Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-11-06
DOROTHY DIX DISCUSSES LIFE
TALKS ON HEART AND HOME

wife and babies. His marriage makes
of him an economic slave forever
tied to a poor job, with heart, and
courage, and ambition taken out of
him by the fear Of the wolf that is
always bowling at his door.
If it is a mistake for a man to
marry too young, it is equally a mis-
take for him to marry when he is
old. The old WidOwer may remarry
with a good chance Of happiness, but
not the old bachelor, because the
widower is a domesticated animal,
householder, but the old bachelor
is not.
By the time man is so years old
he has formed habits that are I'M
breakable, and acquired ways that
are dearer to him than any woman
can possibly be. Moreover, having
had nobody to think of but himself,
nobody on whom to spend his money
but himself, he is wholly unprepar-
ed to make the sacrifices that matri-
mony demands of u man.
If he gets married, he is wretchet
because he cannot have the things
and do the things he has been &C.
cuStOmed to. He is horTor-stricken at
what it costs to support a wife. He
chafes like prisoner at the loss of
his liberty and when he finds that a
wife has nerves, and temper, and a
tongue, and has to be handled with
tact and finesse, he wonders why he
was ever fool enough to venture into
matrimony.
Nor, except in tie case of a
miracle, does he experience that love
that blots out self, that makes sac
rifice a pleasure and makes just
being with the adored one a compen.
sation for the loss Of everything else
in the world. For it is the penalty
of age that it dries up the springs
of emotion, and blights our fancies
and makes sentiment of less account
to us than our favorite chair and
super-eXcellent cooking.
Hence matrimony is not for the
old bachelor. He has anticipated in
this world the joys of heaven, in
which it is said there will be neither
marriage nor giving in marriage, anC
he had best remain in his self-elect-
ed paradise of single blessedness.
The ideal age for man to marry
is between % and 40. BY that time
he has come to himself and reached
his full statue Of growth, and so can
determine the type of wife that he
will want for keeps.
Also by that time he has got suf
ficiently we'll on his feet to be able
to support family without living
in agoniZed anxiety about how to pay
the rent and the butcher bill He
has had his little fling, and to him
home looks like a place to come tC
of an evening instead of a place to
get away from.
He is still young enough to be 70.
mantle, and 10 have his illusions. The
blood rus warm in his veins. He can
thrill to the touch of a hand and
dream of haunting face, and the
love that ne gives to a woman is
the grand passion that is the love OF
a lifetime.
And he is adaptable. He can ad
just himself to the new conditions
He can change his habits, his ways
of life, his point of view, to meet
those of his wife, and enter into anc
sympathize with her opinions. Above
all, he has learned self-control, and
how to sidestep domestic conflicts
instead of rushing into them.
For these and many other reasons
the years between % and 30 are the
psychological ones for a man tc
marry.
DOROTHY DIX.
Copyright, 1924