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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 1905)
Women Among Savages TREATED WITH GREATER CON SIDERATION THAN IN CIVILIZED LANDS, SAYS FAMOUS SCIENTIST sS n woman a slave? Is she the property of her husband? Can he buy nor, ana sen or iru h.-r wh. n .. tins of her? Can he kill her If he W.UltS IO? Tli' - arc the questions scientists and trav el, rs have asked of all the savage tribes of the l,,w,.r rfl4es m all quarters of the glols. nn erallv they have Ik n answered In the affirma tive , . ,. .v. i,.-. rrr It Is true that the husband has the power of life and death over hi. wife, within certain limits ami un.l-r c.rta'n t ircumstanoes. The man Is often drwriU-d as the sol- proprietor of hl wives and daughters. ,,!!, , tl i,,.i.r th.m awiy, or to dispose of them In any manner he mn think proper. Thl- Is ' i " 'pill i r view. Many uonks have been written to pr. ad Id. i.l a. The world has come to believe It. Therefor.- the a. Mr. ss recently delivered before trr Sociological o,.'ty ..f London bv Edward Westermarck of IMsingfors, Klnl.-ind ha caused a sho-k of surprise. Mr. Westermarck Is regard. si l.v nil learned bodi.s as the leading Teutonic authority on primitive customs. His r. searches among the l.,.r r:n-.-s of the world have been wider, his studies deeper than iinv other man who has written on the subject I'rof. W.lcrm.irrk denies that in the lower races woman is tin- ah..-t slave of her husband. lie points out that manv lrnvl.r in the mit of the way comers of the globe have observed only on the surface, and have taken too many things for granted. Duties Divided Between Sexes. Among many uncivilized peoples, says I'rof. Westermarck. the h.udest dnnlgerlcs of life are said to be imposed on the women; all ti e heavy work is performed by them; their life Is an uninterrupted succession of toil and pain. There is no reason to doubt the accuracy of these and similar state ments; but. however correct they be. they hardly express the whole truth. In early society-Just as among ourselves each sex has its ow n pursuits. The man is resonsible for the protection of his family and Its support His occupations are such as require strength and ability; fighting, hunting, fishing, the construction of Implements for the chase and war. and the building of huts. On the other hand, the prin cipal occupations of the woman are universally of a domestlo km. I; she procures wood and water, prepares the food, dresses skins, makes clothes, takes care of the children. She, more over, supplies the household with vegetable food, gathers roots, berries, acorns, and, among agricultural savages, com monly cultivates the ground. Cattle raising Is generally a masculine pursuit, because It has developed out of the chase. Agriculture, on the' other hand, originally devolves on the woman, because it has devel oped out of collecting seeds and plants. Thus the various oc cupations of life are divided) between the sexes according to definite rules. And. though the formation of these rules has undoubtedly been more or less Influenced by the egoism of the stronger sex. the essential principle from which they ?prlng lies deeper. They are, on the whole, In conformity with the Indications given by nature herself. Woman's Burdens Are Necessary. There Is nothing for which savages and barbarians havs been more commonly blamed than the apparently cruel prac tice o f using their women as beasts of burden. As M. l'lnart remarks, with speclnl reference to the Indians of Panama, It may Indeed seem strange to the superficial observer that the woman should be charged with a heavy load while the man, walking before her, carries nothing but his Weapons. But a little reflection will make it plain that the man has good rea sons for keeping himself free and mobile. The little caravan a surrounded with dangers. When traversing a savanna or a forest a hostile Indian may appear at any moment, or a Jaguar or a snake may tic In wait for the travelers. Hence the man must be on the alert and Instantly ready to selce his arms to defend himself and his family against the ag gressor. It Is obvious, says Prof. Westermarck. that this division of labor In savage communities Is apt to mislead the travel ing stranger. He sees the women hard at work and the men Idly looking on; and perhaps It does not occur to him that the latter will have to be busy In their turn within their own sphere of action. What Is largely due to custom Is taken to be sheer tyranny on the part of the stronger sex, snd the wife is pronounced an abject slave of her husband, destitute of all rights. Usually an Autocrat; Rarely a Slave. Yet, as a matter of fact, the strict differentiation of work, however burdensome it be to the woman, is Itself a source of rights. It gives her authority within the circle which Is exclusively hers. In the house she is commonly an autocrat. Kven where she Is said to be the slave of the husband cus tom may prevent him from parting with a single household article without first asking the permission of his wife. Nay, Ir. early society women are sometimes the only landowners. As already said, they till the ground, they sow the corn. The soil, therefore, In certain easfcs is regarded as theirs. The supreme authority which, among many savage peoples, the husband Is said to possess over his wife appears thus to be considerably modified by circumstances which have gen erally been left out of consideration by the generalizer And therefore I'rof. Westermarck distinctly and emphatically re jects as erroneous the broad statement, often met with, that the lower races, taken as a whole, hold their women in a state of almost complete subjection. Among many of them the married woman, although In the power of the husband, Is known to enjoy a remarkable degree of independence, to bo treated by him with great consideration, and to exercise no small influence upon him. In several cases she is even stated to be his equal and In a few his superior. In support of this he quotes statements made by reliable observers In various savage lands. J ' Depend on Her for Advice. The Dyak. for Instant, shows great respect for his wife and generally asks her opinion. He regards her not as a slave but as a companion. In Ball the women are on a per fect equality with the men. In the Pelew islands the bead of the family can do nothing without taking advice of Us fe male members. Among the Line islanders the women vote on all questions of trlbul government except those of war. These instances and a score of others are cited by Prof. West- rm. n ek that savages do not treat their women as mere cattle. All these statements, he says, certainly do not Imply that tho husband has no recognized power over his wife, but they prove that his power is by no means unlimited. And to these fcts numerous others concerning matrimonial mat ters might be added. Thus, anion many savage peoples the husband bus the right to divorce his wife only under cer tain conditions, while the wife is allowed to separate for sumo special cause, or simply at will. In certain parts of eastern central Africa divorce may be effected If the husband neglects to sew his wife's clothes. Among the Shuns of Burma the woman has the right to turn adrift a husband who takes to drink I nc or otherwise misconducts himself, and to retain nil the goods or any money of the partnership. Among the (tavaras, an altorlglnal hill people In tho south of India, "a woman may leave her husband whenever she pleases." Burely. all this Is different from the absolute do minion which hasty genuralisers have attributed to savage husbands in general. Polygamy an exception Among Savages. It will perhaps be argued thut savages live In polygamy, and that polygamy la degrading to the wife. But to this may lie answered that many savages are strictly monogam ous, and that among the majority of them polygamy is an exception. Almost everywhere it is oontineJ to the minority of the people, the vast majority being monogamous. Mare over, where thore are many more women than men In u com munityand this Is not Infrequently the case among un civilised people, owing to war and other causes it ', ques tionable whther, under savage conditions of life, polygamy does not become a necessity. It Is also worth noll.intr that among polygamous peoples the) women themselves sometimes approve the custom. IJv tngaione tells us that some Mukalolo women, on bearing that a man In Kngl.iud could marry but one wife, txcluimej that " they would not like to live in such a eouutrj ; they could not Imagine how Kuglish women could relish our custom, tor. in their way of thinking, every man of position should have a number of wives, as a proof of his wealth." In equatorial Africa also, according to Mr. Wlnwood Ittwile, the women are the stoutest supporters of polygamy: " If a man marrl., and his wife thinks that he con afford another spouse, she pesters him to marry again, and calls him ' a stingy fellow ' If he declines to do so." N old woman, with a face seamed with wrinkles, but walking with the sprlghtliness of 20, ap leared In a London police court recently to make complaint against ft certain beauty doc tor. The magistrate took her to be a woman of 70 when he saw her face. When he heard her speak and listened to the youthful ring of her voice, when he saw her rounded, erect form, the lithe springiness of her walk and her shapely white hands and tapering fingers, without a wrinkle or a blotch of age on them he looked at her In amazement. He was still more amazed when he heard her story, for It revealed to him a story of torture scarcely conceivable. " I am 2." years old," the woman Sflld. " Yes," she added, with a wan smile that chased the wrinkles In a hundred di rections over her face, " I know my face looks as if I were "; but I am only 2; and, see my face!" The magistrate could hardly suppress a smile. " Beauty doctor?" he asked softly. "Yes, 'beauty doctor,'" the woman said bitterly. Then she told her story In detail. Features Spoiled by Overwork. " I am a dressmaker," she said, " and my clients are among some of the most fashionable women of the west end. 1 have my shop, of course; but I fit my clients at their homes. ' am thus brought Into contact with a fashionable life of which I am not really a pnrt; but I know my clients and they esteem mo well. " A dressmaker cannot always be regular at her meals and In her sleep. She must eat when she can and sometimes hurriedly. She must keep late hours, for sometimes a gown or a frock Is not fitted till late In the evening. " So it was with me. I got indigestion. My nose would show red In spite of anything I could do. The little veins on the surface would swell and show reddish blue. Then the pimples came on my chin and on my cheek, but mostly on my chin. Judge, they made me look hideous, I assure you. "Then I heard of this beauty doctor. She had excellent testimonials. Other women had taken her treatment and had come back with clear complexions. I went to see her. " She asked me for $lm). O, that's enormous,' I told her. It coming you to be made young and beautiful, only to be made whole some.' " Finally, though, I paid the money. Then she told me I must take her treatment for ten days. So I went to her place and paid her for n room. Skin Burned from Her Face. " First she put some lotion on my face. It burned; O, how it burned. I could feel the smarting and burning clear into my soul. But she covered the lotion with a sticky plaster mask. "Judge, for fifteen hours I lay In bed, moaning with that p.wful. burning on my face. I thought I would die. Now I wish I had. "Then the next day the woman pulled peeled, rather the plaster mask from my face. I looked Into a mirror. " Horrors! My face was swelled to a tremendous size. My nose was only a little, sunken depression and my. eyea S, ren s LENTT of stories are written about children PI and their sayings awell the funny columns of I our dally press, but It Is not generally known I that in two cases at least they have supplied incidents In great novels. On a certain morning Thomas Hardy looked gloomily out of his window across the street at the muddy crossing. He seemed sad and wag perhaps depressed at the prospective fate that then hung over the greatest of his heroines, for Tess of the D'l'rbervilles was at the time about half completed. Suddenly five youngsters presented themselves at the mud dy crossing, four spick and span little girls and one dashing young fellow of five summers. The little gallant was plainly perplexed as to how to transport his ladies across the muddy pavement. Finally he took them one by one Into his arms and carried them over. The first three had gone ahead by the time he started with the fourth, and as he set her down he kissed her. Children ;ould suggest little material, one would imagine, for Tess, tl e novel suggestive above all other things of mighty processes, overwhelming effects, and fates unaltera ble. Yet who does not remember In that story the episode wherein Angel Clair carries the three love sick maids over a muddy passage In order that he may also bear Tess across? " Three Leahs to get one Rachel " Angel whispered. " They are better women than I." Tess replied. " You are like an undulating billow warmed by the sun. And all this Muff of muslin about you Is the froth." The great novelist gave himself only the tssk of supplying the conversation. More remarkable is it still that Oeorge Meredith the supers.iphistlcatcd should have utilised an incident from the life of a child, and stranger yet that he Finds Gem in Childish Grief. ahould have Introduced It Into that most sophisticated of novels, " Beauchamp s Career." A child of a tenant on an estate where Mr. Meredith was once attending a house party was Incon solable one nlgnt Decauso ner lamer nu i.-n at a radical meeting. She was fairly composed until some one remarked that her father, would have no baked potatoes that evening for supixr. Baked potatoes were a favorite dish of his. and at the mention of them the child gave way to fran tic grief. All evening she was Inconsolable, and. looking out Into the stormy night, she kept repeating: " He has gone out Into the darkness, and there la no light in It." Healiung the allegorical vahie of these words, the master novelist pnt them Into the mouth of one of his greatest hero ines. Young Beauchamp. the favorite of his undo, the pride or the nav, the hope, of his country, disappoints, provokes, and untigonise all by twpnimtng radicalism In politics and advo- ; -ft - r: ,v, r6 -v 1 . . K:. 1 : v. ;'.--. ' : ir. f fy.-:irvi-, :.-wi.". "i '". ...v. , : WW;' win---. )...'";. v' V,; muz The itmth j Suppe $lots for Aouels. auinas upptu eating ita doctrines with the ardor of the inspired. He leaves the proud girl whose heart he drags to his chariot wheel because his duty calls him to solicit votes. Her haughty English father Is provoked with Beauchamp, and says so. She, looking out after her lover Into the night, says sadly, whimsically, her heart terribly shaken: " He has gone out Into the darkness, and there Is no light in it." The little tots often utter words that carry with them a spiritual significance which we are slow to see. " Lift me up high," one of them begged one morn ing of the girl who roomed with her mother. All that day, toiling In a dirty office, where the business methods are not famed for fairness and rough men Spiritual Significance in Tots' Talk. make themselves at ease, the young woman kept repeating: "Lift me up high; O, lift me up high! " Across the street from the study window of one of our Chicago novelists, one piece of cement pavement rises about an Inch above the others, and It makes a fatal stumbling block for young pedestrians. A traveler appeared one morn ing extra small ahead of his nurse, and at the point of ascent went down in the midst of an Inflated Mother Hub bard. The novelist aavs that he has the same experience each morning, but on that particular occasion there was a puddle at hand. Another wayfarer arrived, much larger, and merely stu- iped his toe. He gave way to frantic grief and had his arm yanked by his mother. Presently a little kludergartner came up, a swagger little girl In a short red coat, a bright plaid skirt, an orange In her hand, and curls dancing. In the parlance of the young, she walked "stuck up." But an-, too, fell, and her orange rolled Into the mud. Evidently the vanities had taken hold of her, for when she was satisfied that no one had seen, she composedly slipped her muddy orange Into her bloomers. Then, an air about her of conscious unconsciousness, she picked up her slate and started down the street In nonchalant disdain, a mass of mud on her bright plaid skirt, and curls dancing "Casualties such as these I have watched every day for years," the novelist said, and she admitted that she bad Incorporated some of thtm. The material seems slight, but ho knows but her Imagination may lift It Into the realms of literature? Here is an Incident with literary value In It, whether It has been utilised or not. Elizabeth's aunt had tried all of the devices In the category of women's Quick Change arts to console her, but the child had from Trapedy only nr',k"1. "They have put my mam tr fVimcrdr Bla UI,,,,,r ground." IO V-omcoy, Th ,t,rvant g jra a ,,.,,) on her arm. called cheerfully through the window, " Come on, Elizabeth, and help me milk the cows!" Hut Elizabeth bun-t out afresh, sobbing: S m were like little beads away back In my head. My lips were swollen and cracked. My whole face was bleeding through the skin, and it looked like a great half roasted beefsteak. " I cried, but the tears ran down my swollen cheeks and made the pain all the worse. Hands Bound for Five Days. "Then tho woman put me to ld again and covered my blistered, bleeding face with some kind of a nasty, sticky Jelly. This she covered with another mask, and there I lay like a mummy for five days. She bound my hands because I v. as In such agony that In my frenzy I would try to pull off the mask and bury my finger nails Into my burning cheeks. " My tongue swelled so I could hardly swallow. After the first day my teeth were set firmly together and I oould not part them. I couldn't speak, I couldn't see, I couldn't eat A nurse would give me a few spoonfuls of milk once an hour by forcing the narrow neck of a feeding cup through my clenched teeth. " I suffered such agonizing pain that I soon lost all sense of time. I must have lain half In a swoon all of the last three days; but even when half unconscious I could feel that smart ing, burning pain In my face. " At the end of the fifth day the mask was again peeled off. I was not permitted to see a mirror or to touch my face. Dut I could feel that the swelling was decreasing. Gradually I could open my teeth and swallow. Then I was able to speak I was so weak I could not lift my head from my pillow. Delighted at End of Treatment. " At the ninth day I was given a hand mirror. I was really delighted. I had the face of a young woman. There was not a blotch, not a vein, not a pimple. It was a plump, smooth face but O, so very, very red. " In twenty-four hours more the redness partly disap peared, and I covered up what was left with powder. At tho end of the tenth day I was strong enough to return to my home. But I was happy, because I felt that In spite of all my suffering I had once more a good complexion. Wrinkles Soon Follow Treatment. " But In a week only a week I was horrified to see a wrinkle In my face something that had never been there before. The next day there was another wrinkle, thi n more every day. In two weeks after I left that woman's house my face was as you see It today. That was a month ago. " I have appealed to the beauty doctor, but get no satis faction. Now, what can I do? Can't I have her arrested as f swindler?" The magistrate could think of no law to cover the case. But the police made a quiet little investigation. It was dis covered that other women had been victimized by the same professional " beauty doctor," although none had been marked and wrinkled for life as had the little dressmaker. The story only illustrates what torture some women will submit to In order to become beautiful. In London the " beauty doctor " craze is not carried to the extreme it Is In Paris, where the professional beauty makers will readily un dertake to change the color of the hair without the use of dyes or bleaches, to change the color of the eyes, to alter the shape of the nose, ears, and mouth. Parisian Man Undergoes Horrible Torture. There is one story extant in which a man, under the medium In height, with a shock of rebellious red hair, a fiat nose, protruding ears, a face blotched and pimpled, was liter ally transformed. His scalp was removed piecemeal and the scalp of a living man grafted on, a small piece at a time, until the man had a head of soft, well trainee brown hair. The nose was narrowed and straightened, the ears made smaller and forced back closer to his head, the pigment In his eyes changed, and his complexion cleared. His height was In creased nearly five inches Uy a terrible process of torture. Kach leg was broken below the knee and stretched. When the factored bones were knitted together they were broken shove the knee and again stretched. This process was re peated twice, until the desired height had been reached But in this case the man was a criminal, and a vast fortune was his if he could escape the consequences of his crime. In the case of the woman, she submitted to torture only that her fashionable clients might look upon her face with less of shrinking. " O, Peggy, they have put my mamma under ground!" The doctor, the minister, the nurse, all came to offer sympathy, but Elizabeth cried unconsoledly. Then Bobbie Nichols, her little neighbor, appeared,, a small, fat hassock In his hand, and lisped: " Don't cry, Lisbtth, I've brought you a little footstool to play with." The child stopped to stare In the midst of a suspended iob. " A little footstool," Robbie repeated, throw ing it down and standing on It. And Elizabeth, brightening, exclaimed with animation: " Yes, sir! We can play with It together, can't we? First you can stand on it a little while and then I will stand on It a little while!" The following is a short story made to hand for any one who will take it. The youngest character waa called Miss Teazle (reason unknown), the heroine was named Nellie, and the hero Will. Will lived with Miss Teazle's family, the place was a small town. Nellie had been spending the summer there with the neighbors of Miss Teazle's family, and Will loved the young stranger. When she was about to depart Nellie gave a party. She at first refused to let Miss Teazle be present because she had a presentiment that the child woulu do something outrageous. At last the two compromised by agreeing that Miss Teazle should remain In the dressing room. "May I have a dance?" Will asked the little girl, as she stood on the threshold, craning her neck in all directions. He had been out of town for three days and did not know of the controversy un til Miss Teazle then explained It to him. " Nellie forgets that I am almost 5," she concluded, argumentative ly. Was Wise for Her Years. " I shou'd have supposed you were even older," Will gal lantly rejoined, but he seemed to hold It against Nellie that she kept the little girl shut up. Miss Teatie did not resent It. for when Nellie later rushed In and throwing rqen the window, sank down beside It, she fanned her brusquely, as she often did her mother when she was about to faint. The guests became worried and crowded about the door, but Miss Teazle bod her reasons for believing that Nellie had not fainted. To convince them she called them In to wltnoee that Nellie's cheeks were red. although she was limp. Seeking out the girl's lover, she said, comfortingly: " Don't worry, Will. They think she has fainted, but I know she hasn't, for mamma faints often, but she never has a bright nd spot In either cheek when she has fainted." This took place In the '70s, snd a respectable young man in a small town was not then sufficiently advanced to consent to marry a young woman whose cheeks remained pink, even when the life was half out of her. Years later he led Miss Teazle herself to the altar. New Terror for Cupid ENGLISH SCIENTIST SAYS THERE , CAN BE ONLY ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY - FIVE AFFINITIES VKH and enon the cold bloxl d sen n; .-t I wm I the equally dispassionate statist!, m i ,t m4 I Into the mysteries of science an I J, I startle the world with discoveries th ti rror and lenr to ine neiiris m ioe o.... ,., Cupid. A Frvn-h savant, hurled for years n researches of his beloved science, hi , nothing of the thrills and tremors that move the li ars- ..i thousands of young men and maids all over the world, m. boldly Into the limelight of the press and calmly almoin that love Is a disease and may be treati-d and cured as so, ' More recently an Englishman with a fondness for tig it. -had unearthed the fact that the chanrts of human b. mo unding and wedding their nffltiitiee average one In f.-tir m l lions. Arcoidlng to this shatterer of fond dreams of inilM of tender hearts. It Is up to every m.-in. save the one link, fellow In the millions, to gv through life without ever m .i Ing or loving bis affinity, without mnrr.ln tho girl win. ! fate originally Intended him to have. Only one girl in four millions will find the man who is the mate of her soul. You. and your neighbor, the man who works at the d.-k bentde you, the pretty stenographer, the lwss. his wile. ..! of you are fated to go through life, to meet nnd fall In lo . to marry -and never see your affinities. That Is. unless y . . are the lucky oup In four millions. Truly this is a sad state of affairs tlKit the En'ia statistician has so harshly revealed. If there Is any nio.l. in Illustration of the old proverb relating to the folly of )..-. sesnlng wisdom where Ignorance if bliss. It Is surc'j- thi Just tlilnk of It, you young married couples, who are softly cooing and billing through the months of honeymoon, only one couple In four million of you has mated ncoorditn,' t.. affinities; think of it, you fond lovers, to whom the wm-'d has suddenly opened into a wonderful place worth living in you who Imagine that you were made for each other, unle-.. yon are the lucky ones In four millions, you are cruelly mis taken, you are wrong, dead wrong, nnd are fondling to your hevirta fivoilsh thoughts of an affinity realizi-d. Ymi have n t fonml your affinities! J Wow the Figures Prove It. Jlow much unhnppiness and woe ihls statement will cause It Is impossible to iniagln, but the truth must out. No one likes to take bad medicine, but the doctors assert that we are all tho better after taking. The Englishman 'vUh tin fatal gift for figures has delved deeply and well and the world must accept his figures. For Instance, In Chicago there nr.. pome 2.mKl,(irK) people, the majority of them presumably Willi some degree of tender sentiment. The average number of each person's circle of acquaintances Is 2. Two hundred divided into U.tNSt.iRNI shows a quotient of IO.ihhi. Thus It is a good bet of lO.tuxi to 1 that your circle of ac qmatntajices will not Include your affinity. Even If she or he Is In your Uim, the chances are appalling that you will not know It. Flute, Cupid, or whoever it is that ha charge of the arrangement of affinities, never saw fit to label them so that thoy might know each other when they nxnt. It Is estimated that the changes of your falling In love and be coming engaged to the procr person after having met him or her is ns one Is to forty. Hence the odds are 4N).(TO to 1 that you will not become engaged to your afflnilty. And then, cruel fate still pursuing, when you are engaged statistics prove beyond question or doubt that tho chances for your finally completing the stern chase after your affinity by being married are as one Is to ten. Thus It Ks 4,ihi,(HN1 to 1 you will not find the man or woman for whom you are intended and become engaged and marrld to hint or her. If you are already married you may IiMik across at your sonse. and make a little mind let that you have pot the wrong one. There Is no way for you to lose. Kigur.-s never He. The counter argument that liars figure will hardly bold in this Instance, for no man In this world could he so cruel nnd hard hearted as to unnecessarily make such disclosure. J Only 125 in Whole World. The old saying that to be happily married you must wed your affinity must surely be fallacious. If It Is the truth, then the woe and trouble that must be the lot of married couples In this world would be (piite unutterable. With an assumed total of WNt.OtlO.OiNi of married couples on this globe, the figures would Indicate that there are only 125 couples among them who are enjoying the perfect bliss and happiness which Is tne lot of mater affinities. One htimlr. d nnd twenty-five Is a small number In the grand total, but perfect bliss and happiness are admittedly rare things in this world, and so there again are the figures borne out. The marital unhnppiness of the world 's large. Students of humanity and the divorce court business testify the latter is growing. Thousands and thousands of couples once undoubtedly firmly convinced that life In double har ness was to be one long sweet song, come each year to the bar of Justice upon which marital bonds are sundered accord ing to the law and admit that it Is all a mistake, that they should never have married. Thousands of othi r couples are preparing to take the plunge, thousands more wish they could without having It get Into the puiers, or without having people talk alsiut them. Wo Wonder Marital Troubles Arise. The score on the side of unhappiness and Infelicity In married life is large. It is. In fact, one of the burning ques tions the solutions of which are puzzling the best minds of the day. How much of It can be traced to thY marrying of " unafttiitUes " Is doubtful, but with the figuns proving that the vast majority of people do not find the mate of their souls there is little cause for surprise at the great sea of matrimonial troubles which annually Ingulf our fair land. It la scarcely reasonable to suppose that a man and woman who In the original arrangement of things w.io never moojit for each other should be happy when married. it is even reasonable to suppose that the chances for tholr being decidedly unhappy are considerably larger tlKin those for their facing happy. Yet, it Is impossible to assume that the incomprehensibly large number of couplea who have gone ahead and married despite the fact they were not nlllnities should all be suffering the travail and woe which comes to the unhappily married. If this were true the misery and wrongs of the world would be so large existence could have little excuse to Justify itself. Even the man who unearthed the uwful figures will be forced to admit there are more than 125 married couple In the world who are ns happy as common mortals gen erally are. He will lie forced to admit that fully half of tho people of the earth get uling without open rupture in the family circle. Common Sense Makes Amends. In the face of this it would seem thu many millions of people who go through life without ever seeing their affini ties have a good portion of common sense in their make up. They resolve to make the best of life, even if It is not to be spent with the affinity of their souls, and so manage to g. t along fairly well. Either this, or they never dlaoover they have chosen amiss In the great lottery of marriage, anil so have no pos sible excuse for complaint. If this is the case then the man who imparts such enlightenment as will deprive tlum of this blessed ignorance has much to answer for. It is reported from certain communities that tho nss r t'ons of the new iconoclast are meeting with little or. d. nee. The Lovers' clubs of many cities In the country have abso lutely refused to give ear to the reason of figures. Especially among the young women nre his statements flouted. But, on the other hand, with thouaanda of young people In tho land, notably among those where a new diamond sparkles on the finger of the girl, the report Is g!v.n credence with great Joy. These young people fondly go apart from the common herd and tell each other how wonderful It Is that only they, out of four millions of people, should meet and recogmzf that they were soul affinities. But What Does Cupid Care. What Cupid will have to say in Hie f.ice of the accusa tion that he has been folding people these many years by causing them to think they were made for each other is not eX present known. Judging from the little gixl's actions in the past under similar circumatanc.-s he will go right along proving to thousands of young x-ople annually that love Is something which no man may hope to measure or understand by calm and dispassionate flgun-s. He will go right along making the maids and men of this old world fall in love, blindly and confidentially. Just as he has from the beginning and In this he will be ably aided and abetted by said young peonle. riagues, politics, and even the wheat markwt ye may subjugate to a suseeptilJIity of figures, but love, love se may not so deal with. In the words of the poet-policeman w le guards 1 .overs' Ijtne In IJntln park, V " You may prove with your figures tlmt Cupid has lied, But the ta,. in the park will still be Decupled."