The Omaha' Sunday Bee Magazine Page
Copyright 19li by American-Examiner. Gmt Britain Sights Reserved.
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JUL,
N04
EVA
'DONALD
7ALESR
Mii kusseH Away Back in the
Old Times Before She Wat
Married at AH.
A
REALLY nice woman will
not marry many time.
I Freanent msrrlarea sn.
(est commercialism. We think ot a
moman who hat made many mar
riages much aa we do ot a horse
that has bad many masters. The
same prejudice that exists against
a girl who Is known to hare been
often engaged Is entertained, but In
a much deeper degree toward the
woman who has had many hus
bands. And as we think ot the price -of
the horse, so we think of the
price of the w.oman. and we wonder
how many dollars she has brought
at each transaction in the marriage
mart. There Is the flavor ot barter
and sale about her.
Men are cleverer than women, and
their Ideas are written in the laws
Editor a is Lecturer.
they have made governing marriage.
Those laws contemplate few mar
riages, one usually, two sometimes,
but beyond that number tbey sel
dom look- That ia right, for mar
raise was Instituted for the protec
tion ot posterity and to centralize
property. Frequent marriages con
fuse children, so to speak, and scat
ter property.
Many marriages not only coarsen
the woman, but create what la far
from a good atmosphere for her
children. The child who has sev
eral stepfathers Is sure to become a
cynic about marriage and to esteem
lightly the bonds that should be
sacred.
In my opinion women who marry
often destroy the fine spiritual es
sence ot femininity. I believe that
two marriages are admissible in
come circumstances. But 1 know
many Una women whose opinions I
respect who consider even a second
marriage destructive ot the finer
side ot marriage.
These women, ot delicate percep
tions, say that marriage is perma
nent, not only while both live, but
while either remains- They do not
believe that death itself can destroy
the bond. "I belong to a memory,"
I have heard these sincere widows
say and have inwardly applauded
the beauty ot the sentiment.
I particularly dislike to see a
woman In a prominent position con
tract several marriages. Her name
and personality are known, and for
the young men and women who are
familiar with her fame she sets an
example that Is not uplifting.
, It Is a curious comment on the
so-called faithlessness of men that
they do not marry as often as
women do. I know a good many
women who bare married three,
four or five times, but 1 recall few
men who have married more than
twice. Nat Goodwin and De Wolf
Hopper? Well, yes;- but they are
ot the stage, and we look to the
stage for our entertainment, and
hot for our practice of the niceties
of our moral code. The smaller
number of marriages by men raises
the question whether they have it
higher regard for marriage than
have women-
Miss Lillian Russell aa
at She I To-day in
All Her Unparalleled
American Beauty and
Charm.
7&
YES-
By BARONESS BAZUS
Formerly
Mrs. Frank Leslie.
19- "
a;
I
DO not believe that any limit should be set on pre
gresslve matrimony,
There nro two reasons that hare their roots In
the depths of human nature for remarriages. One la
that it the first marriage Is a bappy state, there la a
desire to repeat It. The other Is that If the first mar
riage ot marriages turn out badly, hope triumphs over
experience and It Is human to want to try again. Each
Is good and sufficient reason.
Eiicli answers the question, "How many times may a
woman marry?" For she may mnrry as often as she
wishes to perpetuate, a bappy state or to forget an un
happy one.
The first marriage is usually for lore. The man mar.
ries for love. So does the woman. The second time
and thereafter he Is likely to cboose a woman who will
be an ornament to his home, who will look well at the
head ot his table and In his carriage, who will set the
stamp ot her gracious personality upon bis success in
his combat with the world.
In HER second and subsequent mnrriages the woman
Is prone to consider calm nnd congenial companionship
rather than marriage. She knows that man. Imperfect
creature that be is. Is a considerable shield against the
buffct!ngs ot life.
He Is almost Indispensable In travelling. Ha prevents
her being cheated by hotel keepers and robbed by tralu
sttcudaiit. And many women like to go about a great
deal. They need- an escort for this service. Call blm l
wrap carrier it you will. If be has as much money as
she has, all the belter, for tlia world will not say be
married her for her money.
Some sensitive- persons profess to be shocked by what
they term the promiscuity of frequent marriage. This
seems to me quite unnecessary. The preceding mar
riage, whether concluded by death or divorce. Is over.
It is finished, a turned page. In every other department
of life we make contracts, but we have also the right to
l) In MM she lurriW Edward
; Solomon, a cemnoser, and di
. -I vorcod kim ten years later. In
married John Chat
professional sinew
nor rorufim. She
' months later and
1898. New
nwvu wing ry
i f,' matrimonial nappmee again
-v. , Alexander P. Moora, a
X " Pituburf publisaer and mil
S .VS. lionaira.
' . Miss Russell's ceatnkuoua
' . ' ,M vorcod kim ten
j ,x. i 1894 ska aaarrie
t ', ""' : ! 1 'rtoni proles
' , . j : : v I known as Signer
1 ' ,' 1 loft kim four noi
i . ' ' J divorced kim hi
- , I ', Miis Russell ia
i
ft n.'itl
mm.
t&jrfr'j "-t
.
i'r-f r- tr ii.-r
oman
Lillian Rus
sell's Fourth
Husband
Raises the
Question
Wheth er It Is
Respectable
for a Woman
to Have an
Unlimited
Number of
Matrimonial
Jlffairs
Aarrvf
UIX1AN RUSSELL.
1 Iko Ml
:! 1 1 . rrv'
ww rtairi tmm u v., - - j .
and who, by' soma, it thonfht p'Z. f S
la be the moil beautiful we- f
man in mhtki,. 11 going le
got married again. This rke
bar fourth venture bite motri-
, menr.
la 1878 she BMrrted Harry
v I Brakanv, a ' musical director,
, and secured a fiveree in 1884.
r , y ; is- 'l but - -- pe,itie,&,,-' y.wy:- vuv1y
E t f awke her views of inmnin Vf.' . ' ' . J U -
I T1 S 1 . ""rs the question VSTh V! ' XA
I I . jr aV raUb, her fourth mri.,; &rf J $JL 1
1 - ,4 kij4- wo BTomlnent women di-s.f r-'l fi'jtVif?tL ;;AV
1 V - 'Z r , cuss wkotker it is rmpeetable fiV- ' ' W ' L J' 'i-Tt, v : i,V'i
XfTi Jr A Vr t'v' for wo""a "- .-.Vvy r- VA tie!; . '
retire from tbem and build anew on the foundation ot
knowledge derived from old mistakes.
The unromantlc truth Is that many marriages cease,
after a time, to be marriages. For wheu love has gone
there is no real marriage, an-1 I do not believe that
utter five years of living under the same roof a man
continues to love a woman, nor n woman a man. The
close, commonplace, everyday association has brushed
the bloom off love.
I said there Is no limit to the number of marriages a
woman may with propriety and happiness contract, if
she has first freed herself from her old bonds. But
Cuts is one point slio may well give thoughtful cou
slderstion. That is, that If she have sons she will not
need to marry for nn escort to places of amusement nor
for a travelling companion. If she havu auy children
she mny decide not to let their name be swailowed UP
nnd abandoned In a new one. My arsument lu favor of
remarrUge applies moro particularly to the childless
woman, but it Is true In a broad sense of any.
By LILLIAN RUSSELL
BEUBVB in re-marriages. If the adage
"If at first you dont succeed try, try
again" applies to every other condition
in life, why not to marriage? ,
It we make mistakes in business or In pro
fessional matters we try again and, benefiting
by our first failure, succeed. I regard this as
my second marriage. For my first was a
disappointment and mistake. My third waa
not a marriage, My second was, so 1 consider
It, my first and only one. Tkerefore, that
which is called my fourth marriage will really
be only my second.
Second marrlagee are
almost always happier
than the first So
expect mine to be.
Summlig up my views
of . re-marriages, my
own and others, t aay
' that It proves my faith
' In humanity. 1 I know
there are good women,
ao I know there must
be good ' men. God
wouldn't make auch a
one-sided world that
only the women In It
re good.
There are not many
' good men, I admit, but
that Is because the
world hasn't furnished
the conditions for good
ness for men. it is
beginning to do so.
Bhouldn't a woman
try to find a good man
just as she should try
to find the best ot
everything? I think the
next two years will
show wonderful ad
vance in that direction,
and It will come
through the votes for
women. Men are mis
taken when they think
that women will vote
for women. They will
vote for better men
and for the betterment
of men.
It some men have
failed In their duty we
Miss Russell and Her Second Husband, Mr.
Solomon, Whom She Considers Her
First Husband.
should net Judge all men by them. It la
the large view of men and ot humanity that
move a woman to marry again and again.
It la the triumph of hope.
Marriage Is the natural state and all wom
en should live In it. If they have found a
worthy mate.
. It Is better to try snd try again, marrying
severul times, than to remain the wife of a
man between whom and you there Is no- sym
pathy. That Is degradation beside which di
vorce le freedom aud purity. 1
Let me add that ne marriage Is happy that
Is based upon the broken heart of another
woman, I have never causae any woman's
heart to ache, and I never will.
It a woman would wait nutll she Is thirty
and a man until lie Is forty there would be
fewer re-marriages. Of course there would
be less time but the truth is, s greater pro
portion would be successful. The early first
marriage so often falls because the two can
not learn that great lesson of marriage not
to expect too much. Extreme youth always
expects too much of friends, of lovers, of the
whole world.
Politeness le the mucilage that binds to
gether the affectious. Familiarity Is the hot
water that dissolves tbem. When a man gets
into the bablt ot exruslng bis rudeness by
saying "0 well, she Is Just my wife' why
then, If the woman Is one of modern spirit
the domestic ship tacks around and heads
right for the divorce court '
Hasn't that woman a right to take herself
then to Sony-one who will appreciate her?
Because she has found an unappreclstlre
"master," must she continue all her life rat
ing herself st hi undervaluation? What
nonsense!
Many a man la surprised when someone
tell him his- wife Is clever. He has Barer
taken time to find It out
A good way to stamp out the svllMiness
thnt menaces marriage Is to forget the selfish
old dogmas of the narrow marriage. My
dear mother spoke of that In her book which
I have Just published for distribution among
my friends. I have called It "Memories of
My Mother." She aald "iho motto ot the
narrow marriage is
"Me and my wife, my son John and bis
wife,
"Us four snd no more."
She was right when she said that such a
marriage deserved to be a failure.
Talks and Reads, Though Deaf, Dumb and Blind
TE1RE
of
r
THREATENED with the loss
her laat remaining means
of communicating with her
fellow beings, Mrs. Ells Bennett,
ot Denver, Colorado, was Inspired
to Invent snd perfect an entirely
new system of "reading and writ
ing" for the deaf, dumb and blind.
Lying now in a Denver hoapttal
after fruitless efforts to recover
her sight, Mrs. Bennett who was
born s deaf mute Is one of thj
moat contented patients there.
That Is because, In spite of her
triple affliction, she ran "ta;k"
quite readily with doctors aud
nurses In fact, with any visitor.
While she still had her eyesight
What They Think of Re-Marriage in Other Lands
FREEDOM or the widow to remarry la in general an
Indication of a nation's position in the scale of
civilization. The moro barbarous and benighted
nations forbid the remarriage cf widows with various
accompaniments of cruelty.
The Hindus forbid remarriage of a widow with the
meat dreadful penalties that their religion and customs
can inflict The poor Hindu girl is married aa a child,
and on becoming a widow she is forced to be a slave of
her mother-in-law or of any woman who will ahelter
her. Girls are often widows at twelve. Former!y they
were burned alive with their husbands' bodies, but this
practise called "suttee" haa been suppressed by the
Britiah Government
Among many African races it is customary to execute
ail the wives on the death of their husbands. In the
Barua coantrv a dead chief is arranged in his grave sit
ting on the Ut of his principal wi!e with all the other
wives arranged around them. Then the widows are a!!
buried alive.
Thibet is one-half civilized country where remarriage
of widows is treely permitted, but here the men have
passed into a condition of effeminacy, leaving all work
and initiative to the women. One woman has as many
husbands as she pleases In Thibet, and adds to them
whenever she desires It
In Russia, the least civilized of any European coun
try, the remarriage of widows is severely frowned upon.
The Czar requires any widow In the imperial family to
retire to a convent. Widowa are required by law to
wait six months before marrying. Russian priests are
permitted to marry, but neither party may remarry on
the death of the other.
In Mongolia widows may not remarry, but must be
come slaves or servants in lamaseries.
In China a woman upon marriage becomes a member
of her husband's family, and subject to the others ot
ber parents-in-law under the system of ancestor-worship.
Aa long as the latter remain alive she is ex
pected to live with them, but after that may remarry.
The Chinese husband may divorce bis wife for talka
tiveness, but no cause of divorce Is permitted to her.
Among the Australian aborigines a widow has ber
head cut open and covered with plaster of parts, is com
pelled to remain silent for two years an". then is forced
to marry her husband's brother.
Among o ir Westein Indians a woman is expected to
leiuaiu a widow l - to seven years and may cot re
marry after forty
The Malays make a remarried widow the subject ot
many Impolite Jests.
Mrs. Bennett found the ordinary
deaf and dumb finger language
equal to every requirement Like
most deaf mutes, abe could also
read the speech ot others by
watching the movements of their
lips. This method, however, works
only one way, the mutes being on
able to make even the motlona ot
intelligible speech with their Hps.
Mrs. Bennett lost ber eyesight
through much sewing st night a
task necessary for her support As
her sight waned her thoughts
dwelt upon the problem of future
means of making known ber needs
and of receiving communications
from others. Though blind she
could write, but it would be im
possible for her to read the writ
ing of others.
She had beard of Helen Keller
and the possibility of "lip-reading"
with the fingers; but she realised
the extreme difficulty in her case
of acquiring that accomplishment'
The solution of ber problem finally
Hashed upon her. She had noted
the extreme sensitiveness 01 too
nerves ot her fingers and the palm
of her hand. With her fading
eyes closed she could touch the
palm or any finger of ber left baud
with a finger tip ot the right one
and the sensitive nerves would
telegraph to her brain Instantly
exactly what point on palm or
finger had been touched.
By experiment she found that
she was no exception to the gen
eral rule. So all she had to do
to provide herself with a simple
means of Intercommunication with
her friends after her sight was
completely gone waa to establish
a system of "neurograms" "neurog
raphy." or nerve writing, waa the
solution.
AM
M 4
r
m ill! s
V s
The Hands of Mrs. Bennett, Showing How the Alphabet Is Printed on Them.
sue set to work with enthu
siasm. &ach nerve centre between
the finger Joints snd marked by
prominences on the palm of her left
hand waa marked indelibly with a
letter of the alphabet . Before ber
sight became too dim, each letter
position bad been fixed by the
sense of touch. Now, blindness,
added to deafnees snd dumbness,
did not so much matser. Yet she
went to the hospital in a flicker of
hope that the light ot day had not
departed forevei a hope, however,
that was doomed to disappoint
ment .
Un Christmas Dsy a friend sat
beside her cot. 'Mrs. Bennett's
hand lay upon the lap of her friend
and, from a casual glance. It ap
peared one was "telling the for
tune" ot the other. Physician and
reporter investigated.
Mrs. Bennett had renewed the
letters on her hand with aa In
delible pencil Tbs complete alpha
bet waa there, three or tour letters
being on each finger and the
thumb and the remainder in the
palm. Mrs. Bennett, using her
right hand, and her friend were
alternately touching the printed
letters.
The friend, a Mrs. Fall, noticed
the visitors, and sent the following
neurogrsm to the blind woman:
"These are the doctors."
Mrs. Bennett immediately
stretched out her right arm and
smilingly shook the band of the
physician.
The wonder of Mrs. Bennett's ac
complishment is the more amazing
when the proximity of the letters
Is noted. A ia at the end of the
thumb, B and C come next, snd
then the alphabet winds along the
fingers and over tho palm ef Us
wrist ia a sort ot labyrlnthiss
style that seems to be without any
particular system.