The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1933-02-10
Howe About:
Out of the Dark Ages
The Women Problem
Mrs. Mencken
By ED HOWE

eral conclusion is dUInlrdtlOn TOT the
human race. and he goes so far as to
predict the disappearance of igno-
rance and poverty by the year 1000.
only 6S years in the future.
Being leader. he of course gives
the credit to leaders. For such I'M
provement as we have made In the
United States, give credit to the
genius of 12O.OOOOO0 people, and not
to few leaders who usually make
more trouble than they do good. Real
progress comes from the farms. shops.
Offices, and not from the rostrum.
My opinion is that leaders led the
people into the dark ages, and that
the people finally had to lead them
selves out, after much unnecessary
suffering and trouble.
You say there is no sense in it.
say there is, and another fool argu-
ment is on.
81 have noted among my male
| friends generally" an old married man
writes me. "a shifting attitude to-
ward women in general. as If the fe-
male of our species had not lived up
to it's reputation for being earthly
seraphim and cherubim. but had DEM
onstrated unsupported traits of selfish
scheming and unbridled cOnspiring. |
have been wondering If the women
| problem is not weightier, more press
Ing. than Capital vs. Labor, Interna-
| tional Peace, War VS.. Peace. Interna-
| tional Debts. and the like. :"
| long time ago an old monk wrote: ut
is less misery to possess the unshape-
| ly wife than to guard the shapely,
| for nothing is safe when all men sigh
for it. II is hard to keep thing that
many men cOvet A married woman
hath many needs, and whether she be
wrathful. foolish, deformed. unsavory.
we learn her faults first when we have
married her. A horse or an OK. even
| the commonest slaves, are tried be-
! fore we choose to buy them; so also
with clothes. kettles. chair and cups
a wife alone is not to be had on ap-
| proval. lest she be found wanting be-
fore we marry her. |. poor wretch,
must hang my head among my fell
| lows. :" 1t is sufficient REPUTATION
of this writing to say old monks and
old married men know nothing about
women. That blessed knowledge is
| possessed only by young men who.
armed with gallantry, go forth to seek
them.
am hearing that ii. L. Mencken,
long noted as brilliant writer and
bachelor with bad disposition, is
now very happily married. A New
York preacher who called on me re-
Gently talked about it, and Joseph
Hergesheimer. who called on the
Menckens on the occasion of their Sec
ond anniversary. says the husband is
the politest and most cheerful man in
America.
asked the preacher about Mrs.
Mencken. ooh, she is a nice woman; ;
she does her part" he answered. "But
| have never seen a greater change
in man."
What did Mrs. Mencken do that so
pleased her husband? have heard of
only one thing: During Mr.. Menckens
bachelorhood he was constantly maxi
ing row because American women
have quit baking bread. which is
cheaper and better when made at
home. Soon after his marriage (the
story goes) Mr.. Mencken passed
through the kitchen. and saw his wife
stirring up batch; she had learned
the art from an old-fashioned mother
and has been baking bread ever since.
No doubt Mrs. Mencken learned other
good old-fashioned ways from a good
old-fashioned mother. so no wonder
Fl. L. Mencken is very happily mar
ried.
81 have little use for Plans" writes
James Truslow Adams ''but If we
could put into force Five Year Plan
by which individual Americans would
order their lives better for five years.
America might become nation of
which we could be proud. Our claim
to morality has collapsed, and our
complete failure TO do anything about
1t has swept away any possibility of
our giving other nations any better. or
indeed as good a standard Of ra-
tional or international morality as
they already possess"
An old editor in Michigan says:
"Some people accuse me of repeating !;
of writing the same old things Well,
political graft and waste keep repeat
ing. Crimes that might be cured keep
repeating. don't they? Repeating seems
to be the big thing. so I repeat facts.
warnings: I repeat and repeat. just
as the banks fail and statesmen fail
to keep their promises after they get
in Office
How much does Propaganda spend
on the average citizen per day, or
week. or year?
| have kept count in my case. and
find that postage on propaganda mail
sent me amounts to a sufficient sum
to feed me-
In addition to this there is propa-
gands in newspapers and speaking
campaigns intended for me. as one of
the people MY share of that, If paid
in money would be considerable; pos
sibly enough to clothe me Sometime
ago | sat at home. and heard man
deliver speech in the Philippine Is
lands. on the other side of the earth
1t was an expensive lookup. and a
poor speech
If had in money the amounts spen,
on me in propaganda of various kinds