Show 0 little problems 0 0 0 life 0 r I 1 0 0 0 by WILLIAM GEORGE JORDAN f 0 4 g THROWING OVERBOARD THE OLD FRIENDS in that famous journey of jonah the prophet from joppa to nearly three thousand years tears ago beu hen the tile wind ind and the tempest rose and the great waves mayes washing our the little craft threatened to submerge it they threw jonah overboard that the light ened ship might ride easier ensler in waters into peace and tranquility in this twentieth century the old time friends of the husband are often similarly cast overboard froia frota M the e ship of matrimony that its burden may be lightened and the wave waves of hooe home discord may be tilled stilled the direct primitive simplicity of the jonah lac ilent Is rarely followed today it Is usually accomplished accompli shed by tact and tactics by seeming innocent comments and criticisms by delicate diplomacy by placing the tte friend in an exposed position which makes it seim that he be merely fell overboard tt it Is the final result of gentle iradel ir adal pu thes instead of one bold fearless toss togs N hen a girl marries she does not feel that the curtain has been rung down on the nearest st and best in her 0 old id life her iler girl friends do not give her up for lost and feil fell bat that she has passed forever out of 0 their lo 10 v sym lathi regard and companionship her life has but broadened they will visit her and slie she them as of old they will take interest in her new world and the he will retain as best as she can the threads of the old relationships the husband dually la Is honestly glad that her day days alone may be brightened a little by these friends that she he Is getting out of uto life all the happiness that she can of course he has haq nery little appreciation of her old admirers her fervor of app approval roial of theirl good points seems to be more sent mental than judicial he be cannot imagine what she can possibly have ever been seen in A or 33 or the others down the alphabet nip habet of her men friends enthusiasm over them Is hardly to be expected but tor for her vom domn friends except when they camp around tho the house at all hours and make it impossible for him to have a quiet talk aone alone with her he la Is usually complaisantly tolerant if not cordially encouraging lie ile doe not always receive similar courtesy and when a man marries even his truest worthiest and beat best friends fric nde those who mho have been close to him who have been his confidants his chums an and his s coers comrades es feel ee alth t sa sadness ness that it has now come to the parting of the waya ways they bl blu him good bye in spirit if not in word as though he were going to some island in the south seas and they might never see him film again it la is not the natural drifting apart that comes from ibis absorption in his home with new duties and that they fear it 1 Is that they will be d by Us ils wife and that her secret influence will be turned against them of course they do not think she ie to just the one they would have picked out for him for a man rarely does approve of his friends wife as quite good enough for him but they are N willing tiling to be jag unanimous nani and let loyalty and charity wipe away anair prejudice and even believe that ehe she Is the wonder her husband declares it if she he be wise for her own cake sale and that of her husband 1 i will try to make them ler ber fri 4 too and guard carefully against clr even being washed overboard much less being thrown ruthlessly into a sea of forgetfulness it if they already happen to be her friends as well they usually will be admitted into the home on he ticket and hae lime a comfortable orcha a tra chair but often when it la Is other wise also the hu husband alone can car issue but a pass entitling the bearer to stand room only there are some wives who show a strange jealousy in trifles they have bave a hunger for allness all nese they are not dot eat sat hufled with being merely supreme and first and best beat and nud most they lilt want to be only they are not content with being the sun un ot of his 00 1 l 1 they N want ti to be the tan sun and nil all the constellations too tm they want to comer his emotional output and aud control the entire market arket tu they often seem to consider ills affection regard ot liking and favor as his emotional cash and that it if be ile the least bit of it elge elsewhere where it li is taking just so much from them their constant fear of competition Is a la poor tribute to their own powers when a man first telle tells his swee heart or hin wife ife about ills lest best friend la his loyalty generous generOU pride and confidence that he Is speaking to welcoming ears he boom hm lim unduly soon ho he may bec become nine conscious cona cloa in 10 a ague way that the audience Is 13 a b bit it cool coot and unenthusiastic his words d do 0 not setta to carry over the footlights and the app applause lauie Is faint and perfunctory IN hen he be tell of he the time when they roomed together at college and pledged eternal friendship it seem somo to her juit a bit young and sentimental when his voice trembles a little nt at the episode of the camp when his friend burp furj 1 him through the fever ehe abe may never mind deer dear now you wont need him you have hav e ne me to take care of you youa the recital ot of a story of his friend a of humor doe q not appeal to ncr her sene it is weighed in the balance and found die dis good point she wanting every counts illusive way he feels fee s counts in pruiet quiet la Is but t cannot combat every virtue s shonn h au to hare have some falling failing capped rapped ahen lie its most up in the seams interested in impressing her she looks ay off on into the di distance stancO or flags his train of thought nt at the aay way of some commonplace atlon that show shows she haa has only been half listening as she interrupts to point out the tile tunny shade of a cloud or to nek ask him it he does not think old rose sash cur bains are beautiful NN hen he ini invites ites his ills friend to dinner at their house for the first time be Is 1 filled tilled with mill a bobish delight und over anxious that it will be a he ile Is proud of his hi home and went sto soto have it admired be he Is proud of his wife and proud of hie ills friend and wanta wants them really to like each other she Is pleasant but just a little more digal fled tied than Is 1 absolutely necessary there Is a slight air of constraint talk does not flow freely the fountain of his friends wit throws only a timid tentative occasionally ond nd causes only the faintest splash of a halt smile after the coffee things brighten up a little and over vier the cigar cigars the two talk over eld cid betit Is not a real trio 1 kihen ben good goodnight night time cornea comes and he goes to the door and helps bis his friend on with his coat and on the steps a few minutes louk look up nt at the stars and discus s the weather prospects there seems a note missing in the music both aro are conscious cons cloua of it bhea he hurries back to the dining room m where here they hai have e tarried because it seemed more comfortable to bear hear the verdict of the jury ot of one be he la 14 disappointed even though he lie feared it wa wait prejudiced the first remark lliran t he large handal I 1 does not seta really vital but it Is significant lie ile does get credit tor for dressing dres dinK well but as this was to be expected it does not count he ile laughs too loudly he seems conceited he mispronounced four words he called her husband by some flippant nickname he be has such strange views ot of religion she Is sure he Is an atheist there must be something wrong with his family he never mentioned any of them she would unger anything there la Is a cruel streak in him for she could tell it by the expression of his mouth she seems to have hae a certain pleasure in checking off the items seemingly unconscious of the pain she Is giving in her prejudiced mood even st paul would mould be disqualified had be come in as a friend upon whom the husband depended for affection counsel and comradeship in the days that follow the resentful stimulated by the defense and protest helps her to find flail new haws flaws and defects and the never falling failing trickle of comment and criticism may begin to wear away anay a rock of friendship the friends visits become shorter ae as the interval interial between them groves longer and then cease le tle husband occasionally meets him down town and he chaffs at the thought that he Is not treating him hini squarely it deems disloyal but he cannot feo how to change it he ile frets at the of his freedom ho he does not brenic u of the meeting nt at home he ile know knon s that if bo he should speak it would mean a fusi fusillade lade of question 1 not of real interest but of curiosity the instinct of being on guard like a sentry those duty it Is to challenge lie ile does not dot care to invite th thi inquisition it li sad and when a wife site even through overzealous loving close with mith her own liand hand the door of her husbands confidence it may rust on its hinges and become difficult to re open other friends of his may be dropped overboard la in many ways and for many excuses but with the same real rea reft son one may borrow money another may have bad table manners which her comments convert comert into almost a crime a third Is 1 not tolerated because of his wife and so the catalogue of extinguishing the lights of friendship run runs on until all the old ones are snuffed into darkness i and forgetful ness ties 1 I 1 friends theu then are the new ones they have hae made together once their marriage and anti her old f tends that are new to him they are those that have not meathe weathered reil he the horma storms an I 1 trials of life and beell tested and found staunch and anti true the old friendships carry with them a sentiment deep rooted in the past a sweetness a a loyalty it communion of memories and elpe that cannot be duplicated in after life the are like old books that we me have loved for years tho binding Is 1 worn and smoothed bv by our hands and by dear hands now stilled forc forcher fo ver the tile inscription with the date Is growing fainter for the eyes to de Li but easier eader for the heart to reid re id ld there are t that hat helped an aej in us still loyally retaining our penciled lines so wo me C coull turn to thein in perfect 1 confidence athen we desire there la Is the thumb mark marl that floods memory with a glow ow of hallowed halted gold en on light fr lr oni we e know hat it men means there Is the turned down page it would seem IrreNe irreverence rence to fold back there are din dried brown tints t on in the to margins that ass ll 11 linehon line how gug gelt autumn of aistis our years tears there is tile fern leaf slipped in u that night ue shall 1 never forget while a smile Is 1 still left in n the heart and the narrow rawn glnn book bookmark mark 13 I 1 faded and crinkled and the look Is dear to us and 10 ve it and me trust IL it has an bon we est feet as we open it antl it speaks the mme old words just in the old way with same no slightest through cogl III the years T ll 11 e tie w ed aton 14 arn and but gold a re beautiful 2 they almertie em so self conscious and they look new and the new and they seem untried U |