodeling done on engagements" was to
give girl much more to say when it came to
clinching matters and now the trick of trans
forming the climatic situation into bona-fide
engagement is as much her business as his.
But after women had taken in one reef in
the pre-war model, men Immediately took in
another. Taking off an engagement was thus
made as easy for one for the other, which
seemed perfectly fair.
So now the law of compensation, or the
rules of poetic justice, have begun to function
in the interest of the male, and man has
nh in ha breo nf
gagement than in the days of yore, when gal
lantry and chivalry and fear of social cen
sure kept him dashed to the mast once the
fateful promise had been given. Although
his were the words that brought an engage
ment into existence in the first place, frown-
ing society until now denied him the privilege
Of uttering a syllable that would bring it to
an end, and insisted that any suggestion that
there might have been mistake must come
from the girl
:. few -c.socs past before this mutual un-
derstanding had become an established fact,
a man with more daring than his fellows
would occasionally attempt to take the law
into his own hands in the matter Of bringing
his engagement to end, but his move usu-
ally ended in disaster.
One recalls the case several years ago of q
sophisticated youth in Western city who
declared his intention of breaking his engage
ment because his fancee's affection did not
stand the test which he had invented to try it.
He called upon the girl, and after few
minutes conversation, during which he affected
great mental Depression he asked her for a
drink of water. He then took tiny phial from
his pocket and, emptying the contents into the
water, drank the mixture before she could
stop him, and fell at her feet, apparently
dead.
But not being even unconscious, he was able
to watch the effect of his own death" upon
her. Without the slightest sign of excitement
she went to the telephone, called up the police
and reported the suicide.
This was too much for the experimenting
lover, who Immediately resurrected himself,
rose from the floor and accused her of heart
xssness and Indignantly broke his engagement
But in the fuss that followed he was finally
convinced by his friends that his fiancee was
really very remarkable woman of the most
approved modern type as she had displayed
cool-headed common sense instead of hysteria
FL the face OF an emergency and that he had
no grounds whatever for breaking his promise
to marry her.
There was another psuedo-hero who tried
TO back out of his contract that societv of