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Show Dorothy Dix Talks I WHY DO PEOPLE MARRY A SECOND TIME? By DOROTHY MX. the llighegj Paid Woman Writer ; Why do people marry a BSCOUd time : Considering that statistics show-that show-that one marriage out of twelve ends In divorce, and that of the retraining eleven two ire, perhaps, blissfully happy, three reasonably contented, und the balance an endurance contest, a second marriage is a human vagary that fills us with awe and wonder. It Is easy enough to understand a first marriage, it is the pptlmlam Of youth, the desire of youth for romance ro-mance and adventure. It Is the binding bind-ing faith of youth to achieve whatever what-ever it wants It Is the ignorance of youth that has no conception of the dangers It dares. A second marrlapo can offer nono of these excuses. It has experience that disillusions matrimony- it is conversant con-versant with the perils that beset thp holy estate. It knows the peculiar power that a husband und wife have to make each other wretched. One would think that men and women wo-men who have happily married a first time .would not venture to marry a second lime, because they would feel thut the gods had bestowed upon them their share of domestic bliss, and that they could not hope to again win a prize in the matrimonial lottery. Above all, one would think that those who had been unhappily mani -1 would be like the burnt child who dreads the fire, and that they woul 1 not bo foolhardy enough to embkrrt again on a venture similar to the one that had proved so disastrous. This Is not the case. however. Whether people have been happy, or miserable, in their first marriage do. j not deter them from trying it over again. The widowed seek consolation in another soul mate. The divorced try their luck onco more. Men and women who have once been married are far more apt to many again than those who have never been married. Nearly all of the widowed marry again if they can. There are very fow v i, lowers w'n. have pussed their second summer. Venn?: widows are proverbially given to matrimony, and as a general thlm; It li only elderly and homely ladles who remain faithful to tho memories of their dear departed Now most of these people were no particularly happy in their; first marriages, mar-riages, and after having reached Iho safe haven of single blessedness after a Klonnv matrimonial v ova ire. one wonders why they again set s,ail on the treacherous sea of matrimony- i Most of them are too old for love ; and romance to be an Impelling motive mo-tive to them. They are done with the dreams and Illusions of youth, in the phrases of the day they know what tiv y are going up agaiust, an J htlll they do it. Perhaps the real reason that people peo-ple marry a second time Is, first, be-OJUiaa be-OJUiaa they are lonely, and secondly, because they want a home. Whatever else marriage gives, or) fails to give. It gives companionship. : When a man and woman are congenial, con-genial, when they have the same tastes, when they think the same thoughts base the same interests, enjoy en-joy the same pleasures, and read the same books, this fbmpanlbnjintp makes matrimony a heaven oh earth, and U is the hope of getting this companionship thut Justifies people ii (p!unging on a hundred to one shot! on a vveddlntr ring. But even when they are not particularly par-ticularly congenial, eeu when they QUarrel and fight like the Kilkenny! eats, the married still have a com- , pahionship that gives a certain zest to life. You are bound to miss your! Impairing partner if he or she Is taken away from you. it is more entertain-i entertain-i in? to have somebody to scrap with I lover the breakfast table than to cat' i alone, and one misses even the nag- j ; glng when nobody cares what one does. Moreover, as one grows old, com-' I pnnionshlp becomes more and move I ' necessary. Young people can fin 1 pleasure In entertainment, in danc- J ing, and theatres, and running around at night but these diversions are bores when one comes to middle age , Then one wishes to sit by the are with friend wife, of friend husband,' Instead of having to drag old bones a round In society, or else know thoi desolation of utter solitude. Men and women marry a second time to get a home, it Is part of th tragedy of widowhood that it breaks up a home. When a woman 1 i. --t. lo r husband may try to carry on with the home. He may hire a competent housekeeper, keep the same servant.'. tho rood may be as good, the house as clean as ever, but It is no longer a home. it lacks the little touch, the spirit of love, the welcoming smile at the door that made the place home. If a man dies, his wife generally does keep up the home, but she finds that a woman by herself can no more make a real homo than a man can make one by himself. Her house inay be beautifully furnished, her table ta-ble well spread, but its atmosphere lacks, savor, it is a female asylum, not a home. Tho man wants somebody to run his homo for him. Tho woman wants somebody to make it worth while to run a home for, and so, they get married, mar-ried, fur having had a home of their own once, they are wretched without , one. Cynical Dr. Johnson once said that B Second marriage was a triumph of hope o-T experience. f should say-that say-that a second marrlape Is a triumph of courage over fear for a second mart-lag Is nearly always happier than firs! marriage, because men and women brlnj? to tnenj the wisdom and experience they have acquired in their previous venture. |