Evening star., 1937-09-11


years when he thought he
- fell in love with girl young
enough to be my daughter AT his in
sistence I divorced him and he married
her Immediately On the anniversary
of the divorce / wrote to him and told
him that if ne was happy 1 was glad
and that 1 did not regret giving him
his freedom If it had brought him
what he wanted His reply should
give pause to all men who are think
ing of doing likewise. 1t contained
five words They we're these: mo,
not worth the price" 1 would humbly
suggest to any man contemplating
setting aside the wife Of years that
before he does it he should 90 and
talk to some man who had been
through it. My guess is that most of
them would also say: "No, not worth
the price" IRENE.
Answer-You are right. Not only
80 men out Of 100 but also 90 wom-
en- out Of 100 who get divorces find
that they are not worth the price.
They find that no marriage is perfect.
that no human being comes up to their
ideal, and that when they swapped
partners they were only exchanging
one set of faults that got upon their
nerves for another that were Just as
irritating.
Not long ago a woman wrote me that
she has been divorced three times and
had fourth husband, and that she
didn't find her latest venture any more
successful than her initial one. or her
latest husband any more desirable
than her first. Men and marriage. -
she said, "are all alike. All full of
disappointments, and if l had tried as
hard to get along with my first hus-
band as I do with my fourth I would
have been just as happy and as we'll
off and saved myself all the mess of
divorces"
YOU can't have everything in mar
riage any more than you can have
everything anywhere else. This is a
truth that men should consider more
than they do when matrimony begins
to pail upon them and they commence
getting tired of their wives. They look
upon the old wife with disillusioned
eyes. They see her losing her figure
and her complexion, her hair turning
gray Getting settled in mind and
body.
The wife has worked hard to help
him get his start in the world. She
has made him comfortable home and
been a good wife. He hasn't fault
to find with her conduct, but she isn't
alluring, thrilling and romantic any
longer and there is girl who is. A
girl who is young and gay. who flatters
him and tells him that he is nothing
but boy far too young for his wife
sweeps him off Of his feet. She thrills
him and turns him into a young lover
again.
Only too often while he is obsessed
by this phase he divorces his wife and
marries her. Then comes as inevita-
BILE and as cruel a disillusion as q
man ever experiences. He finds out
that what he thought was a return
Of his youth was delusion, just a
last f1are-up that burned down as
suddenly as it came, and that he is as
old as his old wife, not as young as
his new one. He finds that he can't
60 the pace with her, and that while
she wants to go places and do things
ne wants to sit by the fire of an eve
ming.
He finds out that they have nothing
in common, that she belongs to one
age and tradition and he to another
They look at nothing from the same
point Of view. They have no memories
in common. They have nothing to
talk over, no companionship. They
bore each other to extinction. She
shows him none of the consideration
for his purse that the older wife did.
She isn't willing to sacrifice to help
him get along as the other did. She
doesn't cater to his whims and his
tastes as the other wife did.
The great majority of men who di-
vorce old wives to marry young ones
regret it. Their brief romance soon
fades and they realize that it was not
worth what it cost
X X X X
DEAR MISS DIX: am % years
old, in love with girl met four
months ago at dance hall She is
Of foreign race and one that 1 hate
and look down on. She is uneducated.
but very decent. I abhor her rela-
tions, including her father and mother.
1 have no money and only earn S18
week. My mother has worked hard
to bring me up, but I do not feel that
l owe anything to her. She has only
done her duty. My boss is against
such an early marriage and says 1