"I know, I shall have the Sheldons go up to their camp at Glenbrook, and invite us up for the week."....

The very next morning a very sweet feminine voice called Helen over the 'phone. "Good morning, Helen dear, aren't you nearly cooked? Yes, I know it's a hundred and ten in the shade. I say, dear, Mr. Sheldon and I have a cozy nook up at Glenbrook, on Lake Tahoe. Won't you come up and spend the week with us there?.... Oh, yes, we will call for you at 8 A.M. tomorrow .... Oh, no, don't thank us, you will be so welcome.... All right, good-bye."

When Helen tripped lightly down to the big touring car the next morning, she showed no surprise when Jack jumped from the back seat and assisted her to a place by his side. It was a gay party that landed at the camp a few hours later. Did these two people know that they had grown to love each other? There had been no word of love spoken between them but that night they went for a row on the lake of many colors, just as the sun dropped over the hills and the moon shone out in all its glory. Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon stood on the shore and watched them with a knowing smile. Jack was the salt of the earth, and he meant so well.... He did not mean to speak to Helen until she was free, but alas! for the infinite cry of infinite hearts that yearn. For weeks and weeks, when the days were the darkest, it had been Jack who happened along just at the right moment with a book or some flowers, accompanied by a funny story or a joke, some little kindness that would brighten the path a bit. What a mixture he was, of tenderness and brusqueness; of common sense and poetry; of fun and seriousness, this adopted son of the sagebrush. These were Helen's thoughts as she watched his strong body bend gracefully over the oars, which sent them flying through the sapphire water of Lake Tahoe.

Already the color was beginning to appear in Helen's cheeks and she looked happier and more bewitching than ever before. "An angel pointing the way to Paradise," thought Jack. They discussed the moon- kissed glades and leafy woods of shadowland. Did they know that in each leafy bough Cupid awaited with love's weapon poised? Jack drew in the oars and allowed the little boat to drift; it is sometimes wonderfully sweet to drift; sometimes we drift into the harbor of happiness; sometimes we smash against the rocks, and are left shipwrecked. Little did Helen dream that soon this new found happiness was to vanish; that her lips burning for kisses yet unborn, might soon unbend and voice deepest anguish and piteous appeal; that those eyes which betokened unsolved depths of fondest affection, of laughter, love and life, might soon lose their lustre and dreamy languor, in an ocean of tears..... There two people drifted silently along, conscious only of the fact that they were supremely happy in each other's company .... But lo! out of the quiet a storm is born: why had they not noticed that the moon had hidden her silvery face behind a black cloud? The spray and rain beating upon their happy faces was the first incident which made them aware that a terrific storm was upon them, and that they were many miles from home. The wind was whipping the waves into a perfect fury, thus rendering unmanageable the little boat. The thunder rolled and roared, and finally the wind drove the frail craft against the stony wall of Cave Rock. Jack managed to grasp a part of the jagged surface and drag Helen with him; the boat hit against the rocks several times and finally broke up.

All through the struggle Helen had sat motionless and fascinated at the strength and skill this man displayed in his efforts to pull for the shore, but when at last they were there, and she felt his strong arms about her, all her courage and strength failed her, and she fainted. He clasped her closer to his heart and looked into her colorless face. Her clothes were dripping, and her golden hair was streaming about her face. Jack stopped for a moment and pressed his burning lips to hers—they were icy.

"My sweet burden of glorious womanhood," he whispered. "Thank God you are safe!" And he climbed up the rocky mountainside to the only available shelter.... Cave Rock. There he took his dripping burden and laid it on the damp, cold stones. There was no sign of life. He took off his coat, rang the water out as best he could, and spread it on the rocks and laid Helen upon it. He rubbed her hands and arms, and bathed her head, but she remained chilled.

If he only had a dry match to start a fire with, or some brandy, but alas! they were storm-tossed souls, with no means of warmth, except that of the man's palpitating body..... He was aglow with warmth from the exertion of rowing and climbing up the mountainside. He would bring back life and pulsation to this woman whom he loved with all his heart and soul, by the warmth of his own glowing body. As he drew off his waistcoat and threw it aside, something fell to the ground. He felt about in the dark until he found the object; it was a tiny silver match case, some silly Christmas present which he never used and had forgotten all about, but it was surely a welcome friend at this particular moment. Were there any matches in it?.... He held his breath for a moment while he opened it .... His sigh of relief told the story. The rest now was only the work of a minute: some bits of driftwood and the remains of some previous camp fire quickly started a blaze.

Carefully he laid Helen upon his coat near the fire, and continued to rub her body until her eyelids quivered and she opened her big blue eyes and looked about.

She saw the camp fire, the strange looking cave and the big handsome figure bending over her.... First she looked startled, then when she slowly realized their predicament she became hysterical, threw herself into her rescuer's arms and wept.

And each knew, as the one man and the one woman will always know by intuition, that fiction has no miracles such as are found in the book of life. Lips may dissemble, but there is no need of speech when heart meets its mate. Jack gathered her to his breast and soothed her as best he could. It was so good to look in her face and to hear her voice; her heart was so pure and her soul so lily white: her eyes like violets wet with the morning dew....

When she was quieter, Jack whispered in his fine manly voice quivering with earnestness: "Helen, my own, will you be my wife, my own sweet little wife until death do us part?"

"Until death do us part, I will!" she whispered, and surely the angels must have recorded that sacred promise. Her voice was suffused with a world of tenderness as she breathed the words. From his coat pocket Jack produced a plain gold band. "My mother's wedding ring," he said, "it has never left me since I said good-bye to her and laid her to rest. I have been looking for a woman who would be as worthy of wearing it".... and he slipped it on her finger and kissed the hand it graced. And then and there they pledged their troth.....

"I love you with all my heart and soul, my own sweet woman, and before God we can do no harm: with love such as ours there can be no such thing as sin. Society is a tissue of pretense: convention a fleeting fantom. My sweet bride of tonight."

Splendidly conscious of her sweet sacrifice, she smiled at tomorrows.... "There is this hour and we live; if sin it is, it is yet divine; the happiest hour of my life, because I am loved and I love so much."....

Adieu to duty and creeds, love's altar has vestments of rosebud lips and starry eyes with whispered words of love divine: "Sin," it's said; but if with the one all holy love, what care we for the reckoning hour.....

"Oh! Helen dear, you are missing the most gorgeous sunrise of creation!"



Why, it is Jack's voice.... Helen opens her eyes and looks around. "What did you say about the sunrise, Jack dear?" She looks out of the cave in the direction whence the voice came, and sees the silver dusk turning rose.

"Oh! the sunrise! Yes, dear, I'll be there in just a minute." Helen quickly brought back her gaze from the rosy-tinted silver light to the cave and its surroundings. There was a camp fire lighted, and her clothing was stretched on a line near it, and she herself was wrapped warmly in a dry woollen cloak. In a very short time, she appeared at the opening of the cave, fully dressed, as fresh and sweet as a rose and radiantly happy.

"Good morning, my wonderful bride, my own sweet woman," he whispered as he kissed her almost reverently. "Together we will enjoy this glorious sunrise!"

"Isn't it wonderful?" she sighed, "not a sign of last night's terrible storm: just see how beautiful the lake is; all emerald, sapphire and gold! How the sun reflects its golden glory on the smooth water! How wonderful, Jack dear, to watch the birth of a new day, coming forth from the hands of its Maker. Oh, it is so good to be alive, my lover!"

And Jack again held her in his arms, pressed her to his heart and almost smothered her with kisses. "And I want to say to you, dear, that no fame, no glory, no wealth, nothing on earth can bring the happiness, the real heart's content into one's life, that just one hour's true, unselfish love can give. I know this after ten long years of grief, suffering and despair, when all the time my heart cried out for its own, for what was its birthright and its heritage! I want to give you my whole heart, dear, a heart full of gladness and rejoicing."

"My own sweet woman, it shall be my one and only thought to make your life one beautiful day of gladness and joy! And now, dear, I am afraid there is nothing to do but to walk back to the next camp which is about four miles distant, and then telephone the Sheldons to come for us. I am sure they must be worried; they are probably searching the lake for us. The road is good, that is one thing in our favor. Do you feel equal to the walk, or do you prefer to be left here while I go for help?"

"Indeed I shall not be left here all alone. I could walk twice that distance!" They started off, hand in hand......

And for three wonderful months hand in hand they wandered. Only two people lived in this wonderful world for this man and this woman. All its wealth and beauty: its unutterable joys: its pleasures and stores of infinite happiness: all their very own! Together they wandered down life's leafy lanes, treading its quiet paths: together they drank deep of nature and enjoyed every moment without a thought of tomorrow. The flowers shed their sweetest perfumes, the birds sang their sweetest songs, and each leaf and bough nodded as though they knew. Of all men, he was the one God made, and she,—the woman.... Their souls responded to spiritual intuitions: their minds entwined as do the ivy and the oak...

So beautiful was the love and devotion of this man and this woman, that every one who knew them was in sympathy with them; they were envied by those who had never known such blissful peace and delirious delight. These two people were planning a beautiful home on the banks of the Truckee. There had been a sweet confession from Helen: her case would soon be up for hearing and all would be well.... But alas! suddenly Helen was taken seriously ill. Three days later she died in the hospital. What was the matter? No one knows! With her last breath: "It has all been worth while, Jack dear," she whispered.

And the man, heart-broken, bought a solid silver casket, with a glass inner casket, padded with delicate rose satin, and therein he laid the woman he had loved, honored and respected above all others. A friend who saw her said:

"Never have I seen anyone look so beautiful, as she lay there in her soft chiffon gown, with a cluster of rosebuds in her hand; a full blown rose herself. Is it possible that a creation so fair and beautiful can, in a few short hours, return to dust again?"

The next day Helen's body, in the silver casket, covered with flowers —the last tribute of a great love—was homeward bound. Is she to be envied, or pitied? I wonder....

The man who ever carried in his heart the greatest respect and reverence for this one woman, whispered gently as he placed a wreath of roses on her casket:

"And I had hoped that you would be with me always! Oh, love of mine, what a wealth of beauty, charm and winning grace were yours in full flower"....

I hope, if it be true, that there yet remains another life in some dim land of mystery; that they may again walk together, and sing, as in the long ago; hand in hand; for love such as theirs will live through eternity, and ever after....



PART 3

RENO ROMANCE

Reno and Romance go hand in hand I should say. If you asked half a dozen of your friends what the word Romance means, I dare say each one would give a different answer. I think one of the most beautiful plays I have ever seen was a play called "Romance"; yet to me the play seemed rather a tragic story.... I have looked up the word in an English dictionary and it gives the definition, "An imaginative story, fiction." How prosaic! To me Romance has always been something poetical and very real indeed.

At any rate, it is real in Reno; everywhere there is evidence of it; and it is easy to lay one's finger on the romantic cases. Just peep into the room of this new arrival; there is a bower of beautiful flowers, and there is a telegram on the dressing table. The lady's lawyer had been telegraphed to and has given instructions that a garden of flowers be arranged as a welcome to the fair exile; the telegram contains words of encouragement and consolation.

I heard of many romances that were beautiful and interesting; that pictured to my mind youthful mistakes righted, dreams realized and ideal future homes, with love reigning supreme and peace and harmony keeping the charm ever radiant. I can't tell you about all of them, therefore I shall select the one I thought most beautiful. The heroine of my selected romance is Mrs. Beuland, of Virginia.

Never have I found it so difficult to describe a woman as I find it to describe Mrs. Beuland; I wish I could picture to you this most unusual woman as I knew her in the southland, a mere girl of sixteen; as I think of her now she brings to my mind a poem of William Wordsworth:

"I saw her upon nearer view, A spirit, yet a woman too: Her household motions light and free, And steps of virgin liberty; A countenance in which did meet Sweet records, promises as sweet; A creature not too bright or good For human nature's daily food— For transient sorrows, simple wiles, Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles."

Yes, she was like a poem, with much of the untamed grace of a panther, and the gentleness of a dove.....

In Balzac's unique story, "A Passion in the Desert," a question is asked: "How did their friendship end?" The answer is, "Like all great passions—in a misunderstanding. One suspects the other. One is too proud to ask for an explanation and the other too stubborn to offer it." And so it was with Mrs. Beuland, else I should not be recording her romance here.

I am glad the story of Balzac did not read: "Like all great loves," because I believe that a great love always brings with it harmony and understanding. The misunderstanding in this case was due to the fact, that the girl did not know that under this great passion lay slumbering a wonderful love of everlasting endurance.

Surely the heroine of this romance was deserving of a great love. She was like a sunbeam when she entered a room, she always brought gladness; she radiated the joy of living.

She rode like a princess, danced like a fairy, was a child of nature and at the same time a woman of the world. I have seen her romp in a daisy field and gather flowers with the children, as much a child as any of them, and a few hours later I have met her in a drawing room, an entirely different person, all dignity and self possession.

Mrs. Beuland was a daughter of one of the first families of Virginia; tall and stately, with a splendid, graceful physique, blue eyes, black hair and olive skin. Her physical charm and mental attraction were always struggling for supremacy.

She was a girl of many moods; sometimes the joy of living would just radiate from her and her care-free laughter and musical voice would be that of a happy child; another time her eyes would lose the sparkling, captivating expression and become dreamy and thoughtful, as though they were peering into the great beyond; her voice would tremble with earnestness as she would discuss some serious subject. And then again there would be a note of sadness, though never of bitterness.

I knew Mrs. Beuland as Nell Wilbur in Virginia, before her marriage to Mr. Beuland. Her family were among the victims of the Civil War who were left paupers after the wreckage of the South.

Nell Wilbur had always been proud, willful and highly strung. Her mother had died young. Her father after futile attempts to guide her steps in the right direction, finally concluded that it was better to let her have her head; she would run away with the bit anyway. She might break her neck, but she surely would have to learn life's lessons in her own way, and she did.

Her family tried to make a match for her but she refused, saying, "I want to be the captain of my own soul; I will make my own mistakes": and she kept her word. Just seventeen, she went to visit an aunt in New York, glowing with youth and health, with a mind full of romance and ideals; an enthusiast, and a dreamer of dreams. She at once found herself surrounded by devoted admirers, all rivaling with each other in their efforts to please her. One young millionaire, finding that she was fond of equestrian sports, offered her the pick of his stables, whereupon the young Virginian lifted her eyes in surprise as she said: "But where would I ride? Your little old park isn't big enough to ride in, and the people all look as though they dropped out of a Fifth Avenue shop window. If you would come with me for a cross country gallop in Virginia, you would understand that I could not possibly be interested in doing living pictures in Central Park!"

Among the hosts of Miss Wilbur's admirers there were two who interested the young lady; one a splendid young English lawyer, rich and handsome: the other, a young New York artist, poor but interesting, very sincere, very intellectual and with strong personality.

Both men had many faults, though they had their full share of fine qualities as well. The faults that were most annoying to Miss Wilbur in the young lawyer (whose name by the way was Glen Royce) were his profound conceit and his sensual nature. There was some excuse for him because the Gods had endowed him with all their charms; he was an Adonis, Apollo and all the other Greek Gods in one. I don't think I have ever seen two people so near physical perfection as Nell Wilbur and Glen Royce. They seemed to be made for each other; every one had decided that they would surely be married. Young Royce was madly in love, and though Miss Wilbur lavished her smiles on the young artist, Will Beuland, no one thought that he had the slightest chance.

Miss Wilbur's aunt invited a party of the young people to Atlantic City for the Easter holidays, and I was lucky enough to be asked, my principal pleasure being in watching the ideal young lovers. They were always perfectly groomed; always stunning; in morning dress, bathing suits and evening clothes, alike charming. The last evening before our return I was in the reception room when Nell appeared dressed for dinner. I watched young Royce when, with all the grace of a prince, he rose to receive her. She was in rose satin and chiffon, with a cluster of pink blossoms in her hand, like the herald of spring; so soft and delicately tinted were her beautifully moulded shoulders that one could scarcely perceive where the soft clinging chiffon left off. She was startlingly beautiful, and as I watched the man as he touched her hand, I could have sworn that all the blood in his veins had turned to liquid fire.

I made some excuse and left them alone. The balcony was dark and deserted, and I betook myself to its seclusion. I think the lovers must have forgotten about the balcony; I am quite sure he had forgotten everything but the vision before him. He was living in the world that never was; the sound of flutes was wafted on the breeze from fairyland. Pulsing bosom and sheen of sun-kissed shoulders.... Ah! maddening modesty and virtue, how inconsistent are thy ways! No wonder so many forget about the cursed serpent....

Through the windows I saw the man lead the woman to a cluster of palms in a far corner of the big room, seat her on a divan in the shadow of the palms and drop on his knees before her. The next moment she was in his arms. He had meant to propose the same as we read in books, but his lips were too near the woman's delicately tinted breast... He kissed her lips, her eyes, her bosom and shoulders; he was like the rush of a bursting river whose waters cry out in ecstasy of liberation as they leap in the sunshine.

That evening at dinner the engagement was informally announced. There was, however, something in Miss Wilbur's manner that I could not quite fathom; that something which completes the happiness of two people who love each other was lacking. It was not until ten years later when I met Mrs. Beuland in Reno, that I understood the shadow.

I knew that the young lawyer had failed to induce Miss Wilbur to consent to an early wedding, and after much persuasion Mr. Royce returned to England alone. Later it was rumored that the engagement had been broken off; then we heard that Mr. Royce had committed suicide; again that he had married; another time that he was returning to America to press his suit.

Miss Wilbur was very reticent about the subject and continued to receive the attentions of the young artist, Will Beuland, and some six months after Mr. Royce returned to England she was married to the New York artist. No one seemed surprised, though it caused much gossip.

Fancy my astonishment when ten years later I met the stately Mrs. Beuland in the lobby of my hotel in Reno. I had not seen her since her marriage; the only difference the years had made, apparently, was that now she was a woman instead of a girl, and yes, there was just a wisp of snowy white hair among the black locks about her forehead, which made her look even more aristocratic, if that was possible.

When one is lonely and alone in a strange place, it is most agreeable to find an unexpected friend; and when one has a heavy heart, it is good to confide in a sympathetic friend; so Mrs. Beuland and I became close companions. I was fortunately able to lend a helping hand and cheer the lonely way of this charming and much loved woman. One day as we were chatting on the banks of the Truckee, she said to me: "Do you know, it does seem such a pity that one of the most beautiful things on earth really causes the most trouble!" "What is that?" I replied. "Youthful ideals," she replied.

"For a youthful ideal I have paid long years of misery, and have spent that time as an apprentice in the workshop of wisdom. Tardy wisdom, the mother of all real enduring happiness. Because of a youthful ideal I did not marry the man I really loved; instead I married the man I thought I loved. I wanted to be the companion and friend and ideal mate and intellectual partner through life to the man I married; those were my ideals.

"The moment I promised myself to the man I loved I found myself clasped tightly in passion's mad embrace; a mad passion by youth's fierce fires fed; his kisses hotly pressed on my lips burned into my very soul and made my heart sick. Was that love? It was certainly not my ideal, to be the toy of mad passion!

"Ah! where was wisdom's tardy voice that it did not whisper: 'God made men thus: there are no perfect men!'....

"How true it is that ideals are simply mental will-o'-the-wisps!....

"I married for ideals, not for love. I was in love with the ideal, and the man I married led me to believe he was that ideal; picture my heart-aching disappointment when I found that his art was his real bride, and that I was a sort of understudy; hardly that, after the first few months. I awoke to the fact that I had exchanged my youth and freedom for a domestic mill that sank all my ideals into commonplace. I said I would make my own mistakes and I did. Then came the long battle with my pride, and I suffered in silence. For seven long years I faced neglect and humiliation; and then one day after a visit to my old home, I returned to find my husband and one of his models occupying my very home.... my very bed. I turned and left the place without a word.

"For the first time in my life I grew bitter; I wondered if it were true, that realization kills all the joys we anticipate; if all our rosy dreams turn gray in the face of cold reality.

"I was sick at heart and alone, too proud to go to anyone with my troubles; it seemed to me that day by day the color was fading out of my life. I had for years given all my love gifts only to answer duty's call and one by one the leaves of my romance began to fall, until jealousy, like a cancer, had eaten into my aching heart, and left me stripped of everything, even hope....

"My thoughts were muddled; I could not think clearly: it was a day in early June: I did not know where to go, and I did not want to meet anyone I knew. I never knew quite how or why, but a few hours later I found myself in Atlantic City. I arrived there in the evening and after refreshing myself, I walked out on the board walk and almost to the end of it, until there was no one in sight: and then I went down on the sand and there I seated myself. I thought, with the big silver moon overhead and the waves breaking on the shore, I should be able to think out some plan for the future. I don't know how long I sat there, but I know the only thoughts that came to me were that in my case I was forever through with romance, sentiments and ideals. There was a storm raging in my soul, and bitter resentment in my heart; I had meant so well and it had all come to this. I looked at my watch: it was nearly eleven; I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to dine, that my head ached and that I was tired. I got up and started back to the hotel. Then a miracle happened; it sounds like fiction but I swear it is the truth.....

"I heard my name called; it sounded as though it were an echo out of the past. I looked up.... a tall gentleman was standing by me looking down into my face; 'Good evening, Mrs. Beuland, this is indeed a pleasant surprise." Glen Royce....You know our story, and as I had not heard from him in years you can imagine my surprise.

"Mr. Royce had been in America just one week; he had come over on business and just thought it would be interesting to run down and have a peep at the sea. I think both our thoughts traveled back over the years to the Easter time we spent together there....

"'How long are you remaining?' he asked after a little pause. 'About a week,' I replied. 'May I call tomorrow then?' 'Yes,' I said, 'but I have just arrived and am rather tired; if you will excuse me I will leave you now.' He saw me to my hotel and said good night. I never knew quite what was said or what really happened, however. I slept soundly from sheer exhaustion, and awakened the next morning refreshed, but unable to realize that everything was not a dream.

"Then the 'phone rang. 'Good morning, Mrs. Beuland; this is Glen Royce speaking; hope I haven't called you too early? Will you come for a walk? It is a beautiful day.' I did and before the day was over, I had made a confidant of this old sweetheart of mine, and extracted a promise from him, a very foolish, silly promise.

"'I want so much to be your friend,' he said, 'there must be something I can do to make your burden lighter.' I told him that I would accept his friendship under one condition, that he would promise not to make love to me, and so the courtship was started all over again on a friendship basis, though I did not realize it at the time. Later he made me tell him why I broke our engagement, and when I explained he understood, and blamed it on a misunderstanding.

"I thought him a much finer man than he was ten years ago, but of course that is only the wisdom that comes with the years. It has been three years since I met him that evening, when I was blind with utter despair. That's the story so far! My case will be called tomorrow; if I am lucky I will be free, and then he is coming out and we will be married here and spend our honeymoon in California. I want you to be my only attendant. Things have turned out so that he is to remain in America; we have a beautiful little home near New York, down by the sea. When you go back East you must come and see us."

And so the happy day arrived, just as the sun was sinking down behind Mount Rose; we stood in the silent church; I held the flowers, a huge bouquet of simple spring blossoms, while the groom slipped the little gold band on the bride's finger and the organ pealed out the benediction....

A few months later I arrived in New York and telephoned, "Hello, Nell, is that you? Here I am, may I come out, or are you two still honeymooning?" The answer came back: "We are still honeymooning, but you may come out; in fact, I am just crazy to see you. You will never find the way alone; meet Glen at his office and come out with him tonight!" And I did. The bride was at the station to meet us, radiantly happy. We motored over a beautiful bit of country and in about ten minutes came to a beautiful villa, with beautiful gardens and a glimpse of the sea in the distance; it did my soul good to watch this picture of domestic bliss. They were like a boy and girl again, up to their eyes in love and gloriously happy.

"A love and happiness with wisdom as its basis and made up of understanding and friendship, with a dash of romance, and enough passion to lend warmth and charm, and a good portion of common sense that doesn't expect perfection": this is Nell's recipe for domestic happiness.

Three years later. My husband and I have just returned from a week-end visit to Mr. and Mrs. Royce: the recipe seems to be working fine; I am trying it myself. We sat on the porch and watched them stroll out to the beach, in the fading light of the setting sun, and then the shadows of twilight hid them from sight. They disappeared, hand in hand; lovers, living in perfect companionship, planning and building as they go. May their matrimonial ship continue to sail on sunny seas, where soft winds blow, and rest in the harbor of happiness at last. Another triumph for Reno.....

On the occasion of our visit she showed me a package of letters tied with white satin ribbon; "Glen's letters," she said; "he wrote me one every day I was in Reno and they are the most beautiful letters ever written." I read some of them and I agreed with her; I wish she would allow me to publish them: it would make a good world better for having read them. "Nor has earth, nor Heaven nor Hell any bars through which love cannot burst its way toward reunion and completeness"....

And yet this queen of matrimonial bliss said to me, "I wish that all mothers would warn their girls against ideals which are not practical. I blame my ideals for years of utter misery; my ideal was a perfect man."

"Someone has said: 'God does not make imperfect things,' and yet can anyone say that he has ever seen a perfect man or a woman? I held on to the shreds of my ideal until there was not a shred left to hang on to; until my heart lay bruised and bleeding on the altar of dead and gone ideals. And then wisdom came and whispered: 'You have been looking for perfection, but there is no such thing on this earth: we must be forbearing and forgiving: 'forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.'

"With wisdom came new ideals that were practical and a new kind of love, indulgent and forgiving, yet self-respecting; a love as strong as the Rock of Ages. Love—a little thing—a sentiment perhaps—and yet without it what would be left of that which we call life....

"There are emotions which make for ambition, for right living, for honor and position, but how pitifully small and inconsequential besides the mighty tomes which, circling the globe, comprise the lexicon of love. Love—the symbol and sequel of birth, the solace of death—the essence of divinity! Frozen indeed is the heart which has never felt its glow; gross and sordid the soul which has never been illumined by its sunshine.

"To live is to love, my friend, and to love is to suffer a little and to be happy much."



PART 4

RENO COMEDIES

According to some of the comic postcards which are sent out, Reno was known in the time of Adam and Eve.

Someone sent me a card while there, which depicted Adam and Eve under the famous apple-tree. (Telephone: 281 Apple.) Eve was beautiful in flowing hair and fig leaf. Adam had one on too, a rather faded affair. Adam was plucking a nice, fat, green fig leaf out of his salad. Under the picture were written the words: "Eve, the next time you put my dress suit in the salad, Reno for me."

One sees and hears funny things in Reno. For instance, no one will abide there long before being asked: "Are you here for the cure?" At first you may look astonished and say: "No, I am perfectly well, thank you," but the smile that lightens the questioner's face makes the meaning slowly dawn upon one. One can hear a porter say to a conductor of the train from the East: "Any victims today?"; and the hotels frequented by the divorcees are known as "hospitals for the first aid to the matrimonially injured." The reporter of the local paper will ask: "Any new headlines ready?" The Court House is known as "the divorce mill." Sometimes as "the separator"!

Then Renoites are fond of nicknaming the members of the divorce colony, as well as the buildings.

One fair divorcee was dubbed the "Weeping Beauty" by her lawyer, because she wept whenever she visited him. And she looked pretty too when she wept: "like a dew-kissed rose," he said. A gentleman of mature age was known as the "Silver King" because of his princely bearing, silvery white hair and Greek god figure. "The Venus of Reno" was another one, a statuesque brunette, because of her perfect figure and Grecian gowns. A very stout lady bore the graceful name of "Reno- ceros," whereas an old reprobate could do no better than "Renogade." However, "Reno-vated" they all got!

An interesting fact is that your chambermaid, bellboy, hotel clerk, taxi driver, dressmaker, saleslady, cook and laundress, hairdresser, waiter and bootblack may all and each be a so-called divorcee. (For convenience sake, I speak of them all as "divorcees," although Webster defines a "divorcee" as a man or woman who has already obtained a divorce.) What is more, a great many of these people who are working are well fixed financially, and are just working to keep sane. I remember tipping my waitress one evening. The next day I received a bunch of American Beauties from that lady, which simply bowled me over at a glance. She got her divorce, and is now married to a wealthy New York real estate man. So you see it is difficult to discriminate.

I received shock after shock until I felt like a shock absorber. I was dining with a friend one evening in a restaurant we often patronized. The gentleman with me desired a cigarette, and found his case was empty. A waitress, noticing his disappointment, extracted a silver cigarette case from her rather attractive bosom, opened it, and offered my friend one of her monogrammed cigarettes. Another victim!

One evening after writing all day without any recreation, I went down to dinner, feeling a bit tired but rather satisfied with my day's work. I said to my waitress while looking over the bill of fare: "Tilly, I have worked hard today; I feel that I deserve a halo!" Tilly looked at me for a moment, and disappeared. She was a devoted soul and had always taken great pains to please me. In a few minutes she returned with a disappointed expression on her face, and said: "I am sorry, Mam, I can't get you the halo. Cook says it's something Mary wore around her head."

Some of the witnesses in divorce cases are very humorous. I was present at a few hearings, when a tall and thin man stated in a rather shaky voice that his wife was a "beastly vampire," and that after living with him for two whole weeks she struck him over the head with a crutch and told him that she had a graveyard full of better men than he was. The present victim was the fourth husband of the defendant.

"Judgment for the plaintiff"....

Another pretty young lady said that one of her husband's favorite pastimes was spitting in her face, while yet another lady accused her actor husband of "too much artistic temperament, and whiskey temper."

"Judgment for the plaintiff"....

The funniest case I ever witnessed was that of an old washwoman. I don't know where she hailed from, but the judge said:

"Why do you wish to get a divorce from your husband?"

"Well, yer honor, he don't support me."

"But," said the judge, "is that all the complaint you have? You must have more than that to get a divorce."

"Well, yer honor, I don't love my husband any more."

"That won't do either," said the judge impatiently. "Is that all?"

"Well, to tell the truth, yer honor, I don't think he is the father of my last child."

"Judgment for the defendant." ....

What matter law and customs to even the most staid and stone-hearted Wall Street banker if he happens to be on top of the world with a woman who is a masterpiece of creation? There are many in Reno,— masterpieces: not millionaire bankers—, and lonely too, sometimes! Anyway it came to pass not so very long ago, that a New York banker of great wealth and international reputation went out to Reno to secure a divorce. After two months' stay the gentleman lost his heart to a very attractive lady, who also was whiling away six months of her sweet young life in order to shake off the matrimonial shackles. The banker was about fifty, the lady twenty-seven and the wife of a well-known New York actor. So lavish were the banker's attentions to this charming lady that he gave a most extraordinary banquet in her honor at the Riverside Hotel to which were invited about one hundred guests. The dinner was under the management of one of the best of San Francisco's caterers, and all the table decorations were brought from San Francisco. The banquet, I am told, cost about $5,000—Hoover in those days was not popular as yet.... But alas! poor little Cupid was obliged to succumb to failure. Before the six months had passed, the banker's wife "got wise" to his whereabouts and his doings, and he disappeared from Reno very abruptly. About the same time the beautiful lady's actor husband learned of the affair, and sued the banker for fifty thousand dollars "heart balm" .... And so we find a fool face to face with his folly....

"Altitude," did you say? I don't know .... Funny how a few fleeting hours can change the face of the world! How the mind when free and refreshed can see and admit mistakes, and how our fairy castles and wondrous dreams vanish at the touch of reason and stern reality. It's wonderful to have known paradise: to have walked in its flower-strewn paths and to have tasted its delirious delights. But the awakening! "How could I?"—"How could She?"—"What was the end of it all?" "Who knows?"

It is not well for man to be alone, nor woman either, otherwise why was Eve bestowed upon Adam? That is probably what a young man from one of the first families of Boston thought while exiled to the Reno Divorce Colony for the purpose of ridding himself of a wife: the result of one of youth's romantic mistakes. The affair of some years ago shocked his family and Eastern society generally. Was it a shop girl from Boston, or a chorus girl from New York? I have forgotten. Anyway, his companion in Reno was a fascinating little dancer of the Sagebrush Cafe. So infatuated was the young man with this little charmer that he spent his entire income entertaining her, and when the income had vanished he pawned his jewelry, including his watch. But then, boys will be boys, and after all, what could the poor youth do? All alone in a strange place! It is so uninteresting to sit and twirl one's thumbs: "Twiddle-dee Twiddle-dum."....

"That love laughs at locksmiths" and "All is fair in love and war" seems to be the moral of the following, if moral there be in it:

Mrs. Jones, a very beautiful and statuesque blonde, went out to Reno for a divorce. On her arrival there she wrote her husband that she had repented: "I am sorry I ran away from you," she is said to have written, "and if you will come out here for me we will make up and live happily ever after." He came out and was arrested and thrown in jail, charged with extreme cruelty. The lady got her divorce within three weeks instead of six months, as she was able to serve the summons upon her husband in the State of Nevada. After that her sweetheart came out and they were married. I am told that some three years later the husband brought suit against them for collusion, but I never heard how it terminated. One of the noted cases of the Reno Divorce Colony is the divorce of a famous New York beauty and heiress. While she was riding in Central Park one afternoon her horse bolted and she was saved by a handsome policeman named Dow. When the young lady looked into the eyes of her rescuer, it was a case of "love at first sight." This god of the police force informed his wife of the affair: she immediately packed her box and started for Reno. A few days after her arrival, her husband was located in Carson City, by the merest accident of course, and as it was possible to serve the summons upon him in the State of Nevada, the case was put through in two weeks. As soon as it was ended, Mr. Dow presented his ex-wife with five one thousand dollar bills. When the cashier of the Reno National Bank handed her the envelope containing the bills, she extracted them and deposited them in her stocking. She was advised not to go about with so much money on her, whereupon she replied that the "First National was good enough for her." That same evening a champagne banquet was given by the ex-policeman at the Colony Restaurant at which most of the divorce colony were present, and among them, his ex- wife. Both of them were extremely demonstrative; in fact the entire party was decidedly affectionate, and the affair was the talk of the town for months afterwards. After Mr. Dow married the famous beauty, he found out it was riot all heaven to be the poor husband of a rich wife, and so he decided to return to the police force. Of course, that would never do at all, and therefore the fair lady promised to pay him ten thousand a year, in quarterly installments of $2,500, if he would consent to be her idle rich husband. This he did until Mrs. Dow II. found out that hubby was indulging in clandestine meetings with Mrs. Dow I., and presto, change! the allowance suddenly ceased. After a few months of separation from his bank roll, having become accustomed to an easily earned income, Mr. Dow sued his bank, Mrs. Dow II., for the blue envelope of two quarters of the allowance, and the New York newspapers just hummed with a fresh scandal. Finally Mrs. Dow II. tried to get a divorce on the plea that the Nevada divorce was illegal. Failing in this, there were ways and means found in the East, and at last they were divorced. It has been rumored that Mr. Dow thought the old love best after all, and that Mrs. Dow I. has been re- installed to the place of honor by his side. "True love never did run smoothly": not even in the police force....

A rather amusing story is told of Elinor Glyn's visit to Reno, not for a divorce, dear reader, but apparently for atmosphere, as she spent several months in the most rugged states in the West. One of the handsome sons of the sagebrush, known as the Beau Brummel of Reno, became very attentive to the distinguished lady visitor, and when she expressed a desire to see a real Western shooting scrap, the gentleman said: "All right; the lady must have anything her heart desires, doggonit!" and so he staged a regular shooting scrap. And they do say out there that it was so realistically done that Elinor fainted and was unconscious for an hour. The "fight" occurred on the train from Tonopah to Mina. Mr. Beau Brummel had been showing the lady Nevada's great mining camps: a couple of seats in front of Elinor Glyn and her escort two men began to quarrel, presumably over a game of cards. The fight grew until each pulled a six-shooter. There was a shot and a flash, and one man fell: dead, apparently, while the other stood over him, wild eyed, his smoking gun in his hand.

I can truly believe this story as I saw the dead gentleman auction off four times the same basket of roses at a Red Cross benefit, and each time he got a hundred dollars for the basket... However dead he may have been, he certainly was not dead on the vine!

Speaking of Beau Brummels, I never found out the name of the gentleman who came back from Lawton's one evening—or was it morning?—minus his silk shirt. A lady of the party had taken a fancy to it and suggested that they auction it off for the benefit of the Red Cross: at that time America had just declared war on Germany, and the interest in the Red Cross was at its height. The lady's suggestion was carried out with enthusiasm. The lucky lady was Mrs. Hall, called "the forty million dollar divorcee"; she bid seventy-five dollars for the shirt and wore it to a golf tournament the next day. Let us hope that the gentleman's linen was as attractive as his shirt, for the shirt was removed then and there and bestowed upon the fair purchaser.

I met a very charming young couple in Reno whose story rather interested me. I was not shocked at this case, as I had been in Reno some time before I was introduced to them, and had heard about it. When I first met Mr. Lake he was with a very beautiful young lady to whom he seemed very attentive, and I thought surely they were sweethearts. We all went out motoring with Mr. Lake's lawyer, and in the course of conversation the lawyer informed me that Mr. Lake had received his decree about two weeks before, and as he had obtained a splendid position in Reno he had decided to remain there. His fiancee was expected next week from Alabama, and they were to be married at once upon her arrival. The lady with Mr. Lake at the time, the lawyer went on to say, was just eighteen years of age, and had received her decree about a week before. She had a fine little boy about two years old with her.

One day the young lady called, and informed me that she had just been up to the future home of Mr. and Mrs. Lake unpacking his fiancee's trousseau which had been sent on ahead, with the request that it be unpacked and hung up in order that the wrinkles all be out by the time the bride arrived.

"Look," continued the girl from South Carolina, and she held out her hand displaying a beautiful Roman gold ring of artistic design. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Was I mistaken? did her voice choke at the next words? were there tears in her eyes?

"This is her wedding ring, isn't it beautiful? I am wearing it until she arrives...."

The naughty fiancee arrived two days before she was expected, and came near upsetting everything. Hubby-to-be saw her first, dodged, jumped into his car and raced up to the other girl's home to get the wedding ring and break the dinner engagement for that evening. Then he rushed downtown and greeted his bride-to-be in his lawyer's office. They are living in Reno, happily married. Mr. Lake received a telegram of congratulation from his first wife. Mrs. Lake II. is a charming woman. I think she has heard all about the episode, but she is a diplomat and probably thinks that one way to matrimonial bliss is skilled ignorance.

Happiness and contentment and.... love.... or what we think it is! And yet, what would the world be without that inheritance.

The Six Months' Residence Law of Nevada, was not made primarily to accommodate matrimonial misfits, but to secure settlers by offering them early citizenship and votes, the State being only sparingly populated. Prior to Reno, Sioux Falls, Dakota, used to be the haven for those seeking relief from the "tie that binds." When Dakota placed the ban on the divorce colony, someone discovered the Nevada divorce law, and those who found that Cupid was no longer at the helm of their matrimonial ship, turned Reno-ward. However, be it known that the citizens of Nevada knew all about this easy relief law from the undesirable bond way back in 1851, as the following quotation from a very amusing chapter of Nevada's history will illustrate. The book I speak of is called "Reminiscences of William M. Stewart" and was written by a Senator. Of course he was a Senator! Judges and Senators are as thick in Nevada as Colonels in Kentucky. Most every man worth while has been, is, or is going to be a Senator or a Judge. However, that book is a good one and I found the following most interesting and amusing. Says William M. Stewart:

"If you want to preserve good health, keep your head cool and your feet warm!"

"While working our claim I awoke one morning and saw a covered wagon with two oxen which had been unyoked and were grazing on the grass near a spring in a ravine below me. I soon discovered that a line had been drawn from the wagon to a clump of rocks, upon which were hung several articles of feminine apparel to dry. Women were so scarce in California at that time that this was sufficient to arouse the whole camp. The "Boys" as we were called, were scattered along the Coyote digging for a distance of about four miles, and when anything unusual happened the words, 'Oh, Joe!' would be passed along the whole line.

"When I saw the feminine raiment, I raised the usual alarm, "Oh, Joe!" and this called the attention of the miners on Buckeye Hill, where I was, to the clothes-line which had attracted my notice. They gathered round on the hill, nearly surrounding the covered wagon and its contents. The rush of the boys in the immediate vicinity to see the wonderful sight attracted those farther away, and in less than ten minutes two or three thousand young men were watching the wagon, clothes-lines, and fascinating lingerie. In alarm the man that belonged to the woman inside stuck his head out of a small tent beside the wagon. I assured him that no harm was intended, but that we were very anxious to see the lady who was the owner of the clothes. This aroused her curiosity sufficiently to induce her to pull the curtain of the tent aside so that her face could be discovered but not fully seen.

"I then proposed that we make a donation to the first lady that had honored our camp with a visit. I took from my camp a buckskin bag, used for the purpose of carrying gold, and invited the boys to contribute. They came forward with great eagerness and poured out of their sacks gold dust amounting to between two and three thousand dollars. I then proceeded to appoint a committee to wait on the lady and present it. The motion was unanimously carried and one of the gentlemen on the committee suggested myself as chairman. I took the sack of gold and went within about thirty feet of the tent and made as good a speech as I could to induce the lady to come out, assuring her that all the men about her were gentlemen, that they had seen no ladies for so many months and that the presence of one reminded them of their mothers and sweethearts at home. I told her that the bag of gold was hers on the condition that she come out to claim it. Her husband urged her to be brave, but when she finally ventured about half way the cheers were so vociferous that she got frightened and ran back. She repeated this performance several times and I kept moving slowly back far enough to get her away from the little tent so the boys could get a good view of her. I suppose half an hour was occupied with her running back and forth while the boys looked in admiration. When I finally gave her the bag with all the good wishes of the camp, she grabbed it and ran into the tent like a rabbit.

"The next morning the wagon and the owner of the inspiring apparel were gone and we never heard of them in after life. It was no doubt well that they hastened their departure, for in those days it was a very usual occurrence for the young wife coming to that country to be persuaded to forsake her husband on their arrival in the new camp. The immigrants of 1850 included thousands of newly married young people whose wedding journey included all the hardships and privations of crossing the plains. Those hardships made the men look rather rough and scrubby, and they were all miserably poor. The women were young, and after they had an opportunity to wash their faces, looked more attractive: particularly to the miners who had been deprived of female society for several months and had accumulated some money and good will. The miner would propose marriage, and if a divorce could be obtained extreme cruelty was usually given as the reason for the divorce. The intended bridegroom was always a ready witness to swear to a case of extreme cruelty.

"In the fall of 1851 I went to Nevada City to bring supplies for the men engaged in construction of the Grizzly Ditch. I bought several mule-loads and was having them packed very early one morning, but before I could get away I was summoned as a juror in Judge Barber's court. This was before I made myself exempt from jury duty by becoming a member of the bar. I saw the judge and tried very hard to beg off; but he told me there were ten divorce cases on hand and he wanted to dispose of them that day.

(I think 1917 had nothing on 1851 when it comes to divorces in Nevada. Author.)

"The judge continued: 'I cannot excuse you but I think you can get away in time to return to your camp tonight.' So I had to submit though I did not like it. I then prepared the jury room for use by conveying to it a demijohn of whiskey, a bucket of water and twelve tin dippers. As foreman of the jury I wrote the verdict as follows: 'We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of extreme cruelty.' We returned the verdict to the court, heard the next case, and continued until we had disposed of the ten cases. There were ten weddings that afternoon and evening.

"I then thought and still think that we did the best thing that could have been done. These women had separated from their husbands, and if they had not been allowed to marry the men who had parted them, they perhaps would have done worse. Some of them made good citizens and raised families, and when they grew rich became very aristocratic."

So much for the pioneer days, and they are really not so far away.

Don't take an umbrella with you, you won't need it; it never rains; but I wish someone would write a poem to take the place of "Mispah." I received that poem from four different people on my departure from Reno, and I feel that it is overworked, though it is beautiful indeed, and I have quoted two verses of it below:

MISPAH

"Go thou thy way and I go mine Apart, yet not afar. Only a thin veil hangs between The pathways where we are; And God keep watch 'tween thee and me This is my prayer. He looketh thy way, he looketh mine, And keeps us near. I sigh ofttimes to see thy face, But since this may not be, I'll leave thee to the care of Him Who cares for thee and me."



PART 5

RENO AND ITS PEOPLE

Reno is named after General Reno, who died in the battle of South Mountain. It is about two thousand nine hundred miles from New York City; it takes nearly four days to reach it by train. From Reno to San Francisco is only about two hundred miles. The altitude is about 4,419 feet: the population twelve thousand. This "big little city" in the West is modern in every respect: it is the county seat of Washoe County and the largest city in the State of Nevada.

Reno is located in the greenest of valleys and surrounded by the Sierra Nevadas, the most majestic mountain range in the United States. These mountains cover a length of six hundred miles from Mount Jacinto to Mount Shasta, and a breadth of from seventy-five to one hundred miles, with long and gradual slopes on the west, cut by deep canons. The climate of the Sierras is beyond an adequate description: the beautiful summer days are mild and rainless. The main peaks of the western range are: Mount King, Mount Gardner and Mount Brewer; those of the eastern range: Mount Kearsage, Mount Tyndall, Mount Williamson and Mount Whitney. Mount Whitney is the highest peak in the United States outside of Alaska, rising 14,898 feet above sea level. The other main peaks of the Sierra Nevadas exceed 13,000 feet in altitude. The peaks nearest Reno are: Mount Rose and Peavin Mountain, both of which can be seen from any part of the City of Reno.

In this setting nestles our much-talked-of "Gem City of Nevada"—the city of heart-throbs and dreams! Its chief industries, I would say, are gold and love.... One less poetic might call these mining and divorce.

Next to its dreamy, romantic side, Reno has a very practical side: its position as a business center. The railroads radiating north, east, south and west, give it an enormous tributary territory. There are modern business blocks, department stores, excellent hotels. The best hotels are: The Hotel Golden, the Riverside and the Overland.



Reno is a city of beautiful residences, trees and shrubbery; asphalt and macadam streets. There are fine public buildings, libraries and theatres of the first magnitude.

One of the most noteworthy features of Reno is its beautiful schools. There are six besides the High School and the University; Orvis Ring School, McKinley Park School, Southside School, Mt. Rose School, Mary S. Doten School and the Babcock Memorial Kindergarten. The architecture is the "old mission," and it is difficult to decide which one really excels in beauty. Apart from the beautiful architecture, these schools are all equipped with every modern device for the training of the younger generation, both physically and mentally. Never in any public school have I seen such a splendidly equipped Domestic Science room as the one in the McKinley Park School. Its beautiful open, airy Assembly Hall with its hardwood floors and stage for private theatricals and other social affairs is the acme of modern refinement. In this hall the "Mothers' Club" holds its meetings, and the children have their school dances.

The University of Nevada has the best equipped school of Mining Engineering in the Western States; it also has a summer course on several interesting subjects, which often is taken advantage of by many who find time passing slowly, and wish to "brush up a bit."

Among the imposing buildings downtown is the Y. M. C. A., an artistic and splendidly equipped edifice. It is located on the north bank of the Truckee, commanding a beautiful view of snow-capped Mount Rose and Slide Mountain in the distance, above the green of the trees. Part of this building is devoted to indoor sports and consists of a gymnasium, conducted by able instructors; a handball court, bowling alleys, pool and billiard tables and a spacious swimming pool with shower-baths; it furthermore has a library and a large number of private rooms for out- of-town guests. At the time of the writing of this book, 1917, the Y. M. C. A. donated the use of its Assembly Hall to the American Red Cross for making hospital supplies and for "First Aid" classes. Here, the residents of Reno work side by side with members of the "Divorce Colony," women in all walks of life, from all parts of the world; women famous and beautiful, all working for the great cause of Humanity without any social prejudices, personal feelings, or pettiness.... So much for the Y. M. C. A.



Among the prominent and beautiful buildings are: the Nixon Building and the Nixon Home on the banks of the Truckee, both of which are artistic and worthy of mention.

Also the Elks' Home is very beautiful and picturesque: it is set in spacious grounds and has an imposing entrance crowned with an immense elk's head. Each of the antlers holds a beautifully colored light; the lights form the national colors. The home contains every comfort for the wandering Brother Elk, including a warm welcome. Broad verandas and balconies overlook the Truckee River, and when there is dancing its playful waters sing a rustling accompaniment to the music, which, when mixed with the moonlight on the river and the pretty girl by one's side, is calculated to make a romantic cocktail, sufficiently intoxicating to make any poor lonely Elk absolutely helpless.

The social affairs of this organization take a very prominent part in the life of Reno. One sojourning in this city would be well advised to have a card to the Elks, should he or she have relatives or friends who are members. The Elks are a splendid organization: I have found them always ready with a helping hand extended.

There are no less than ten churches in this charming little Reno town. The different denominations, their pastors and location are:

1. Baptist Church, Second corner Chestnut; Rev. Brewster Adams.

2. Catholic (St. Thomas), Second corner Chestnut; Rev. T. M. Tubman.

3. Congregational, Virginia corner 5th; Rev. W. D. Trout.

4. Episcopal, Second corner Sierra; Rev. Samuel Unsworth. 5. First Church of Christ, Scientist, Masonic Temple.



6. Lutheran (St. Luke's), Bell corner Second; Rev. F. E. Martens.

7. Methodist Episcopal, Sierra corner 1st; Rev. W. E. Lowther.

8. Presbyterian, Ridge corner Hill; Rev. W. E. Howe.

9. Salvation Army, Sierra Street; Capt. Boyd in charge.

10. Seventh Day Adventist, West 5th; Rev. W. S. Holbrook.

The banks of Reno also do it credit; there are four in number:

1. The Farmers & Merchants Bank, Virginia corner Second Street.

2. The Reno National Bank, Virginia corner Second Street.

3. The Scheeline Banking and Trust Co., N. Virginia Street.

4. The Washoe County Bank, N. Virginia Street corner Second.

In speaking of the banks, I want to comment especially upon the Reno National Bank. This bank a few years ago moved into its new building, a most beautiful and artistic structure, which in my opinion would do credit to Wall Street. Its lobby is artistically and beautifully equipped, as well as all parts of the bank. It is finished entirely in white marble, with blue velvet hangings, and no luxury or comfort known to a modern bank building has been forgotten in its construction.

This bank was built in 1915 by Mr. George Wingfield at a cost of approximately $200,000.

"From the North corner comes the light" .... can it be that sometimes its emerges from the West!

Last but not least is the beautiful Court House. It was rebuilt in 1909 at an approximate cost of $150,000. It is located in a very prominent part of the city, and faces a beautiful little park; a very imposing building with its big golden dome, numerous marble pillars and broad steps. These steps might truly be called the "great divide," as many thousands have tripped up united and returned divided; which incidentally does not mean "united we stand, divided we fall."

Perhaps much more so: "united we fall, divided we stand!"



As one looks at this palace of Justice one cannot help conjuring up mental pictures of famous beauties and prominent men, whose stories have furnished headlines for the leading newspapers of our big cities in years gone by; they seem to pass in review; a continuous procession ascending the steps in search of freedom and new happiness....

Through this little city flows the Truckee River, which I think is one of its chief beauties. This river is one hundred miles long; flowing out of Lake Tahoe, it empties into Lake Pyramid, a desert lake with no apparent outlet. The waters of the Truckee are as clear as crystal, except when they reflect the rose color of the sunset, or the thousand hues from the mountain peaks when they turn green and gold, rose and purple: I have seen them look as though covered with heliotrope velvet, just at the hour between sunset and moonrise.

One can follow the Truckee River from Reno to Lake Tahoe,—a motor run of about three hours, through scenery of indescribable beauty. The course of the river, tortuous and quickly changing from side to side, offers to the enchanted eye a kaleidoscopic review of towering rocks, foaming waterfalls, pine-clad mountains, snow-capped peaks, emerald lakes and moss-green valleys.

I shall never forget my first trip from Reno to Lake Tahoe over what is known as the "Dog Valley Grade." We stopped at the summit, at the edge of the mountain. Down we peered into the misty shadows of the deep valleys, six hundred feet below. It was a strange sensation to be hanging thus between earth and sky: to feel that the only thing between life and death was about three feet of roadbed, and four "non- skid" tires. It was wonderful to drink in the beauty of it all. I felt like a disembodied spirit, traveling back:.... back over centuries into forgotten ages, trying to realize what this wonderful country must have been like when it was still hidden by the foaming waters of a great inland sea.....

And then we reached beautiful Lake Tahoe, set in the midst of the Sierra Nevadas, surrounded by a dozen snow-capped peaks, the staunch, unflinching satellites of one of God's wondrous treasures. It reflects a picture to be surpassed nowhere else in the world. The great depth of the lake accounts for its glorious color of waters, which, turquoise blue in one place twenty feet away will change to emerald green; the colors do not fade into one another: they are distinctly separated. In some places the depth of the lake is even unknown. Lake Tahoe is twenty-three miles long: its maximum width thirteen. Its altitude is six thousand two hundred and twenty-five feet above sea level: the highest body of water in the United States. On one side its undulating waves kiss the shores of California: on the other those of Nevada, so that exiles of the "Divorce Colony" may take advantage of this delightful summer resort and still remain within the State to which one day they hope to owe their happiness.....

The midsummer air is cool and invigorating; hunting and fishing excellent; motor rides perfect; boating and bathing the finest in the land. Hotel and camping accommodations are splendid; the landscape is picturesque and a never-ending delight to the eye. This is one of the great many splendid advantages of the beautiful city tucked away in the shadow of the Sierras; so cheer-up, you prospective exiles, the wilds have their untold fascinations.

In writing of Reno one feels a compelling desire to describe the principal points of interest around and near the city, as in these days of motor cars and good roads it is a never-ending joy to spend a day among the famous gold mining districts, visit the Indian homes and reservations, and other beautiful and interesting places. I will endeavor to describe these further:

Near Reno, on the Truckee, is the famous Carson Dam: the first reclamation project undertaken by the government under the National Reclamation Project Act. I went out to look it over and found it tremendously interesting. It was built in 1903 at a cost of $7,000,000. The dam is constructed of earth and concrete, eight hundred feet long, one hundred ten feet high, four hundred feet wide at the base and twenty feet wide at the top. The main unit of this project was completed in 1913. It was the means of reclaiming a total of 2,000,000 acres of what was once known as the "Forty Mile Desert." The dam produces many thousand hydroelectric horse-power, and it is wonderful to see this stretch of desert waste turned like magic into rich productive agricultural soil. Perhaps some day the entire desert will flourish likewise.... Who knows?

Carson City, the capital of Nevada, is situated in the Eagle Valley and was originally laid out in 1858. The valley was first visited in 1833 by Kit Carson, the famous scout and frontiersman. The south end of Eagle Valley was settled by Mormons in 1849-1850. Carson City itself is 33 miles from Reno, 22 miles from Virginia City and 14 miles from Lake Tahoe.

The principal points of interest in Carson are the Mint, the State Capitol, the Orphans' Home; the Federal Building and the Post Office; the Indian School; Shaw's Springs. And many other interesting things will well repay a visit. The Virginia and Truckee Railroad, over which the trip to Virginia City is made, is one of the grandest successes of railroading and engineering. It was constructed between Carson City and Virginia City in 1869, and from Carson City to Reno in 1872. The entire cost of the road was $5,200,000, or not less than $100,000 per mile.

The enormous business transacted by the road may be surmised when it is stated that for a long time it paid the Central Pacific Railway $ 1,000 per day for freight on goods received there from, and collected for freight at the Virginia City office from $60,000 to $90,000 per month, and at Gold Hill but little less.

East of Carson City on the road to Virginia City we pass the State Prison, known for its historic relics. Some years ago, during quarrying in the prison yard, immense footprints of pre-historic animals and birds were discovered at a depth of twenty feet below the surface of the ground. They cover an area of two acres, and were made by mastodons: they are over four inches deep. Many man-like tracks were found, 18 to 20 inches long and 8 inches wide, with a stride of 30 inches and a distance between right and left tracks of 19 inches.



A few miles east of Carson is the town of Empire, once an important trading post and distributing point for lumber, cordwood, etc.

After leaving Empire the road enters the canons of the Carson River, passing in rapid succession the sites of numerous mills which were erected to. crush the rich ore of the world-famous Comstock Lode. Principal among these were the Morgan, Brunswick and Santiago mills which turned out hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of bullion. The grade of the road rises rapidly, the track leaves the canon and soon reaches the Mound House, the junction point with the Southern Pacific. Railroad trains leave Mound House for Dayton, Fort Churchill, Tonopah, Goldfield and all points south.

Leaving Mound House the road soon traverses the famous mineral belt of the Comstock Lode. This belt is 7,000 feet wide and 6 miles long, and produced nearly a billion dollars. The first mine to be seen is the Haywood, lying to the west side of the road. This mine produced over $1,000,000 and is still active.

To the east can be seen Silver City. The mines in this vicinity produced over $12,000,000. None of them has attained any great depth.

The road next enters the Gold Hill district. The country in this vicinity is gashed and scarred by hundreds of cuts, shafts and tunnels dug by the early prospectors in their search for wealth. Every one of these marks represents a hope, and in many cases the hope was realized; the same spirit animates their successors and the search still goes on.

The principal mines in Gold Hill are the Ophir, Caledonia, Overman, Seg, Belcher, Yellow Jacket, Kentuck, Crown Point, Imperial and Bullion. The Yellow Jacket was the first mine located, taking its name from the fact that its locators were warmly opposed by a swarm of yellow jackets. This was in 1859. The yield of the Gold Hill mines and the dividends paid were enormous.

The Ophir Mining Co. in 1859 sent 45 tons of their croppings to San Francisco for reduction, the cost for transportation being 25 cents per pound, or $500 per ton. They paid $450 per ton for smelting, a total cost of $42,750, yet they made a profit of $128,250 on the transaction, the rock giving over $3,800 per ton.

High above the town of Gold Hill and clinging to the side of the mountain can be seen the flumes of the Virginia & Gold Hill Water Co., which supplies the camps of Virginia City, Gold Hill and Silver with the finest water in the world. The water is conducted 3 I miles through pipes and flumes from springs and snow-fed streams in the Sierras 1,500 feet above the city. The capacity of the flumes is 10,800,000 gallons per day. From Gold Hill the road runs through tunnels, twists and turns along the side of Mt. Davidson until it reaches Virginia City, the end of the line.

Virginia City was first settled in 1859. It obtained its name from an old prospector, James Finney, nicknamed "Old Virginny." Its elevation is 6,205 feet above sea level.

In 1861 the population of Virginia City was 3,284, of Gold Hill 1,294 and of Silver City 1,022; in 1878 it was 40,000.

The first international hotel was built in 1860. It was a single story building. The first day's receipts were $700. The present structure was built in 1877; it cost $210,000.

The honor of discovering the "Comstock Lode" belongs to the two brothers, Allen and Hosea Grosch. The majority of the miners on the Comstock in the first days of its activity lived in tents and dug-outs called "holes in the wall."

I never realized the vastness of our country, nor the wonderful opportunities which the West affords those in search of wealth, until I lived there six months. There are untold undeveloped resources, the like of which does not exist in the over-crowded East. May this little book, in a way, serve to introduce the West to the East.

Reno and her people cannot be spoken of as typical of other Western towns and people, as the residents of this much-talked-of "big little city" are subject to conditions which do not exist in any other town in the country. They are democratic and whole-hearted Westerners, but find themselves confronted with social conditions which change their attitude toward things. However, I was very much impressed at the comparatively few divorces one finds among the older, permanent residents. I think this proves that it is the "unattainable that is most desired."



The women of Nevada have enjoyed equal suffrage for some time; they are wide awake and interested in all public affairs. Besides being domesticated, they are intellectual and energetic. There are very few "prudes" among them, and a great many diplomats. Nowhere more than in Reno is developed among men and women a sense of being individual. I attended many of the Women's Clubs, and was always agreeably surprised to find them up-to-date in every respect: a company of women banded together to study and plan for the betterment of humanity, and social conditions in general. The Mothers' Club and the Century Club are doing splendid work in aiding the development of "Home Economics," "Better Babies," helping with all kinds of charities, civic improvements and much other commendable work.

It was at these clubs that I met the real wife and mother, with real sweetness of soul: the woman who even under difficulties knew how to live a simple, pure and gentle life. Never have I come in contact with so much human feeling—even the ministers and their families are human, and full of understanding! The officials and people of prominence are all natural and unassuming.

I attended a "Ladies' Aid" meeting at which there were about forty ladies present, and among other good traits of these fine, earnest women I noticed particularly the absence of gossip and prudishness.

However, there is a spirit of contradiction prevailing in Reno which is very difficult to understand. All traces of the "wild and woolly" Western town have disappeared. The people of Reno are very docile indeed .... there are no cowboy yells nor Indian whoops, which some of our Eastern and Southern friends imagine still to exist. And the click of the roulette-wheel has passed with the years that have departed. Reno has developed into a cosmopolitan city with a cosmopolitan population. The cafes have cabarets with excellent talent, and there is dancing every evening in several of the hotels, where amid the bright lights, gay music, beautifully gowned women and well groomed men, one might easily imagine oneself in one of the swell cafes on Broadway: until one catches a glimpse of the moonlight on the Truckee, through an open window.... Here the people of Reno rub shoulders with those who constitute the "Divorce Colony," and to a new-comer, it is difficult to distinguish the one from the other.

The people of Reno keep their city clean, and maintain a very high standard of law and order. A lady may walk out unescorted at any hour of the day or night, and will never be molested or insulted in any way. The absence of public drunkenness and profanity is very noticeable, and I was not surprised to read the following note clipped from one of the local newspapers on Sunday morning:

"DEAD CALM IN POLICE COURTS ON SATURDAY"

"Police court was absolutely deserted yesterday morning, not a single case appearing on the docket to mar the serenity of the day. Reno's night police found the citizens unusually well behaved all night long and were not required to make even one arrest during the twelve hours they were on duty."

The fact that the people do not show much hospitality to undesirables, not even the hospitality of their jails, may explain why the little city is so calm and peaceful, and its police not overworked. The following clipping will indicate what happened to undesirables:

"THREE MEN ARE TOLD TO GET OUT OF CITY"

"Population of Reno Dwindles, Following Session of Judge Bryson's Court"

"Charles C. Stewart, James Joyce and John Burke were picked up by the police on Commercial Row Wednesday for disorderly conduct. Judge Bryson's police court was still in session and the men were arraigned immediately. All three pleaded guilty to the charge and for the best interests of the community were given until 10 o'clock Thursday morning to get out of town."



I had the pleasure of being a guest at the "Military Ball" in the University of Nevada, at which the Governor, his staff and many state officials were present, and was very much impressed by the fact that Nevada's statesmen, like the State, are comparatively young. The Governor did not look a day over thirty. They were a fine looking lot of earnest, unassuming, democratic Westerners. I do not know when I have seen a prettier picture than the one I saw when I looked down from the balcony upon that splendid assembly of glittering uniforms, beautifully gowned women, and handsome young students, amid fluttering flags and gay music. As I looked on, I could not help thinking of the pioneer ancestors of some of these illustrious sons and daughters of Nevada, who had crossed the plains in the early days, and I wondered what they would have to say of this brilliant array, and of the magic, modern little city of Reno and its people, if they could peep from behind the curtains of yesterday! I am sure they would be more than proud of both!

I fully expected to find living in Reno unusually expensive, but was agreeably surprised to find that one can live there even more reasonably than in the East. The prices are not extortionate at all, there being no specially made rates for "visitors," and the people are neither grasping nor selfish.

I have found the people of Reno charming and interesting and it has been a pleasure indeed to get a peep behind the scenes of this romantic little city, and above all, I have found everyone fair and courteous in every way to those who are to become citizens of their town.



PART 6

NEVADA DIVORCE LAWS

"The History of Nevada," published in 1913, Sam P. Davis writes as follows:

"The unenviable reputation, throughout the length and breadth of the land, in regard to the divorce law, has heaped ignominy on the State of Nevada. A few unscrupulous members of the legal fraternity, little better than outcasts at home, have come to Reno and besmirched the good name of a great State by their activity in converting into pernicious channels a law originally intended to give relief to mismated couples who could not travel the matrimonial highway in peace and harmony.

"The divorce law of Nevada was enacted by the first territorial legislative assembly in 1861. The law was good enough for Nevada and gave general satisfaction until its exploitation for purely mercenary motives began.

"Twenty-two States have practically the same divorce laws in force on their statute books, with the exception of the provision regarding residence. Until this year, Nevada required only six months' residence, but that had to be clearly established before action for dissolution of marriage could have any standing in the courts of the state. The residence had to be absolute, without the lapse of a single day except where good and sufficient reason could be shown, and to the entire satisfaction of the trial court.

"Six months' residence was also necessary for citizenship in Nevada and enabled a man to exercise all the rights of a citizen. Therefore, it naturally follows, that he could prosecute a divorce, or any other kind of a suit, in the State of which he was a citizen.

"In order that the reader may reach an intelligent understanding of this much mooted question, the statute on divorce is quoted in full:

"Divorce from the bonds of matrimony may be obtained * * * for the following causes:

"First—Impotency at the time of marriage, continuing to the time of divorce.

"Second—Adultery, since marriage, remaining unforgiven.

"Third—Wilful desertion at any time; of either party by the other, for a period of one year.

"Fourth—Conviction of a felony or infamous crime.

"Fifth—Habitual gross drunkenness since marriage, of either party, which shall incapacitate him from contributing his or her share to the support of the family.

"Sixth—Extreme cruelty in either of the parties.

"Seventh—Neglect of the husband for the period of one year, to provide the common necessaries of life, when such neglect is not the result of poverty on the part of the husband, which he could have avoided in ordinary industry."

"As the law governing the term of residence, to acquire citizenship, which obtained in Nevada for half a century without causing even passing comment, has been taken advantage of for mere mercenary motives, the unanimous verdict of a righteously indignant people went forth that the law should be amended, in some way, to correct the evil. Thus at the last session of the Legislature the time required to obtain a residence before obtaining a divorce was changed from six months to one year.

"If some sister States are stricken with remorse or find themselves in a sudden paroxysm of virtuous indignation, let them pass a law and enforce it, correcting the evils complained of at home, which will keep their divorces from coming to Reno-Nevada does not want them. If they persist in coming, let their home State enact a law which will make a divorce decree obtained in Nevada, void and of no effect whenever and wherever said divorcee sets foot within the borders of the home State. When other States enact and rigidly enforce some such drastic measure, the West will begin to have some regard for their particular brand of virtue. Until then, the West may be pardoned for believing that cant and hypocrisy often join hands with the lawless element and make a grandstand play for political effect.

"Economic conditions in the West are vastly different from those in the East. Nevada is a sparsely populated country, and it is not considered to the interest of the State to hedge about too closely the road which leads to citizenship. Anything which may have a tendency to obstruct immigration or turn it in another direction, is conceded, in this neck of the woods, to be unwise statesmanship. The State has a vital interest in securing and holding as large a population as is consistent with her rapidly increasing resources; always keeping steadily in view the fact that none but desirable citizens are wanted. If, however, the other kind come, as they sometime do, Nevada is ready to cope with the situation, as many of that class can testify from personal experience.

"Nevada is a veteran of the Civil War, having been organized as a territory in 1861, and admitted as a State of this glorious Union in 1864. No soldier on the field of battle ever made a more gallant defense of his country than did this "Battle Born" State during the trying times of the war. What she lacked in men was made up in money. Nevada was baptised in the blood of the nation and paid for her baptismal rite in a flood of gold and silver. With this flood of gold and silver, she saved the commercial honor of the country. This gold and silver paid the armies of the Civil War, averted national bankruptcy, and enabled the Government to resume specie payment in 1873.

"Those were dark days in the financial and political history of the United States, and Nevada, maligned and despised as she is today in some quarters, was the savior of her country in that most critical period of her history. The State that furnished the sinews of war should have some standing in the hearts and minds of the American people, even if Republics are ungrateful.

"From the best information at hand, it would appear that the mines of Nevada have yielded the enormous sum of two billion dollars during the past fifty years. Of this amount it is conceded that the Comstock alone produced fully one-half. The figures are given in round numbers, but are considered by mining men who are posted in such matters to be conservative. Thousands of discoveries, many of them marvelously rich, are still being made all over the state, in hitherto unknown and undeveloped territory. Besides gold, silver and copper, immense deposits of salt, borax, lime, platinum, sulphur, soda, potash-salts, cinnabar, arsenical ores, zinc, coal, antimony, cobalt, nickel, nitre, isinglass, manganese, alum, kaolin, iron, gypsum, mica and graphite exist in large quantities.

"Proudly conscious of her strength and probity of character, great big-hearted Nevada looks down from her lofty pedestal and freely pardons all who may have misjudged her. This is Nevada's record. Match it, if you can.

"The impulse which inspires a desire for a dissolution of an intolerable matrimonial alliance, is as fundamental to human nature as the one which inspires a desire for marriage, and is oft times far more moral. Therefore, to require the commission of immoral and degrading acts on the part of one of the parties to a marriage before a divorce can be granted, regardless of why it is desired, places an unwarranted premium upon immorality, and degrades society equally as much as it does the one committing the offense.

Not only does this policy of the law foster immorality, but immorality increases in proportion as the law becomes more drastic. Surely, the Nevada law is more moral than that of New York, which permits divorce for adultery only. New York has the most drastic law of any of the States; as a consequence it has in proportion to the population, about seven times as many proven cases of adultery as any other State. There are nearly four times as many such cases there, as in the neighboring State of Pennsylvania. This is not because the good people of New York are so much worse than their neighbors, but because the law requires that residents of the former State, who desire divorce, commit adultery; unless they have the time, money and inclination to go to Reno.

The effort to compel men and women to live together against their own free will, which is the purpose of stringent divorce laws, has caused even more immorality inside of marriage than it has outside. Immoral conditions are never so dangerous as when they exist in marriage. And besides, the fundamental policy of our laws which not only permits, but requires an investigation of divorce causes, is highly productive of evil. Many of the divorce cases in New York are simply food for a set of morbidly curious scandal-mongers. Even the Mohammedans consider our practice in this respect extremely vulgar: there is no more reason why a court should know why a husband and wife wish to separate than why they wish to marry.

Nevada most certainly has the most sane and moral divorce laws of any of the States. More than half a century ago, in 1861, Nevada enacted its divorce laws in their present form. It then, as now, provided for only six months residence before filing suit. This was in line with its other liberal legislation and with legislation in other Western States. This divorce statute included, and still includes, seven causes of action: impotency, adultery, desertion for one year, conviction of a felony, gross drunkenness, cruelty and failure of the husband for a period of one year to provide the common necessities of life.

In addition to this there is another splendid feature of the Nevada divorce law. It is not necessary to have witnesses, except to prove the fact that one is a resident in Nevada. The plaintiff's testimony is sufficient, unless the case is contested.

This law eliminates the despicable bribing of witnesses which so often happens in other states. It also eliminates the obscene, immoral and vulgar courtroom discussions which are often the result of calling witnesses in divorce cases.

The wisdom of this early legislation in Nevada is shown by the fact that more than fifty years afterwards the United States Commission of Uniform Legislation, in preparing a law on divorce to be offered for adoption by all states, has recommended Nevada's statute almost word for word. It should be remembered that this Commission is made up of the greatest thinkers of modern times: lawyers, jurists, professors, moralists and statesmen.

No one criticises Nevada's causes for action. It is admitted that divorce, when it results from any one of these causes, is the only remedy for unfortunate relations, which, without such remedy, would injure society. A great majority of the leading thinkers and writers in our churches today admit that these causes of action are not too broad.

I believe that Maryland has one of the most lenient divorce laws of any of the Southern States. A divorce is granted to residents after three years' separation. The decree is granted to the one deserted.

Some of the Eastern and Southern States, in this respect, are still in the throes of the dark ages.

The Western States, practically all of them west of the Mississippi River, have seen the perfidy and injustice resulting from such narrow exactions. These modern, progressive ideas have crystallized into the form of wise legislation, the statutes of many of the States being almost identical with that of the State of Nevada.

In South Carolina no divorce is permitted on any ground. New York is but little better since the only cause recognized is adultery.

New York's rigidity in this respect has annually led thousands of people to resort to revolting and immoral acts and join in collusion, in order to obtain relief from wretched and unbearable marriage bonds. Such laws are unjust. Such laws wreck valuable lives. With strong characters they lead only to unhappiness; with the weak, they result in immoral living.

The question then: "Is divorce ever right?" must be answered in the affirmative.

Why should two persons, who find after reasonable trial that they have made a mistake, and that they are wholly unsuited for each other, physically, morally and intellectually, be compelled to live together? What is at first mutual indifference, ripens gradually into loathing and hatred. Such conditions bring into the world innocent children, begotten not of love, as marriage presupposes, but of disgust, hatred, lust and incompatibility. Is it not a fact, established by the most reliable medical authorities and celebrated criminologists, that crime is fostered in the minds of children begotten of inharmonious relationship?

We can never fathom the depth of untold sorrow brought about by unfortunate marriages, where there is no way to annul them. This burden upon mankind has resulted in countless desertions, felonies, drunkenness, murders and suicides.

"In the daytime when she moved about me, In the night, when she was sleeping at my side,— I was wearied, I was wearied of her presence. Day by day and night by night I grew to hate her— Would God that she or I had died!" —Kipling.

There is no stronger plea for divorce than hatred; all things mentally, morally and physically bad originate from hatred.

I clipped the following from the Pall Mall Gazette of London, England, of May 2oth, 1920:

EASY DIVORCE

Opinions of the Typical Englishman To the Editor of the Pall Mall Gazette,

"Sir:-If it is not too late to answer some of the arguments brought to bear on 'Easy Divorce,' as Lady Beecham calls it, or, as I prefer to call it, the proposed equalisation of the Divorce Laws on which she wrote recently, I would like to know how far the sentiments of the 'Typical Englishman' mentioned in the article are known to Lady Beecham.

"Among many great men she mentions Gladstone. Now, his opinion on the subject is surely well known, as in 1857 he supported an amendment moved by Mr. H. Drummond that infidelity alone on the part of a husband should entitle the wife to the dissolution of the marriage. Gladstone's speech was, I believe, an earnest attack upon the injustice of the Divorce Bill to women.

"An able advocate, Sir Charles Russell, once described the action of a man whose wife was seeking a divorce from him in the following strong terms: 'This was not a case of mere vulgar acts of infidelity, but it was that of a man whose continued course of conduct, consistent only in its profligacy and heartlessness, had brought the wife into a condition by which the marriage tie had become a galling chain.'

"If the conduct of the respondent did not amount to legal cruelty, the law was in an anomalous state, and did emphasize in a marked manner the inequality which existed in the laws relating to these matters between men and women.

"George Eliot once wrote: 'These things are often unknown to the world; for there is much pain that is quite noiseless, and vibrations that make human agonies are often a mere whisper in the roar of hurrying existence."

"Thackeray in 'The Newcomes' speaks of 'matrimonial crimes where the woman is not felled by the actual fist, though she staggers and sinks under the blows quite as cruel and effectual, where with old wounds still unhealed, she strives to hide under a smiling face to the world.'

"How anyone can find it in their heart to state that incurable insanity should not be ground for divorce is inexplicable to me; but as it is well known that partial insanity even is not, and I know of an instance of a man who went twice into an asylum and came back twice to his wife, the poor woman bearing him on each occasion another child. Even this is not a ground for divorce. The Cruelty in refusing the injured person her freedom seems almost incredible."

The first wrong step between young people is impossible to avoid, since during courtship both wear masks, each trying to impress the other that he or she is a paragon of all virtues. The net result is, that the truth often becomes a horrible revelation immediately after the wedding ceremony. Unhappy and mismated marriages, without means of rectification, are the curse of civilization, the living, gnawing cancer of society.

In 1913, Nevada, under the lash of exaggerated newspaper notoriety, enacted a law changing the period of residence for the plaintiff in divorce actions from six months to one year. From Nevada's territorial existence down to that time it had been six months.

It is a matter of history that Nevada extended to the world inducements to go to her sparsely settled lands, in the way of liberal legislation and short periods of residence to acquire rights of full citizenship-franchise included. A man becomes, under Nevada laws, a full fledged citizen and voter at the end of six months. To him is extended every privilege of government and from him is exacted every obligation of government, and the fact that at the end of six months he can bring an action for divorce is a consequence of these laws, and not—as is often thought—their purpose.

Consequently, changing the law on the point of one of its principles instead of equally on all was irrational and illogical. Small wonder, therefore, that in 1915 the people, acting through their legislators and Governor, restored the period of residence in action for divorce to six months. It is now in strict conformity with their other laws, and with the same rights prescribed by them. Nevada's inhabitants have rescinded their act of 1914, by which they allowed immigrants and citizens to be robbed of a valuable right. The overwhelming vote of the legislature and approval of the bill by the Governor clearly shows the public opinion upon the subject. If it be right to commence action for divorce in one year, then it is right in six months. Length of period of residence is not a moral question. In this act the people of Nevada believe that they are morally and legally right, and that they are materially helping the progress of humanity.