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Show MARITAL WOES OF RICH . - BY GERTRUDE ATHERTON. H I am not prepared to say, as an unqualified assertion, that thoro Is moro mnrltnl Infelicity nmong tho rich than in other classes of society. But thoro aro many reasons which might go toward bearing out tho clnlm. For ono thing, pcoplo who nro vory rich nro often prominent Boclnlly. When such couples fall out tho nowspapors, cuger for gosBlp and knowing tho Interest tho world at largo takes In tho wealthy, stir up tho dlBBcnslon. Foremost, however, nmong tho reasons rea-sons for espcclul mntrlmonlal unhnp-plncsB unhnp-plncsB among tho rich (If Buch unhnp-plncss unhnp-plncss really exists to a greater do-grco do-grco than among tho poor) is tho "marrlago of convenience." Among peoplo composing tho wealthy sot In our largo cities. marrlagCB nro oftoner matters or policy and desirability than tho moro outcome of mutual nffcctlon. There Is, in mnny ensos or this sort, no real lovo rrom tho vory outset. Womon marry men or groat wealth and social position because their rain-Hies rain-Hies aro ambitious. It is but natural undor such circumstances circum-stances that moro or less Jar and lack or congeniality should ensue. Nothing Noth-ing but nn unusual degroo or tact can avert such friction. Such pcoplo aro, after all, but human, hu-man, nnd a woman, who is forced by hor family's ambition to marry u man for whom she has no natural Inclination Inclina-tion or nffcctlon, Is not unlikely Inter to meet a man with whom sho falls seriously In lovo. This Is n condition which might perhaps havo boon wholly avoided had sho been born in n less exalted financial sphero and allowed to choose a husbnnd for herself. her-self. Family Tortuncs uro thus maintained main-tained or raised, sometimes at a coat far greater than more money involves. I have an old-fashioned belief that a husband and wife should ba rout helpmeets; that u husband's business cares and perplexities should bo understood un-derstood and shared by his wife; that his business losses should bo her losses and his triumphs hor triumphs. Often nmong tho rich this Is not the case. Tho wife, brought up to wealth and luxury, cares not In what way the Helms that surround her aro gained. Sho knows llttlo and cares lost about her nushnnd's business affairs, Sho hns no ronl sympathy with him lfl In bin hnrdshlps and trains, and In M conocqucnco ho is uomotimos apt to go olsowhoro for appreciation nnd ad- M vico. Should his fortuno bo swept M nway his wlfo, who knows nothing ot M his frnntlc efforts to keop that fortuno togothor for hor Bnko, blames him ror M careless management. If hor own money Is also Involved In tho crash sho M has still less sympathy for tho man to whom sho attributes tho mlsfor- M tunc All sho realizes Is that tho one attraction which mado him bcnrablo has boon removed. And sho looks olsowherc for tho happiness sho has Thoro aro, of courso, countless ox- coptlons to this rulo. Thoro are many happy marriages among tho rich, many luxurious homos whore ns truo nffcctlon rolgnu ns in less L splendid dwellings. H Still another causo of uncongenial- H Ity among tho rich is tho absence ol family life. In ordlnnry homes the H husband, wlfo nnd children meet dally H at tablo 'and olsowhoro nnd tho swoct H old-fashioned homo relations main- In many rich ramilles, howevor, tho H children nro put out of sight, in a nursery with a governess or nt somo JM fashionable boarding school, and aro H thus doprived of any knowlcdgo of H what homo llfo in its truest Bonso H really Ib. A multitude or social on- H gagoments, too, rob tho husband nnd H wlfo or much or each other's society. H How can homo exist In such clrcurn- H stances? The wlfo is absorbed in tho H duties that throng tho path or n worn- H an or rashlon. Tho husband's timo H and thought uro taken up by his bust- H iioss or his club. Absorbed in din- H metrically different Interests, thoy H naturally drift apart. v JM I think there will In tlmo bo a ro- H action from this sort of empty, Idle, H vain existence. Peoplo will tiro of It, H will boo how little It nmounto to, and H will return to tho homo ldou. H (Copyright, by Joseph H. Dowles.) V H |