The Chattanooga News. (Chattanooga, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 12, 1923 Page: 4 of 6
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YHE CHATTANOOGA NEWS
Matrimonial Adventures
Marriage for One
BY
Theodore Dreiser
Author of "'Sitter CarrU," "Jennl*
Gerhardt," ' Th« PlnancUr,** "A
1ri««l«r at Forty." "The Titan,"
4*Th« Oenlu«," "A H<>o»ler Holi-
Ujr" "Twelva Men," «tc.
Copyright by United Feature Syndicate
THEODORE DREISER
Our English nelijhnor, the cele-
brated novellnt Arnold Hennet, ron-
sldera Theodore Dreiser 11 leading
repreH<*ntatlve American novel lut.
Mr. Dreiser's work ia known In
utnar countries, hia books have
been translated Into both French
and German.
There la perhaps no author In
the United Stat' H about whom such
curiosity Ih oxpresfl«'d as Theodore
I»relaer. HIh first bonk, "Sinter
Carrie," begun when lie was re-
porting on a western newspaper
brought forth the kind of succeed
and discussion that have become
continuous with bin succeeding
novels.
It d»*alt with life In arresting
tormH. It pictured people In a nev-
er-to-be-forgotten manner, and this
Is th« quality you And In his later
work. For work It la. Mr, Dreiser
says: "I'm not a hermit. Nor
privatertotis. Hut you Know there
ar& a lot of people that regard
writing aa a sort of pl- nlc. Thev
flock. Want to know how you do
It. Want to see you at It It all
takoa up time. It leads nowhere.
I<et people get wind of you and It
means Invitations. Society Ih a
biiHlnesM In Itself. I can't manage
It and do my work, too."
With nil his tranacrlptlons from
the terrible thlnga of life, Theodore
Dreiaer la an Idealist. Ills Insight
Ih amazing. Ills vision far-reach-
ing. The Htory which followa writ-
ten for the Star Author Series of
Matrimonial Adventures, given a
new and appealing picture of 'Mar
rlage-for One."
MARY STEWART CUTTING, JR.
Whenever I think of love and mar-
riage I tlilnk of Wrny. That clerkly
figure. That clerkly mind. He wan
among those I met during my first
years In New York. Like ho many of
the millions seeking to make their
vay, he was busy about his affairs,
and, fortunately, with the limitations
of the average man he had the ambi-
tions of (he average man. Me was
connected with one of those commer-
cial agencies which Inquire Into the
«tandlng of business men and report
their findings, for a price, to other
business men. He was interested in
his work and seemed satisfied that In
time he was certain to achieve what
was perhaps a fair enough ambition:
managership of some branch of the
great concern he was connected with
and which might have paid him so
much as tlve or six thousand a. year.
The thing about him that Interested
me, apart from a genial and pleasing
disposition, was that with all this
wealth of opportunity before him for
studying the human mind, Its re-
sources and resourcefulness Its Inhi-
bitions and liberations, its humor,
tragedy and general shiftiness and
changefulness, he concerned himself
■chiefly with the bare facts «>f the dif-
ferent enterprises whose character he
was supposed to Investigate Were
they solvent? Could and did they pay
their hills? What was their capital
atock? How much cash did they have
on hand? . . . Such was the nature
of the data he needed, and to this,
largely, he confined himself.
Nevertheless, he was at times
amused or astonished or made angry
or self-righteous by the tricks the se-
♦retlveness, the errors and downright
meanness of spirit of so many he came
In contact with. As fo- himself, he
bad the feeling that he was a person
of no little character, thai he wan
honest, straightforward, not aa lim-
ited or worthless as some of these
others. On this score, as on some
•thers, he was convinced that he
■would succeed. If a man did as lie
should do, If he were Industrious and
honest and courteous and a few more
of those many things we all know we
ought to he, he was hound to get along
better than those who did not. What!
an honest. Industrious, careful, cour-
teous man not do better than those
who are none of those things? What
nonsense. It must he so. of course
there were accidents and sickness,
and men here and there stole from
one another as he hw well Illustrated
In his own labors; and hanks failed.
And there were trusts and combina-
tions helng formed even then which
did not seem to he entirely In tune
with the Interests of the average man
But even so—all things considered—
If the average man followed the above
rules lie was sure to fare better than
the other fellow. There was such a
thing ; i approximate Justice, flood
did prevail, In the main, and the
wicked were punished.
As for love and marriage, he held
definite views about these also Not
that lie was unduly narrow or In-
clined to censure those whose lives
bad not worked out as well as he
hoped hi* own would, but there was a
fine line of tact somewhere in this
matter of marriage which led to suc-
cess also, quite ns the qualities out-
lined above led, or should lead, to suc-
cess In matters more inaterl il or prac-
tical. One hnd to understand a little
something ahout women. One had to
be sure tliut when one went u-court-
I Ing one selected a woman of sense as
well as charm, one who came of good
stock and hence would he possessed of
| good taste und good principles. She
need not he rich; She might even be
poor. So many women were design-
ing, or at least light and flighty; they
could not help a serious man to suc-
ceed If they would. Everywhere, of
course, was the worthy girl whom It
was an honor to marry, and It was
one of these he wss going to choose.
Hut even with one such It was neces-
sary to exercise care; she might be
too narrow and conventional.
In the course of time, having be-
come secretary to a certain somebody,
he encountered In his own ollico a girl
who seemed to embody nearly all of
the virtues and qualities which he
thought necessary. She was the daugh-
ter of very modestly circumstanced
parents who dwelt In the nearby sub-
urb of , and a very capable ste-
nographer, She was really pretty but
not very well Informed, a girl who ap-
ipeared to be practical and sensible,
but still in leash to the tenets and In-
structions of her home, her church
and her family circle, three worlds
which were as fixed and definite and
worthy as the most enthusiastic of
those who seek to maintain the order
and virtue of the world could have
wished. For instance, she was op-
posed to the theater, dancing, night
dining or visiting in the city, as ■ 11
as anything that In her religious
world might be construed as desecra-
tion of the Sabbath. I recall him de-
scribing her narrow "as yet" but he
hoped to make her more liberal In
time. He told me that lie had been
unable to win her to so simple an out
Ing on the Sabbath as rowing on the
little river near her home, that never
would she stay downtown to dinner.
As for the theater—it could unt even
he mentioned. She could not anil
would not dance, and looked upon
such inclinations In him as not only
worldly but loose and sinful. Al-
though he prided himself on being a
liberal and even a radical, to her he
. ret ended a profound Indifference to
such departures from conventions. lie
thought her too fine and Intelligent a
girl to stick to wicli notions, and was
doing his best to Influence and en-
lighten her. By slow degrees (lie was
ahout the business of courting her two
or three years) he was able to bring
her to (lie place where she would stay
downtown for dinner on a weekday,
and occasionally would attend a sa-
cred or musical concert on a Sunday
night. Also, which he considered, a
great triumph, he Induced her to rend
certain books, especially bits of his-
tory and philosophy which he thought
liberal and which no doubt generated
some thin wisps of doubt In her own
mind.
With their marriage came a new
form of life for both of them, but
more especially for her. They took a
small apartment in New York, and It
was not long before she joined a lit-
erary club that was being formed In
their vicinity, where she met two rest-
less, pushing, seeking .vomen for
whom he did not care—a Mrs. Drake
and a Mrs. Munshuw, both of whom
he Insisted could be of no value to
anyone. But Bessie liked Ihetn and
spent a great deal of time with them,
i visited them at their small apart-
ment about this time, and found that
she was proving a very apt pupil In
the realm to which he had introduced
her It was plain that she had been
emancipated from her old notions as
to the sinfulness of the stage, as well
as reading and living In general
Wrny had proved to be the Prince
Charming who had entered the secret
garden and waked the sleeping prin-
cess to a wotld such as she had never
drenmed of.
Whenever he met me after this be
would confide the growing nature of
his doubts and perplexities. Bessie
was no mrtre like the girl he had met
In his office tlinn he was like the boy
he had been at ten years of age. She
was becoming more aggressive, more
Inquisitive, more self-centered, more
argumentative all the time, more this,
more that. She did not like the same
plays he liked; he wanted a play that
wss light and amusing, and she want-
ed ope with Bome serious moral or In-
tellectual twist to it. She read only
serious books now and was Interested
In lectures, whereas he, as he now
confessed, wus more or less bored by
serious books. She liked music, or
was pretending that she did, grand
opera recitals and that sort of thing,
whereas grand opera bored film. And
yet If he would not accompany her she
would go with one or both of those
women he was beginning to detest.
They seemed to have no household
duties and could come and go as they
chose. It was they who were aiding
and abetting her In all these things
and stirring her up to go and do and
be. What was he to do? No good
could come If things went on as they
were now going. They were beginning
to quarrel, and more than once lately
she had threatened to leave him and
do for herself, as he well knew she
could.
In ahout two months after tills
Wray came to see me, and in a very
distrait state of mind. After vainly
attempting to discuss casual things
casually he confessed that Bessie had
left Idm She hail taken a room some-
where. had gone hack to work, and
would not accept any money from
him. Although he met her occasionally
in the subwa} she would have nothing
to do with him. And would 1 believe
it? She was accusing him of being
narrow and tgnoNnt and stubborn I
And only three or four years before
she had thonghr Jie was all wrong be
cause lie wanted to go row ing 01, Sun-
day! Could such things he? And
still he loved her; he couldn't help It.
He recalled how sweet and Innocent
uud strange she had been when he
first met her, how much she respected
her parents' wishes, anil now see. "1
wish to God," he suddenly exclaimed,
"that I hadn't been In such a hurry to
change her. She was all right then,
If I had only known It. She wasn't In-
terested in these A— d new-fangled
things, and I wasn't satisfied until she
was. And now see! She leaves me
und says I'm narrow ami trying to
hold her back Intellectually."
1 shook my head. Of what value
wus advice In the face of such a situ-
ation as this, especially from one who
was satisfied that the mysteries of
temperament were not to be unrav-
eled or adjusted save by nature?
Nevertheless, being appealed to, I ven-
tured a silly suggestion, borrowed
from another. lie had said that If he
could only win her hack lie would be
willing to modify the pointless opposi-
tion and contention that hnd driven
her away. She might go her Intellec-
tual way as she chose, If she wou'tl
only come back. , . . Seeing liitn
so trm'lilble and so very wishful, I
suggested a thing another hud done
in a related situation. lie was to win
her back by offering her such terms as
she would accept, and then, in order
to hind her to him, lie was to Induce
her to have a child. That would cap-
ture her sympathy and at the same
time insinuate, an Image of himself
Into her affectionate consideration.
Those who had children rarely sepa-
rated—or so 1 said.
The thought Interested lilm at once.
It satisfied Ids practical and clerkly
soul. He left me hopefully und I saw
nothing more of him for several
months, when he came to report that
all WjiH well with him once more. In
order to seal the new pact he had
taken a larger apartment in a more
engaging part of tlie city. Bessie was
going on with her club life, and he
was not opposing iier. Anil then with
In the year came a child, and fo"
next two'years all those simple,
homey and seemlnglv binding and re-
straining tilings w' go with tlie
rearing and protectl .1 of u young life.
Hut, ns I was soon to learn, even
during that period ull was not as
smooth as might lie. One day in
Wrny's absence Bessie remarked that,
delightful as it was to have a child of
her own. she could see herself as little
more than milk-cow with n calf, bound
to Its service until It should he able
to look after Itself. She spoke of
what a chain and a weight a child
was to one who bad ambitions beyond
those of motherhood. Hut Wray,
clerkly soul ti.at lie was, was all hut
lost In rapture. There was a small
park nearby, and here he was to be
found trundling this infant in a hand-
some baby carriage whenever his du-
ties would permit. He liked to specu-
late on the charm und Innocence of
babyhood and w»s amused by a hun-
dred things he had never noticed in
the children of others. Already he
was planning for little Marie's future.
It was hard for children to be cooped
up In the city. If he could win Bes-
sie to the Idea, they would move to
some suburban town.
They were prospering now and
could engage a nursemaid, so Mrs.
Wray resumed her intellectual pur-
suits. It was ensy to see that, re-
spect Wray as she might ns an affec-
tionate nnd methodical man, she could
not love him, and flint because of the
gap that lies between those who think
or dream a little nnd those who aspire
and dream much. They were two dif-
fering rates of motion, flowing side by
side for the time being only, he the
slower she the quicker. Observing
them together one could see how
proud he was of her nnd Ms relation-
ship to her, how he felt that he had
captured a prize regardless of the
conditions by which It w;\s retained,
while she held him rather lightly in
her thoughts or her moods. Having
won her back he now sought to hind
her to him in any way that he might,
while she wished only to be free, For
surcease she plunged into those old ac-
tivities which had so troubled him.
and now In addition to himself the
child was being neglected, or so he
thought. The arrival of Marie had
not Influenced her in that respect.
And what was mo;e and worse, she
had now taken to reading Kreud ami
Kraft-Ebbing and allied thinkers and
authorities, men and works he con-
sidered shameful even though scarce-
ly grasped by him. Once he said to
me: "Do you know of a writer of
the name of Pierre I^>tl?"
"Yes." I replied. "I know his works.
What about It?"
"What do you think of him?"
"Why, I respect him very much.
What ahout hlniT"
"Oh, I know, from an intellectual
point of view, as n tine writer, maybe.
Hut whet do you think of his views of
life—of his books us books to be read
by the mother of a little girl?"
"Wray," I said, "I ciui't enter upon
n discussion of nny man's works upon
purely moral grounds) He might be
good for some mothers and evil for
others. That Is ns you will. Those
who are to be injured by a picture of
life must be Injured, nnd those who
are to he benefited will he benefited.
1 can't discuss either books op life in
that way. I see books as truthful
representations of life ill some form,
nothing more. And It would be un-
fair to anyone who stood in intel-
lectual nets! to be restrained from
that which might prove of advantage
to htm. I speak only for myself, how-
ever."
It was not long after that, six
months or less, that I heard there had
been a new quarrel which resulted in
Bessie's leaving him once more, and
with her. which perhaps was illegal
or unfair she had taken the child of
which he was so fond. Not hearing
directly from him as to this, I called
upon him after a time and found him
Uvlng In the same large apartment
they had taken. A pert from a
solemnity and a reserve which sprang
from a wounded and disgruntled
spirit, he pretended an Indifference
and a satisfaction with his present
state which did not square with his
past love for her. She had gone, yes,
and with another man. He was sure
of that, although he did not know whe
the man was. It wus nil due to on
of those two women ahout whom 1*
had told me before, flint Mrs. Drake
She had Interested Bessie in tilings
which did not and could not Interest
him/ They were all alike, those peo-
ple—crazy und notional and Insincere.
After a time he added that he had j
been to see her parents. I could not i
guess why, unless it was because he
was lonely and still very much In love
and thought they might help him to !
Understand the troublesome problem
that was before him.
There was no other word from him j
for much over a year, during which i
time he continued to live in the apart- |
ment they had occupied together. He
hud retained his position with the
agency and was now manager of n
department. One rainy November
night lie came to see me, and seated
himself before my fire. He looked
well enough, quite the careful person
who takes care of bis clothes, but
thinner, more tense and restless. He
said be was doing very well and wus [
thinking of taking a long vacation to |
visit some friends in the West. (He
had heard that Bessie had gone to
California.) Then of a sudden, noting
that I studied him and wondered, he
grew restless nnd flnnily got up to
look at a shelf of books. Suddenly he
wheeled and faced me, exclaiming: "I
can't stand it. That's what's the mat-
ter. I've tried nnd tried. I thought
that the child would make .tilings
work out nil right, but It didn't. Shu
didn't want children nnd never for-
gave me for persuading her to hav«
Marie. And that literary crnz -but
that was my fault. I was the one flint
encouraged her to ron ' nil go to the
theaters. I used to , el 1 her she
wasn't up-to-date, that she ought to
wake up nnd find out what was going
on In the world, flint she ought to get
out with intelligent people.
Hut It wasn't flint, either. If she had
been the right sort of woman she
couldn't have done as she lias done."
He paused and clfnched his hands
nervously, as though he were de-
nouncing her to her face instead of
to me.
"Now, Wray," I Interposed, "how
useless to say that. Which of us is
as he ought to be? Why will you talk
so?"
"But let me tell you what she did,"
he went on fiercely. "You haven't an
idea of what I've been through, not an
Idea. She tried to poison nie once—"
and here followed a sad recital of the
twists and turns nnd desperation of
one who wished to be free. "And she
was in love with another man, only
I could never find out who he was."
And lie gave me details of certain
mysterious goings to and fro, of se-
cret pursuits on ids part, of actions
nnd evidences and moods and quar-'
rels which pointed all too plainly to a
breach that could never be healed.
"And what Is more, she tortured me.
You'll never know—you couldn't. But
I loved her. And I love her now."
Once more the tensely gripped fingers,
tlie white face, the flash of haunted
eyes. "Once I followed her to a res-
taurant when she said she was going
to visit a friend, apd she met a man.
1 followed them when they came out.
and when they were getting into a cab
I told them both what I thought of
them. 1 threatened to kill them, and
then he went away when she told him
to go. When we got home I couldn't
do anything with her All she would
say was that if I didn't like the way-
she was doing 1 (ould let her go. She
wanted me to give her a divorce. And
I couldn't let her go. »ven if I had
wanted to. I loved her too much.
Why, she would sit and read and
ignore me for days—days, without
ever a word."
"Yes." I said, "but the folly of it
all. The uselessuess, the hopeless-
ness."
"Oh, I know, but I couldn't help It.
I was crazy about her. The more she
disliked me. the more I loved her. I
have walked the streets for hours,
whole days at a time, because I
couldn't eat or sleep. And all I could
do was think, think, think. And that
Is ahout all I do now, really. I have
never been myself since she left. It's
almost as bad right now as It was
two years ago. I live in the old apart-
ment, yes. Hut why? Because 1 think
she might come back to me. I wait
and wait. I know It's foolish, but
still 1 v.ait. Why? God only knows.
Oh," lie sighed, "it's three years now
—three years."
lie paused and gazed at me, nnd I
at htm, shaken by a fact that was
without solution by anyone I won-
dered where she was. whether she
ever thought of him even, whether
she was happy In her new freedom.
And then, without more ado, he
slipped on his raincoat, took ht« um-
brella and marched out Into the rain
again, to walk and think, I pre-
sume And I, closing the door, studied
the walls wonderingly. The despair,
the passion the rage, the hopeless-
ness. the love. "Truly," 1 thought,
"tills Is love--for one at least And
this Is marriage—for one at leas' He
is spiritually wedded to that woman,
who despises him. And she may be
spiritually wedded to another, who
may despise her. But love and mar-
riage. for one at least, I have seen
here in fills room and with mine owu
eyes."
Frocks That Do Double Duty;
Featured in Knitted Modes j
&
daily manifest in lovely creations vari-
ously known as the tie-blouse, sweater,
Jacquetteor slipon ns the ense may be.
One can be very smart these days ia
any one of these delectable modes
topping a plaited crepe de chine skirt.
Indeed, even the Informal little lunch
and ten-table will receive you approv-
ingly if your knitted blouse is of tha
dressier type, such for instance as Is
set forth in the accompanying picture.
An adorable sort, Is this slipon
sweater knit of silk, fnuitless in fash-
ioning nnd handsome In coloring.
There Is a '-"ling bit of vivid cross-
stitch < "> y on the cuffs nnd bot-
tom. J «. • gh to supply a dis-
tinguishing touch of the ornate.
The newer knitwear modes especial-
a
THE two dainty creations pictured j
above may be said to lead a double j
life since they are ready to answer for j
afternoon affairs or dinner parties
with equal propriety. The extremes of
the new styles are evident when the j
two frocks are compared. Practically ]
the only thing they have in common
la tlie round neck.
The model shown at tlie left employs
taffeta In n soft pastel simile find is j
trimmed with narrow folds of the same !
material gathered on cords. Two of
these folds outline the neck and the
same trimming ornaments the lower
half of the skirt.
Two bunches of stuffed flowers made 1
of the same material combined with j
ribbon are posed at the wnistllne Just I
The Optn Mind.
An open mind Is all right If yom
mouth Isn't that way.--Charlotte
IN. C.) Observer.
5S.
Two Dainty Creations.
above the h'is. It is Interesting to note [
thnt In this particular frock tlie waist-
line has returned to its normal po-
sition. Two little puffed sleeves cir-
cle the arms Just below the shoulder.
The frock at the right Is severely j
plain except for the draped skirt and |
the long false sleeve falling strait, t j
from the shoulder. The line of the j
neck is finished with a soft roll drawn
through loops of the same material.
This idea is repeated in the long drape
falling from the shoulder, hut in this
case single loops only are used. The
waistline is formed by folds of the
material and is placed rather low. '
ly feature brilliant embroideries. The
forecast is for fancy all-over stitchery
effects in multicolors. Sometimes
these take on the form of tapestry ef-
fect, and there is also a clever ra'g-
carpet combination which Intermingles
all colors, wliiie floral patterns of deli-
cate tracery ramble over knitted slip-
ons and straight-lined one-piece frocks,
from neck to hem. If gay color is not
employed, then two-tone effects are In
order, such as beige embroidered in a
lighter color; stone gray in silver and
white on black Is very smart, or vice
versa.
Some delectable white knit shorf
1>
Drsesy Knitted Blouse.
The skirt is so draped that it Is full
over the hips and is gathered to form
a rosette at the girdle in front.
The word "knitted" covers a mul-
titude of wondrous modes. Ever
since the vogue began Its brilliant
career It has progressed with a
crescendo of ideas, until today "knit-
ted" is a term synonymous with all
that Is highest In the Interpretation of
the act of good dressing.
This outpouring of genius in the
styling of knitted outerwear U espe-
coats Just from Paris are being shown
in the better shops, and they are stun-
ning with white flannel skirts.
If one Is selecting a tailored type In
knitted outer garments, choose the
sort bound with silk braid. This im
fashion's latest.
m/U/
(©, HU, W*»t,rn Nnraptper UnlOB.)
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The Chattanooga News. (Chattanooga, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 12, 1923, newspaper, July 12, 1923; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc287681/m1/4/?q=music: accessed July 18, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.