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Show Kathleen Norris Says: Standing Behind the Breadwinner Bell Syndicate. WKV Features. r I fir ,: "H grew or irritable with each passing week and finally snapped at Von because she and her mother and the boys spent all the money that be slaved to earn." By KATHLEEN NORRIS IT ALWAYS gives me the creeps when a married woman says fearfully to her husband: "Pete, what would the children and I do if you died?" It seems ghoulish and unfeeling un-feeling somehow, to put this problem to a normal cheerful man who is just starting off for the office after a good breakfast, or settling down for his evening paper under the lamp. And yet It has to be asked sometimes, some-times, because the thought behind it is one that haunts even the most loving wife and mother. When every cent the family spends comes through the efforts of one man, and that man is only human, and subject to all the ills and accidents of today's to-day's living, then despite her healthy optimism and faith in the future, a woman has her anxious and puzzled moments on this particular subject. There was a San Francisco woman who met and conquered this dragon a few years ago, with really exciting excit-ing results. Her husband was a newspaper man, nervous, unreasonable, unreason-able, his rest and his system upset by the irregular hours and snatched downtown meals that are a part of EXTRA INCOME Most families have to spend most of the father's earnings to maintain even a fair standard of living. There is little left over to save. Mrs. Graham was one of those women who worried about her husband. He was earning a comfortable salary as a newspaper news-paper man, but his health was suffering from the strain of his work. He became more and more irritable and suffered frequent fre-quent sick spells. With her own small savings she bought a big old mansion. Being a former nurse, she knew that there were many sickly children who would benefit by a -stay in a well run convalescent convales-cent home. With her mother's help she now operates a home that takes in $750 a month. This extra income has changed the whole outlook for this family. Philip realizes that he does not have to struggle jo furiously to earn every cent he can. Veronica knows that she now can face the future unafraid. his calling. There were three small boys in the family and a good strong helpful grandmother, and the house ran smoothly and happily and economically, too. Whether Philip was jealous of his home and nursery world, or whether an increasing tendency on his part toward drinking and card-playing upset up-set his common sense is uncertain. But certain it is that he grew more irritable, exacting and ill-tempered with every passing week, and finally began to snap at Von because she and her mother and the boys spent all the money that he slaved to earn. If they had to earn it, he said, they'd feel differently about it. She Bought Big Old Home. Veronica Graham knew perfectly well that this was a phase; that Phil was overworked, tired, headachy head-achy and fretted because two younger young-er men had been given office promotions promo-tions ahead of him. She knew this would pass. But she also realized that to be the one bread-winner in a family of six really is too much of a strain for any man to bear, and she quietly completed a nursing course. During the war she made her steady $8 for an eight-hour day. Not sensational money, compared to Phil's $150 a week, but she banked it, and added it to other money she had saved, and two years ago she bought for $13,000 a roomy, handsome hand-some old place on the edge of town. Real estate was low-priced then, and for her 11 sunshiny rooms and big garden. Von has been offered just three times that sum since. However, she did not sell. She and her mother have with them now six delicate children, and could have many more, but they stop at six. The gross income from this venture is $750 a month. Von's mother, who was a teacher, is carrying forward the education of the four older ones, one of whom is a bone case and another an-other a lovely girl ef seven, almost al-most blind. The three-year-old twins, orphans, run free. This means an income for the older woman as well; a Chinese couple do the heavier heav-ier work, and Philip is steadying down into a much more normal and agreeable husband, in the relief of lessened strain. Faced Problems Early. Veronica had to do this against the prejudices of both husband and mother, but from the beginning she seemed to see her way clear and went straight ahead. There were many hard and puzzling moments of course, but in any worth-while effort ef-fort there are those, and Von only faced them In time, rather than waiting until need and grief and panic pan-ic were making any fresh start doubly dou-bly hard. When a man invents a new dog food or ice-cream sandwich or radio ra-dio program and sells it for four million, we hear of it with wonder and envy. Such a simple discovery and such a rich reward! But there are thousands of obscurer successes all about us, successes that don't bring in millions, but do bring in the, comfortable thousands that mean a good home and pleasant work and sufficient recognition and, best of all, security. There is no human being over the age of eight who doesn't want security. se-curity. A humble home perhaps, simple meals, 10-cent movies and catalogue cat-alogue dresses at $6.39. But security. secu-rity. Kings have lived long lives without ever being sure of it; millions mil-lions of men and women are seething seeth-ing about in the oriental countries, in Europe itself today longing only to be sure of the next meal, of shelter for the night never daring to dream of a permanent sense of having always al-ways enough. Enough food, enough shelter, sufficient clothing, freedom from persecution what heavenhat would be today to six out of 10 of the world's peoples! "Just a chance to work, Madam," said a starving European to me 20 years ago, "just to be able to show what I could do!" This chance is yours, as an American Amer-ican woman. It might pay you to consider first, and what you would do should the head of the house be stricken down, and secondly, whether wheth-er the time to do it perhaps is now. j "What would become of tbem?" |