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l HE newest valentine for this year taKes ths
form of a much enlarged postage stamp, with
a Cupid In the middle and the Inscription
" Loveland Postage " overhead. It Is express
ive of the Idea of a love message sent by mall
the u.iunl mode of conveying such expressions
of regard on the holiday dedicated to ths pa
tron saint of nil true lovers.
There Is, Indeed, a large Increase In the amount of mall
muter handled by the postofflce department at the period
? claimed by the good St. Valentine, and during the last three
or four years the number of valentines exchanged has been
i far greater than ever before. The pretty ctiHtom has become
' fashionable, and not only young men and women but the
J older folks as well send these pretty tokens to each other and
i to their friends In much the same way as they distribute
f ranis at Christmas and Easter. To a certain extent, in fact,
' the valentine has come to resemble the Easter or Christmas
rani In character, though distinguished from the latter by
the love idea.
I One of the most amusing of the new valentines Is orna-
i mented with a miniature dustpan of brass.'Just like a real
j cue, brmath which are the lines:
" If you can furnish the dust for me,
'( You and I might married be.
f You get the dust, I've got a pan;
I'll spend what you earn as fast as I can."
j New Comic Valentines Not Harsh.
Now, tills Is the wholly harmless kind of fun that per-
l va.i'X the spirit of all the up to date comlo valentines. Long
: ago the old style comics, which sell for a cent apiece, de-
I Rtnrmtid into the abusive and disgusting,- being designed
npp.irently to furnish a ready means for gratifying ths petty
j malice of the senders. But the new ones, some of which ars
not less elaborate because of their humorous character, ars
S pure and Innocent nonsense.
J As for the pretty ones, which compose the great majority,
they are In many Instances beautiful and costly. In respect
j of taste they aro vastly superior to the old fashioned sentl-
j mental valentines, with their crude designs and elaborate
paper lace. The paper lace specimens have not entirely gone
i out, however, for the apparent reason that, for association's
j sake, they gratify the eye and special demand of elder folks,
recalling memories of tender and Joyous youth.
One of the novelties this year Is a really up to date Cupid
on skis those snowshoe like contrivances iised for sport on
the snow In Canada. As might be expected, the little fellow
with wings carries a large letter addressed "To my Valen
tine." I'tterly sentimental and decidedly cunning Is a basket
trimmed with blue forget me nots and labeled on the outside,
' A Basketful of Love for My Valentine." The address at
tached Is " 100 Kissing avenue." When the basket Is opened
three Cupids emerge, with a whole shower of heart.
Cupid Appears as Chauffeur.
That Cupid should ride in a motor car like every one else
In these days gees without saying. Ho appears as a chauffeur
In many of this year's valentines usually propelling a flower
ornamented vehicle with a young lady of agreeable aspect In-
un me rront or one of these automobiles is Inscribed
era rm
- - xk ... .
, XViiynliiw,
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we
.
iti tO
Us A
Us
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its j-----,' " wzJtm
rfXove
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k It-
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Bid
the lines
" Love shall ever be our guide,
vn lth you, dearest, by my side.'
r
Another pretty design' for a valentine Is a fan made of
vv--;f .fear,
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to.
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volentme
fan
lilies or tulips with a Cupid emtrnlng from the heart of each
flower. On each of the sticks of the fan (which are made to
counterfeit green leaves) Is something sentimental in verse.
A pretty girl, In yet another design, carries a bouquet of
flowers In her right hand, while under her left arm Is a large
and very red heart, inscribed with the words, " My Valentine,
I am heart whole and fancy free."
This Is calculated to soothe any feelings of discomfort
and doubt on the subject which may have agitated the breast
of the recipient. But. of course, the chief purpose of valen
tines Is to amuse, and some of the less sentimental and more
humorous ones are highly Interesting In their way. Two
pussy cats, for Instance, are peeping over a frame Bet upon
an easel, and within the frame Is Inscribed:
I am no artist gTand, and yet
Your picture's In my heart, my pet.
'Twas ' ensel-y ' painted, for, you see,
I love you, dear. Do you love me?"
The Jingle'iaek Is Here Too.
The valentine Jlnglejack has come to stay apparently.
Some of them were for sale last year, and this year there are
a good many more. One of them Is a clown, with a heart on
his chest and a fine grin. You pull a string, and ho Jfts his
legs and arms In true Jlnglf Jack fashion.
Also, there are absurd colored persons of the vaudeville
type. Some of the funniest of the comics are paper figures
with reversible heads. When the heads are turned upside
down the whiskers become hair and the alteration in other re
spects is startling.
But the simplest and one of the oddest of all tho valen
tines this year Is one made In Imitation of an ordinary ship
ping tag. On one side is to bo written the address of the
person to whom It Is to be sent, and on the other Is the sug
gestive Inscription, " You've been tagging after me long
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enough.
Rene Bachb.
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grawavx Z-J Jewel TV
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CSSSSSSSSSCSSSSS9SSOS909
oessssssssss ssessssscs
fearly Uwice as Many -Divorced Women as Divorced Jfflen.
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4
iN the thirty-seven cities of the United States
which in 10(H) had populations exceeding 100,000
there were 8,017 mpre divorced women than
divorced men, while Indianapolis, Ind., led the
whole list In divorced women and came within
one place of first in the number of its divorced
men.
Fifty-two divorced women in every 1,000 of
Its population Is the unique record of the Indiana capital,
followed at some distance by Kansas City. Mo., with Its 40.9
grass widows In the 1,000. while Jersey City, N. J., trails
In at the extreme foot of the list with only 3.8 divorced
women on the snme population basis.
St. Joseph, Mo., leads with a record breaking 84.5 grass
widowers In the 1,000, and, as if this were not enough, it
shows that more men than women are divorced and living
there against all the ratios and traditions of the United States
census bureau.
If a city of 100,000 population and more has to exceed 13.5
divorced women and 8.5 divorced men to each 1,000 inhab
itants It Is outdoing Itself. In tho thirty-seven cities consid
ered In this article there are totals of 18.008 grass widows
and 10,801 grass widowers out of the population of 13,029.739
cf all ages arid conditions.
Where Are the Divorced Men?
Looking over the tabulations of legal widowhood as
shown by the census the reader Is struck by the apparent
Inconsistency of the figures showing the divorced women and
the numbers of divorced men. The proportion for the popu
lation total for the thirty-seven cities Is 13,"i divorced women
to 85 divorced men In every 10,000 people, a difference of
more than one-third In favor of the men. At a glance one
is disposed to remark that there should be a grass widower
for every grass widow suggested by the census reports. But
there are at least two good reasons for the condition.
Abandonment is the one chief cause of divorce In the United
States. It la such a rial cause that out of its reality It has
come to be a sham cause as well until Judges on the bench
have uttered protest against the ease at which collusion be
tween a husband and wife results In divorce. An absence of
' two years on the part of the husband is proved and the com
plaining wife gets her decree.
To abandon a wife after collusion at divorce, the husband
needs to leave his home In order that successful proof may
be brought to court. Naturally a man ta less inclined to
admit grass widowerhood In a stranue city than his wife may
be to admit it in her own home, m here she Is known perhaps
even to the census taktr.
Then, too, most divorced men who are conniving parties
to the divorce decne are quick to marry again, and with tbs
marriage the necessity for contributing to the divorce sta
tistics of his native land is gone glimmering. Not infre
quently the man In arranging for divorce from one wife has
the other wife singled out before the court decree can be
written up. Under any circumstances it will be unchallenged
that the divorced man has better opportunities for a second
marriage than has the divorced woman, and there are Ind'
catlons that he is availing himself of his opportunities In
that line.
It is In this possibility of remarriage that the grass wid
ower In Louisville, Ky., comes out into the limelight with a
celerity not equaled anywhere when contrasted with the 33.4
women in every 1,000 population. By the time the official
canvasser had counted the 83.4 women on ttia Louisville list
and turned her attention to the grass widowers of the town
nil but 5.5 of them had remarried or disappeared somewhere.
Disappearance is not easily accounted for in the list, for
the reason that only St Joseph, Mo., has more widowers than
widows of the grass variety, and It has by no mttans enough
more of these to account for any sort of a migration to cities
of the 100,000 class. With 3.12 grass widowers and 327 graM
widows In St. Joseph the unaccounted 8.000 and more widow
ers for the group of thirty-seven cities under observation are
overwhelmingly In favor of the remarriage speculation.
Sympathy Is With Crass Widower.,
There have been speculations aa to whether or not the
man who has gone through the divorce mills has not an added
Interest for a wide circle of femininity. Notwithstanding the
position of man) married women upon the question of equal
suffrage and woman's rights, the sympathy of most women
Is distinctly with the grass widower In the divorce proceed
ings. Even If he has whipped the wife occasionally the
opinion frequently is that she has deserved, it. A widower
of the sod variety under nearly all circumstances has a han
dicap when it comes to a new edition of love's young dream.
With even a third edition of a court decree, without alimony,
the widower of the grass variety suggests even piquancy to a
fourth romance.
Just why Jersey City has such a small proportion of
divorced men and women Is open to question, with the lean
ing probability that the Juxtaposition of New York and the
ferry boat accommodations are responsible. At the same
time New York's own figures for either sex are so far below
the general averages as to have no meaning.
Chicago Far in Lead of New York.
Compared with the fh leu go figures from the divorce
mills the figures for greater New York appear to have he n
unpadded, to a startling extent. The figures for the eastern
metropolis are 00 divorced women and 32 divorced men In
every 10,000 population, while the figures for the western
metropolis are 140 grass widows snd 110 grass widowers
Yet, considering the amount of matter that has been printed
a: the expense of Chicago as a divorce resort, the city his a
long list of neighbors who are a good dial more so.
For years the Kansas City grass widow has had a distinct
place In the small talk of the Amalgamated Order of Mar
riage License Clerks of America, as well as having her own
Illustrated corner In some of the comic papers. She is second
only to the Indianapolis variety In numbers as compiled for
the bureau of public printing at Washington, D. C. Four
hundred snd nine of them In every 10,000 residents of the city
by the Kaw Is n striking piece of statistics, approached only
.by Los Angeles with Its even 400 in the same grouping
A good many years ago a Kansas City litterateur spent
some time, some gray matter, and considerable wit and
humor In the consideration of the Kansas City grass widow
as an esjiecial attraction for the average lovelorn Kansa
City youth. He painted the lady as she never dared paint
herself for the delectation of her youthful admirer She was
pictured ns having the experience, tact, vim, ardor, direct
ness, and all the other qualifications which a bashful man
probably lacks, even In Kansas City, and it was floured that
out of her experience and In the happy circumstance of
catching her second choice exceedingly young she ought to be
able to mold him to her liking beyond the possibility of her
first venture In matrimony.
Indianapolis Leads Them All.
But according to the official figures for the cities of the
100,000 classification, the Kansas City grass widow has yield
ed place to the grass widow of Indianapolis. The Indianapo
lis grass widow still has to Identify herself in fact, humor,
und fiction, but now that the fact has been pointed that shu
leads the new world in numbers the Indiana litterateur may
U' anticipated as rising quickly to the opportunity which she
(.Iters to Indiana letters. Only a few weeks ago an Indlan
aKlls paper attempted to steer the local literary talent away
from the vital fact in the following summary of local condi
tions: " Indiana vital statistics for the last three years show
that deaths have kept pace with the Increase In population,
while the marriages and births have fallen behind. Indicating
that there Is a tendency to celibacy and race sulelds."
But all this is beside the mark. The startling feature of
all Indianapolis life is the Indianapolis grass widow, C24
strong In every 10.000 population, 53 of them in every l.ooo,
and 5.2 of them in every 100 of city residents. The Indian
apolis grass widow has become a national Issue, ami a re
proach upon the time " When Knighthood Was in Flower."
As a social problem she is " up " to the Indiana literati.
Divorced
Women.
Allegheny, Pa 143
Baltimore, Md 632
Boston, Mass 781'
Bnllalo.N.Y 298
Chicago, 111 . 2,468
Cincinnati, O M
Cleveland, O 670
Columbus, O ,. SIS
Denver, Colo 418
Detroit, Mich 6S
Fall River, Mass 71
Indianapolis, lnd . 879
Jersey City, N. J 78
Kansas City, Mo 672
Los Angeles, Cal 406
Louisville, Ky 66S
Memphis, Tenn 295
Milwaukee, Wis 664
Minneapolis, Minn 468
Newark, N. J 166
New Haven, Conn 169
New Orleans, La 630
New York, N. Y 2,061
Omaha, Neb ... 236
Paterson, N. J 83
Philadelphia, Pa 1,027
Pittsburg, Pa 237
Providence, R. I 669
Rochester, N. Y 168
St. Joseph, Mo 327
St. Louis. Mo 9S
St. Paul, Minn 181
San Francisco, Cal , 1,011
Scranton, Pa 84
Syracuse, N. Y 114
Toledo, O 272
Worcester, Mass 143
Divorced
Men.
84
356
423
197
1.873
289
388
243
237
264
39
S12
43
432
269
113
123
293
312
116
78
279
1,190
249
38
743
144
286
92
352
601
162
749
46
90
159
84
18.908
10.891
Total
Population.
129.896
608.957
560,892
352.387
1,698.575
325.902
381,768
125.560
132,859
285.704
104.863
169,164
206,433
163.752
102,479
204,731
102.320
283.315
202.718
246.070
108.027
287.104
3,437,202
102.555
105.171
1.293.697
321.616
175.597
162,608
102,979
575,238
163.065
342.782
102,026
108.374
131.822
118,421
13,929.739
Divorces to 1.000
women.
11.0
12.4
14.0
8.3
14.0
17.0
17.5
27.2
31.2.
12.7
6.7
62.0
3.8
40.9
40.0
33.4
29.0
19.8
22.5
6.7
13.8
18.5
6.0
23.1
7.9
8.0
7.4
32.5
10.4
32.0
17.3
11.1
29.5
8.2
10.5
20.6
12.1
13.6
Men.
6.5
7.0
7.6
5.6
11.0
8.1
40.1
19.4
18.0
9.2
3.7
30.3
2.0
26.3
26.3
5.5
12.0
10.0
15.3
4.7
7.2
9.7
3.2
24.4
3.6
5.7
4.4
16-3
6.7
34.5
10.4
9.9
21.8
4.5
8.3
12.0
7.1
8.3
V
I
