THE EVERLASTING QUESTION

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 199, 16 May 1908, Page 11

THE EVERLASTING QUESTION

'-English newspaper, recently., invited., a discussion in its „oolumns, on •"'What type Qf.' ; woman, docs, a mail; like best?" and", a ;in "Argus" has' summarised, tho correspondence', that onsued. - The result was. most successful,' for. during ■ several weeks the question" evidently absorbed : a; large number of . readers, , who/ rushed .''to express -their, views. : •.One 'opinion largely/ shared Was that a : man is . hardly ' capable of! realising the type,of. w6mari L he likes!best befdre he is .40. In most cases this is too .late, and it'-there-, fore only remains 'for-him to • put up with, the woman he has. Tho "bachelor actually in - search of : a wife to suit him. was said' to : bo, non-existent,;! for, the ordinary twentiethcentury yoiingi man ..was, as a rule, simply ih;terror lest he .should be "caught." As a matter,' of fact-, said one correspondent, not or.o man in 5000 ever, married, into the typo qf woman he really preferred, or. tho woman he',really wanted, 'for/marriages .'were .usually, made "in moods and reactions. This correspondent dMcrilwdy marriage as. "settling down ..in' the kind/of level backwater in. rjvhich ; most bachelors .'ultimately, took One indiscreet v.'riter came forward with, the- notion that' men prefer the kind .of womanwho obeys.- This brought.-a howl from a. number, of :,women, who asked why should a woman, obey' a husband if he wa-s-inferior in: miiid and talents, and this view soon constituted a ,side : issue, which was thrashed' out on all sides. • Most of 'those, who-joined in tho argument treated this point with a- surprising degree' of- seriousness. It was-finally decided ,by a number :of correspondents, that tl;o woman: of "the/.day-was.; not up-.to the ideal standard. The. masculine mind had' dreams of ra perfect creaturo, % possessed :.ofwomanliness, charm, and sweetness, who would be. ready, to think her own home the' one place on : earth,' -and who asked ,for ; .no. other pleasure thain keeping house, bringing up'a large ; family of children, and going 'to a concerts or- : theatre' when her. husband l felt .inclined' that .way. -;■> At", other times.'• she would, sit and chat- brightly and intelligently ion the' affairs of : the day. This was the-typo ofwoman'to touch the heart of any' man. ' •' ' ,

LA PATRONNE. • La Patronno is the wife of every middleclass Frenchman.' - . It- is. the. riame-^every ir.iddle-class Frenchmaji, invariably- gives to his. ; wife,and.it shows'pretty clearly (says' - , a' writer, in; the;. "Evening Standard") that she. is the'.business-head:of l the'.firm. .The m'anj of course, often-works.' He loafs; sometimes, and he never', works quit-e .ashard : as his wife does.' But without Madame la Patronno tho small French business - would be nowhere. Black-eyed, . black-haired, - and : bustling, Madame la. Patronno is j up with tho'dawn. SHo sees- .to it. that tho shop -is "cleaned out," arid.that .the, two. littlejrooms and .cupboardlike ' kitcKen behiid it ;a're spick; and,.span ; : thto, by way : of;a breather before her cup-of. ooffco arid roll, : ' a go at the books, andlooks over tho ord-ere, so'tha't. the. messengers' may bo "out and about, without loss of time directly they. come. For cconomy is Madame la Patronrio's god. "IJn sou ct un sou, cola fait deux sous is her motto',, and in moments' of expansion with a fnend. she will. allude t'o the.'httlo stocking .which thoso sous' that she has sayM are filling unbeknown to her hus r band. ■ -

.Of his.business capacity she has -a.ll a woman's. amused,; contempt; "Ho knows . his" trade,"' she says, "but he.'is not.a;man .of business." .. 'And '-the , glcain of her white teeth.and black -eyes, and the energetic nod' with, which sho. accompanies the-words, show pretty, clearly who is_ the. ma'n. of business in, the firm'- in' the opinion 'of'Madame, la Patrohho; ; Sho; will never'; stir'all day—except for business; reasons—from. her throno behind the cash-desk.. And she must.be almost too worn 'out'when she gets to bed to dream of tho' ljttlo placo in the country .(bought with tho. Un ■ sou'. ot un sou qui font deux soue) wliich is the reason; of her thrift. ,' ; And; step one step; down .on the ladder, took' at 'tho .working man and . his wife. jShoj 'too, is la patronne.'. A decent, working man takes all his wages home to her, and gets, so much a day-for pocket-money. Sometimes ;wheri; the> working man has become a highly, paid official of the Third Republic he —I know of,at least one suchicase, arid.. it - is' not unique—keeps this .habit up,' and. Madame la Patronne'will .see-.to it; that Monsieur' 'does - not spend too« much ; on his menus plaisirs, and undermine the marriage portion,of .his daughters. ;■' .it is a curious fact, but a fact it is, that in tho' whole of tho French middle-class, in every cla6S : in' France, which, as Pooh Bali would say, "is below the rank' of a stockbroker," the w<>man is the business head. She keeps the family brains, and, more than that, perhaps, she has tho capacity for work,' or i-ather for sustained work, which is'somewhat deficient in' her husband. •

Miss Trimmihgham, postmistress and lct-tor-carricr of Fislilake, near Doncaster, Eng-. land, has been ." postman " for thirty-seven years, and in chargo 'of the post-office, for twenty-three years. . Her journeys aggregate 6186 miles in. .twelve / months.- . During the whole time- she has-been off' duty for. only seven days, and she : has walked (jver 200,000 miles- v '