A FEW HINTS FOR WIVES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7808, 12 September 1903, Page 3

A FEW HINTS FOR WIVES.

I Don't make th© evening repast a con- | fessional for household troubles-. He has i troubles of bis own. You may be one of them. Don't be the last to acknowledge liis merits. Men love flattery as women do finery. Don't put him on the fire escape, to smoke. Suppose, the draperies do get full of the fumes. Some day you may hunger for the smell of them. Don't wear a chip on your shoulder. An ounce of forgiveness is worth a pound of pride. Give in. You can have your way when be is not looking. Don't be ashamed to proclaim your love far him. Tell him often,, and demand a response. It gives him something to think about. Don't antagonise his men friends. They may be better than they look. Don't travel wide apart, or the chains will cut.. The only way not to feel them is to keep close together. Don't cook unless you know how. When his digestion goes, reform administration is dead. Don't ask him for money; make him offer it. You know the way. If you- do not, you should. Something in a man's constitutional make-up rebels when he is asked to part with his money. Men shirk the things that are expected of them ;.but they will give freely of time, anoney and labour when accredited with not only the thing done, but the impulse that prompts it. Men are generous enough, but they "ike large portions of glory. Be prudent, and as thrifty as you can. Men are attracted by ethereal mean-i but held by material methods. Wise economy, however, requireis ,great tact. There is no economy in that course which leaves your linens limp, your personality shoddy or your home regime conducted on poorhouse rations. Don't listen to tmtside criticism, whether of friends ov reMives-in-law. Don't attach too much importance to those little tiffs which may be the result of outside worries or indigestion. Make allowances for his being human. Give him the benefit of every doubt. If you put a pint man jn a quart measurei h© will grow up to it. '*"" Don't condemn these rules the first time they fail. They are good. The only question is. Are we good enough to persevere with them until we get results? Perhaps we have not used' these means for years, and fhey may not be immediately understood;. but even chronic cases must yield to them in time. Let's begin to court hub " all new from the beginning." Let's blot . out the ugly interim of cruel words and acts, and offer him wholesome good-fellowship. Let's have a talk, and pledge ourselves to keep the peace until we come to an understanding. And then let's away with false pride that has gained' us no end but .to widen the breach^ and! drag a net for - him, as we did io the pre-nuptial days when we ware our best gowns, and bore our best temper, and said tender things that scattered! the cause of dispute. , Suppose be is in the wrong — we promised to help bear his burdens ; why not share his fault with him? There is all the world against us on the other side of the front door ; let's fight to win. The ammunition may ibe costly t but the spoils will compen^ sate.