Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Omaha morning bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927 | View Entire Issue (April 27, 1924)
Edna Ferber, Author, Tells Why She Prefers Career to Marriage ft «dl J.t*ooo mitt w iMint >ipna th# r-eptatatlnt them* Haw That t hr ot Mm Inttwn la Hu V*lm*i tl«W'<l ' th# l*t»i N'_ t I•N I tl HIM H Ihu* IHrtMl l*<ik W«tl( hew ftwh F||*t of Hrdhat*1 ftpartinant, l*#M It ultra 11ttrr yeet Ira**, l lnnkam In MltHru l*tt|u«l»« at window*, hlantaltdar**, pan!** candle lilt In, Htl»h tthkaii. D#n lal tlrtall* Attar l«rl«f |Mit at lliln# In • Mfl, mm Mitt Karhar, th* lltttugltl at lint lot a mall rat* that no rlaa haa alapt on and alt window a from w hit ti IH* I ark al nlahl, "all purple and lark with lit Hill* |oM hath of lit h| I noli t )u*t lllta the eky p|nld* down,'' fill* Mia* Far hrr with dalltht. "I aatar want In met* ataln," ah* Mfli •‘never. They'll have la wheel •Id ‘Orammar Karbfr' nut whan thar Irai lha hnlldlnt down." The only drawbarl< la the dla frartlne vlaw from the win* Cow*. Mlao Farhar a alwdy la In lha hark of fha apartment, •'ll'* vary nlr* lo look down and aa# two Jar*a.v rowa (rat ine In your own front yard/" •ha comment*, "hut if I trlA In work where I rnuld watrh them, I know I wouldn't write ton word* a day." L J 10 there 1* nny way In whtrh (treat 'departed aoula ran Ret a bird's-eye .view of those billion* of ua who still 'are creeping about the world In the ,flesh, there must be a good deal of embarrassment, unrest and bewilder-1 iment In the immaterial bosom of that gentleman known to us as George INoel Gordon, Lord Byron. From the depths of his experience (and certaln lly ho made A. Belvedere aeem but a monk) he wrote, in the 18th century: p "Man's love Is of man's life a thing apart: 'tls woman's whole existence.” , Viewing, If he can, the woman of today, deep In the arts, In the profes sions. In business, he must clutch at those curling locks of his with frantic fingers and say: "This Is awful! I’ve been rereading my stuff and It sounds simply comic. Why, take that line about love being a woman's whole existence! That line alone Is enough to lose me my public. It soundss so frumpy and old-fashioned. I'm going to try and get a week's leave of ab sence so that I can go back and do a little editing and revising and blue penciling! It's a matter of pride with me. I'll only be gone a minute.” His distress Is quite understandable. Imagine—having written a line like that—saying to the modern, alert, busy woman of this 20th century: “And what do you do with your spare time, Mrs. Whosls?” “Me? Qh, I don't get a aecond to my»elf, really. Love fakes all my tlma." Horror and unbelief on the face of her questioner. Certainly If a woman , |Uks that could be found today she'd be pretty well shunned by society, and called a rather ugly nemo. The Perennial Questions. Uver sines monogamy waa written Into the lawa of tho land thora have boon novels, plays, poems, articles, symposia, debates and dlacusalona baaed on such subjects as “Is Mar riage a Failure?” and “What’a Wrong With Marriage?” ftome one Is al ways coming forward with an answer to these questions—with a solution for these problems. The fault In their completed plan usually la much like the fault to he found with the results achieved by the person who Is con stantly announcing himself as having discovered the secret of perpetual mo |tlon. The plan's all right, but It Just doesn't work. | Strangely enough, people who haven’t Idea* on anything else have |well thought out Ideaa on marriage. Stop any one on the etreet, or wake, 'any one up In the middle of the night, and eay "Vtfhat are your Idea# on ItnatrlHge?’’ end you'll have let your self In for a half-hour of monologue, 'at feast. All aorta and ages and con ditions of people have Ideaa on It: Iglrfl of 17, men of 70, spinsters of 40 and striplings of 10; bachelor* of IS. 'Negt to birth and death it la the .mott universal experience In life, and 'certainly a thoueand times more In itergetlng than either of these be cause at birth and death the chief participant la an unlikely to be fully 'gware of what going on, i A number of years ago Lauretta Ta>dnr, the actreae, played In a piece Icalfed "Seven Slaters.” In It aha was the youngeet of the seven anil Ipledged not to marry until ths other six' hail been mated. Pursued pae jalogatsly by a you>ig Hungarian lleu tentnt who demanded to know why ahe would not marry him, she re plied that she came of a non marry ing family. "For generation after generation,” aha assured him. In a panic, "my family has never mar , rled, A Un# of Mtrgle-Blessedness That a my case exactly. For gen eration after generation my family ha# not married. I am descended from a long line of eld ntalde and bachelors. Of course, In «*<fi gen eration there has been tbs single ex ception of this rule. My mother alono married In a family of bachelor broth ers' and splnlstcr slaters. I have legions of unwed coualns. It Isn't a family tradition. In fact, I’m rather ashamed of II. But undeniably It Is a family fact, and ns such to be faced. Certainly, I never set out In life say ing, "What wn# good enough for my ancestors Is good enough for me." Yet here am I ‘writing an article on marriage from the viewpoint of one who is unwed and (reasonably) happy. That Situation so often encoun tered In fiction and In the drama, of a past day—the necessity of choosing between marriage and a career—was not true In my case. I did not spurn marriage. I simply didn’t think much about It, and for some Inex plicable reason It was never known of In our house as a possibility. Neither did I deliberately choose a career. I became a writer by accident, as do most, writers. 'Illuminating Years II 17, with my hair hanging about my neck In little tight black curls, I became a newspaper reporter on a paper In a small Wisconsin town called Appleton. This, too, was jmrctv accidental. But tt decided the whole course life, as accident* EDNA KKKUKK One of the three or four highest-paid fiction writers In the world—Author of "So Big,” "The tiirls," "Dawn O'Hara,” "Emilia McChesney A Co.,” "Half rortlons,” and many short stories. do. The townspeople thought me mad, end probably they were right. I used to have to cover the court house, and the Jail, and the college, and society, and th# markets, and to Interview auch celebrities as came our Wisconsin way. There were al most six years of this work, first on the little Wisconsin paper, then on a live, yellow bulletin afternoon paper In Mllwuakee, then doing some spe cial features for a Chicago morning paper. It was no part of my plan to be come a writer of Action. That I waa Uie author of a successful novel at 2! was still another accident. Sent home, alck and nervous, I meant to go back to my desk after two weeks' rest. I never went hack. In the year that followed I wrote the novel, though I didn't Jn the least seem to know that this thing I was writing wr» to he a novel. But writing—or pounding tha keys of a rattloty-hang typewriter—had become so much a part of my daily life that I found my self almost mechanically putting down worka on a sheet of *xll-inch paper slipped between th* rubber roll of th* crazy old machine which I had bought at second hand. In those five and a half or six years of newspaper reporting I had don# man's work. At 19. fresh from th* little up-state town. I was cover ing th* Milwaukee morning police courts where the dregs of ths night streets are brought In to be Judged. Here was an Inexperienced and very young girl working dally among men and doing a man’s work; tgrltlng In ths feverish atmosphere of a some what sensational afternoon paper of ths breathless type; encountering all sorts of people In every sort of situ ation; having to cope with these peo ple and wrest from them something they usually did not wish to reveal; being obliged to see th# truth behind th* veil of pretense which most of her subjects covered themsel_ve*. Picture* and Panoramas. I shall never forget the shock of that Arst morning in police court. Huddled in th* little anteroom out side the court room was a group of f.irls, hard-eyed, bedraggled, smeared with the paint of the night before. The bailiff called their name*. "Corne on now, ydu!” He consulted a list. "Mattie Kane! Belle I-e Grand! Ger tie Fadner; Stella Kassell! Minnie Harper!” Shivering, bold, Insolent, afraid, feigning bravado, they ranged themselves before lhs Judge’s bonrh. "How wretched they look!" 1 said. "How wretched they look.” They were fined. Twenty five dol lars. Twenty-five dollars. Twenty five dollars. “Oh, them!'* said the halllff, a com fortable family man, the curriers of his mouth always stained with to bacco Juice. “Oh, them! Don't worry alamt them. They earn It easy.'* Inside me something protested, "Kasy! No! No!” Well, there she was. that, girl of 19. f,lfe was rich, full, busy, fascinating, terrible. Pictures! Panoramas! Work. Kxhaustlon. Illness. When Others Were Thinking of Marriage. Those years had gone whizzing bv -leaping—tumbling over each other. When other girls were going to school, to college, dancing, playing, flirting, laughing, buying pretty clothes, thinking of marriage—and quite properly they should have been —I was interviewing, perhaps the Polish woman living near the West Allis machine shops nnd asking her why she had got up that night and killed her husband with a meat nx. Curiously enough, she always told why. I found out, In those years, that If you wait patiently enough, and silently enough, and receptively enough, almost anyone will tell yon almost nnythlng. The lllneaa that had sent me home pnssed, hut the habit of writing stuck. Ho. too. did the habit of trying to peer behind the veil of pretense. And this Is true. Knowing ^rhat I know, having experienced what I have ex perienced. both pleasant and unpleas ant, I am certain that If I could sot back the hands of the clock so as again to he that girl of 19, given the choice of such s. life ns I have had on one hand, nnd that of marriage without It on the other hnnd, I should choose the life I have had. And I emphatically am not one of those who sneer at marriage. It would have been glorious to have l>oth. Writing la, for me, the hard est kind of work. 1 slave at It. I drudge at It. But It has brought me years of great Joy. This I knowi If I were to die tomorrow (and sense It a minute before It came) I cl say, w ith iiiy last breath, that I died miles ahead of the game. I’ve had a grand time! More Marriage for Congeniality. It was inevitable that the girl who, from 17 to 23, watched life from the vantage point of a newspuper office, should hava acquired the habit of curiosity in every phase of life about her. Certainly that Institution known as marriage could not fall to receive from her some interested, if bewil dered, attention. Yet from these ob servations she has derived only the same set of trite conclusions set down and uttered by thousands of others. Still, If there is nothing new to say about marriage itself certainly there is something new to he said about the angle from which it Is being ap proached by young men and women today. The reasons why men marry have never been numerous. It might roughly (too roughly, perhaps) be said that they marry because they love soma girl, or because soma girl has made up her mind tA marry them. Men are not complex. The reason* why woman marry are more varied and numerous. Women marry for love. They marry to get away from the family. They marry "Tor what they call freedom (paradoxically enough). They marry for money. They marry for a living. They marry because all their friends are getting, married. They marry because, from childhood, they have been brought up with the Idea that marriage is their ultimate goal. They marry because they are lonely. They marry because some man asks them to. In the last 10 years there has been a great shifting of proportions in this list of why-they do-lt. For the last 10 years the social and economic life of woman in America, England. France and Germany has changed so vastly that now and then ahe must any to herself, like the old lady in Ihs Mother Goose rhyme, “Can this be 1!” Of course there still are girls who marry for a living, for freedom, be cause the other girl* are marrying, for any one of a number of.bad rea sons. But the proportion of girls who marry because, with a clear, critical and appreciative eye, they see here a man whose mind marches with thrlrs, whose outlook on life is from much the same angle as theirs, whose Ideals, whose mode of life, whose standards are In accord with theirs, Is unquestionably greater than ever before. But how about thla thing called love!" demands the romantic. It's there. Only It lan't there alone, unprotected, exposed to all tho barbs and arrow* with which life la ao fully equipped for It* murder. No. To sustain It, to protect It. to keep It alive, nnd warm, and fed, ao that It develops and grows richer and full er with the years, there are under standing. snd humor nnd tolerance, and respect for personal liberty, and frankness and honesty. Right here I quits shamelessly quote from a novel called "The Olrls" by Kdna Ferber. In It Charlotte Kemp, or "Charley" Kemp, ns ehs la called, Is trying to explain to her austere and tight-lipped grandmother why she Is going to merry the Impe cunious man of her choice. I quote: "What is your reason?" snapped Mr* Pay son "Well," Chsrley replied, slowly, "the same thing strikes us funny at the same time. We like the same kind of hook though we may disagree about It, W> like to l»e outdoors a lot nnd we understand each other's lan guage and we're not aentlmental and we don’t anarl If food la delayed and wo don’t ystnnnd xplanntlnns. and any one of three reaaona would make marriage lietween two people a rea sonably anfo bet." Mrs. Payaon forced herself to s tremendous effoit. "You haven't said you’re—you’re—In love with him!" "I haven't said anything else.” Now tills Charley of the story didn't Iri the least mean that ahe didn’t get a 50,000-volt thrill when her sweet heart was near. She meant that sho had the other things, plus tho thrill, and that she was therefore on her way to a happy marriage Thla Charley was supposed to ha typical of today's younger generation about which there Is so nitjch to do. Kvery now nnd then, In the midst of the to do. some one come* along who says: "Pooh! A lot of fuss shout nothing. The younger generation of today’a nn different from the younger generation of my day or any day, for that matter. They're all silks. We’vs Just forgottsn." Orchard-Wilhelm SIXTEENTH AND HOWARD STREETS Cretonne Garden •'Of Brook* anil Bird* and Tree* and Bower*, Of Aprll-May. of June and July Flower*" With *|mtn|lt« In th* e**»l What a wealth of color and design doth the magic word cretonne conjure in the im agination. Surely no home or room is completely fur nished without at least a few items made from this most desirable drapery ma terial—and the spring sea son of all seasons is the most logical time to drape with cretonne. Then again— We have patterns to show you and things to tell you about cre tonne that far surpass in interest any previous attempt, for in atance: We have guaranteed iunfatt and washable cretonnes—the supreme accomplishment thRt manufactur ers have been striving after for - many years. v Then we have cretonne that will not' fade in the sun, but that manufacturers hesitate to guar antee against injudicious washing. You will be interested in seeing our “Town and Country," “Ken sington” Prints, “K e s w i c k” Prints, “Ullswater” Cretonnes < nrinted on the banks of the Ullswater river, England, known for the peculiar properties of ita waters in setting colors). “Canter bury” Prints and Glazed Chintz. Cretonnes are grouped and marked to sell at 25c 38c 55c 68c 75c '95c 1.00 1.50 ; and 2.00 Main Floor Lincoln Ring-Vac Electric Washers > The sheerest, most delicate fab rics are washed with no possibility of the slightest wear or tear. The "Vacuum Gusher" action cascades hot, sudsy water and powerful waves of air through and through each fabric being washed. All embedded dirt—even in soft col lars and shirt cuffs—is loosened and dissolved quickly and safely. This efficient' washing principle ran be found only in the Lincoln Ring-Vac. Its attractive appear ance, ita gleaming copper tub, its compactness and mechanical sim plicity will please you as much as its greatly improved washing qualities. American Beauty Iron and Ironing Board FREE with every Ring • Vac sold this weak. This is absolutely FREE to all who get their orders in this coming week. / T'l.’ll \ f C We feel that Lln 1 r^rVjv^IkJ coin Ring - Vara are necessities that pay for them selves, so we are willing to let you have them on terms equiva lent to the amount of your weekly laundry bill, in other words, pay a1 you aave. KAI.TKX furniture with a heart of Imn'V-ao tailed be.au»e of tbe wire that runa through the renter «f the fiber from which it i* woven: haa an unuaually atrong appeal becauae It la ahown In mo*t attractive deaigna, finlahea and upholateriea aa well aa being Very nturdy and aervireahle, while the low prlcca at whlrh we aell II bring* it within the rearh of all. We are *howing the following finlahea: Fawn, Sepia. Haronlal Itrow n, Fronted .Mahogany, Fore at (Ireen and other*. 3 Pc. Baronial Brown Living Room Suite An ideal suite for the apartment or small home. The daven port is 68 inches in length and fitted with loose, spring filled cushion^ and upholstered backs. Chair and rocker are roomy and comfortable. Finished in Baronial Brown. Upholstered in good quality verdure tapestry. 3-piece suite complete... Separate Davenport ..44,75 Rocker . 18.45 Chair.18.4 J 3-Pc. Lloyd Loom Living Room Suito—Including large, roomy arm rocker as pictured, with chair and 6-foot settee to match. • Thoec pieces, CQ A C romplete . Separately: ftavenflnrt, 29.75 Chair or rocker... .14.85 Kaltea Spring Seat Arm Rocker —An attractive roomy, medium size rocker of winsome beauty and utility. Shown in Baronial Brown with spring scat, uphol stered in tapestry. Also shown in sepia with high grade cretonne upholstery. ajt.21.00 And frosted mahogany with tapestry upholstery at. .22.00 Kaltex Fernary Is 12 Inches wide, 29 inches long,.30 inches high. Complete with heavy galvanized pan; in Baronial Brown finish. Kx . , 3 Piece Living Room Suite SPECIAL A full-length Davenport, Chair and Rocker, as pictured tered in " Blue and Taupe Velour—MONDAY ONLY. Order* will be accepted on the above subject to limited number of frames and quantity of up holstery in the factory. Delivery in one week. No. 1 Special Mattress Is made of a combination of fiO pounds of cotton felt Mid wood wool, covered with fancy art tickinjr, securely tuft ed and tailored with a roll edire. A comfortable mattress at a very low price— Q- OfT ■—in any sixe. Maple Porch Rockarn Natural maple color; double, hand* woven cane neats make them very comfortable; while tho itretcher arrangement make* them very atronc.3.H5 Coffee Tablet Kxaetly a' pic Hired in antique brown mahnif any. A special value, 7.50 Boston Special Kaltex Rocker An extra large, extremely com fortable high hack, spring aeat arm rocker, upholstered in pleasing tapestries, finished in Raronial 1 A Brown .A «*• 1 O Also oh sale in frosted ma hogany at .......... 23.50 a r umrd Oak torch Swing,— Clean rut, carefully finiahod awing*, complete with chain* Mini hooka for hanging, 1£.05, 4.50, 5.50. 0.75, 7 85, 8.75, 0.50 »•> ' 11.50 Your Porch Needs a New Hammock Splendid hammocks in plain brown duck, complete with mattress and chains for hang in* at— 13.75 31.50 25.00 27.50 20.75 32.00 30.50 and 42.50 Standard* 5.00, 6.50. 8.50 Awninrs in match— 0.50 to 12.50 A Unique Rook Rack, 2! inch' * long. 23 Inches high. For the arm of a chair or davenport. Thi* i* a new and sturdy de sign that ha* character and beauty of line. Finished an tique brown 1 1 mahogany. -L X • It) M»<iicin* C»hin*l - Tn whit*' mnmFl, 4.00, 5.75. 0.00, N4M» nnil up to 15.75. W'f |»|Vt At 4 |!1»9^r4 ita( Its N*t4fli4 m RUGS • hat will appeal t«* lha woman who la anateua to own a goe-l rut ■( • very small outlay, (<ot 1— P*12 Akminater rug* in a good assortment of desirahl# pat tern#, some slightly mismatched, hut other** i*e perfert, ar« of fered. Regularly these rug* sell as high as >37 .50. Special priee, ' $25 A few y-JxlO-fi Axminsters In the above. Lot 2— t*x!2 Velvet and Axminitaf Rugs, many of them seamless, in copies of the Chinese rugs and tapestry designs. These are all of excellent quality, hut some are slightly shaded. Val ues up to >47.50. $35 Lot 3— 9x12 Extra Heavy Axminster and Wilton Velvet Rugs in a large assortment of colors and designs. $69.50 values. $50 Crex Grass Rugs for Spring and Summer —the cottage home, porches, bedrooms or for use instead ot heavy wool rug* throughout the .summer in any room of your home. 4-6x7-6 Summer Rugs ..5.75 6x9 Summer Rugs. .... 8.50 9x10 Summer Rugs ..11.50 9x12 Summer Rugs ..12.73 Rattania Fiber Rugs in the newest, gayest sprinsj patterrtr for sun parlor or bed room *. 3x6 Rattania .3.50 4-&x7-6 Rattania . 7.50 6x9 Rattania .12.00 7-6x10-6 Rattania ....17.00 9x12 Rattania .18.50 Guaranteed Congo leum “Gold Seal” Rugs Wc arc showing a complete line of these beautiful rug*. The fact that they are absolutely GUARANTEED (replacement without question if you are not satisfied) recommend* them te housewives everywhere. 9x12 Guaranteed Gold Seal Congoleum Rugs ....18.00 9x10-6 Guaranteed Gold Seal Congoleum Rugs.15.75 6x9 Guaranteed Gold Seal Con goleum Rugs.9.00 3x6 Guaranteed Gold Seal Con-^ goleum Rugs .2.50 3x41* Guaranteed Gold Seal Congoleum Rugs .1.95 Other Sixes in Proportion. All This Week the (>2.30 Range Hint* tinted nill be sold at And White Porcelain Top Table illustrated will be given FREE. FEATURES—White porcelain part* a* shown. Oven large enough for WEAR EVER tur key roaster. Detroit Jewel (las and OH Stores Offer a site and kind to fit your kitchen, your household and your purso. TERMS Accounts opened for those who wish to defer payment* to the first of May and thereafter you may pay as little CtMl as, per month .O FREE Every woman who purchases a Detroit Jewel f»a* Range this coming week will receive a \\ hitc Porcelain Top Kitchen Table. Fuel line and connection* FREE. A liberal allowance made on your old stove.