Jasper County Democrat, Volume 14, Number 83, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 January 1912 — Broad Minded [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Broad Minded

J Old Age is Not Essential to Company of Men

By CLAIRE WRIGHT

Y youthful ideal of a husband has not met with its counterpart in my choice of a husband, therefore I shall draw the curtain against the narration of its shattered fragments. He shines Within his own sphere, not mine. In later life I am capable only of looking backward over experience’s tried'path in order to mold an ideal upon a pedestal founded on shifting sand, for age forbids my desire for another mate even if I were free to select such a one. Although my husband has proven unworthy of my ideal

my interest in life’s environments is still active. My intent is to delve into subjects tending to the uplifting of humanity. This statement appeals to me: < “I have never married, but T have reached the age*where I can cultivate any man I like without unkind things being said (one of the compensations of age), and I find nothing more interesting in life than companionable men.” It sounds withi a golden ring of freedom from the trammeled path of womankind in .general. A woman who has the fortitude to give public expression to her convictions, without fear of adverse Criticism, has reached the acme of life’s perspective, as her stable mind perceives it, and not with the deflected, vision of a warped mentality. Women as a rule are filled with an over-abundance of fear as to others’ comments if she gives vent to her innermost opinions, especially in reference to sociability or the association of the sexes. Even though a husband be of the sensible type and free from the demon jealousy, if the wife dare to step aside from the beaten path of Puritan ideas and manifest an inclination to welcome the companionship of intelligent men, aside from her husband, and even if they be his friends also, she is the target for innumerable flings of censure, especially by her own sex. With only a few exceptions I have always found that.men maintain

their respect toward nie with a.gentlemanly altitude, and in appreciation of said consideration by them and conjunction with my husband’s unusual sensibleness and absence of evil thoughts, I am glad to repeat the 1 same sentiments expressed by my co-writer. However, I contend that advanced age is not an essential to be obtained before a woman of firm character may enjoy the companionship of men with impunity. M oman’s weapon of defense in the presence of men in all walks life, is based upon her own mode of conducting herself and not upon "the actions ofmen.