The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-01-30
Frederick Haskin's Letter
The City of Single Women.
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her except marriage. The civ ~ -
man can get job. The question - y
whether she really, in anv coI =
siderable number of cases. tat
! the job from choice, or does -
generally do so from necessifv 9le
| There Is evidently a small H..
! genuine revolt against matrir,o,.,.
in the larger cities of the coT1t- ly
The actual proportion OF MAJ
i persons has declined little II az, A.
so far. but this, as pointad 3
above, is partly due to the aIwsg u'
married immigrants POURING as rs
those cities where the refusal ~
marriage is most common. and "
od-setting it as far as figures s5os y
Then, too, divorce is on the ~
crease. In a word. more -
stay out of marriage and mora ~
pie get out than formerly. Tba ~
teresting question is whether al
revolt is chiefly feminine or cbias
Iy masculine. Is it due cbiasi..
to an increase of women who ~
fer to be free or to an incraasa :,
men who do not care to suDDort -
wife?
The Washington Spinsts..
The case of Washington. he ci,v
of single women, would seem IN NJ
an argument for the view thai ,5e
women are in revolt against ma
rage. 1t is certain that wn1,sD
come to Washington from ali mart
of the country for the purDesa ~
getting jobs. 1t is also cerfsi1
that Washington is known tn No
men in all parts of the copntr,,
as a place where husband-huntins
is exceedingly poor. This is due
in part to the large relative pro-
portion of women in the population
and also in part TO the fact that tbe
types of men who make good bns-
bands are not found here. The
ideal husband is the prosperous
business man. There is very lftfIa
business in Washington. The pIace
is populated by government clerks
politicians and newspapermen. who
are three of the most impecuniops
types on earth. In fact, personable
men are so few in Washington that
any man with a clean face and a
dress suit can get into society as
far as he is willing to go. There
is a whole tribe here known az
cake-eaters who subsist largely BY
going out to tea, lunch and din
ner. These young gentlemen have
established the curious but useful
custom of letting the ladies pay
the checks at cafes and other such
places where a tariff is charged for
the entertainment.
The point is that women certain
ly do not come here for the purpose
of finding husbands. Most Of them
know in advance that game of that
kind is exceedingly scarce and wary
and rather lean when caught, and
those who do not know it in ad-
vance find it out soon after their
arrival. Yet they come in 6roves
and hang onto their jobs with that
tenacity for which government Of
fice-holders are famous. Thousands
of them came during the war, and
when the cutting down Of office
forces began to take place after the
there was much weep
ing and gnashing of teeth among
the fair ones who had come here
to serve their country in her hour
of need. One and all, they seem
ed to hate going back home
1t is not hard to understand why
they like Washington. They have
jobs which are not very hard and
give them the necessities Of life.
Usually they do not live in well
chaperoned boarding houses, but
club together and rent flats. They
have a month of vaCat.o1 = gar.
They enjoy a measure OF freedom
and independence which is known
to few girls living at home with
the folks, and to still fewer mar
ried women. All of them probably
are willing TO marry if a sufficient
~ brilliant offer comes along, but
brilliant offers are few and free
dom is sweet when once you are
used to it. Probably the 50 per
cent of Washington women who are
unmarried includes a considerable
of that new type-the spin