The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, November 24, 1931, Page 8

{ VNU AEEN AGU UT TTT COT ! TT TT SARNLTTT ATTEN LTTE When hubby wants a date he gets on the phone. . . . “Dear, are you doing anything for dinner this evening?” By GILBERT SWAN O whom it may concern: Katharine Brush and H. Charles Winans have renewed a three-year lease on mat- riage! Miss Brush, as you doubt- less know, is the charming author of such best sellers as “Young Man of Manhattan” and *Red-Headed Woman,” and is a new literary figure of some consequence; H. Charles Winans is her husband, and something of a young finan- cial magician, ‘What you may not know is: they have re- eently O. K.'d a unique marital arrangement which has turned out to be quite as practical as it is modern; that is declared non-freakish and modeled to fit into the scheme of modern city life while allowing two persons to engage in their particular and completely different pro- fessions, They had agreed to give marriage a trial for three years and see what happened. In the beginning there was doubtless a disposition to be modern, And if Miss Brush may have approached marriage with qualified optimism it was par- tially due to an intention to lock herself in from time to time while writing; and partially be- cause she had tried marriage once before and it didn’t work so well. They were young, but they both knew the metropolitan demands on people who are deter- mined to “do something.” Wwe. two years have gone by. And there’s a new lease on love, as it were. They've renewed the three-year “plan” and celebrated it with a trip to Europe. But in- timate friends will tell you that there really was no reason for bringing that matter up. Their scheme has worked. And their arrangement was more than passingly novel. Trial marriage and all of its variations are not new under the sun. And the “modern” marriage arrangements have had consider- able publicity, Fanny Hurst, an- other well-known writer, was among the first to suggest separate menages. But the Winans-Brush idea was not without originality. Miss Brush has a pride and interest in the financial problems of her husband; Winans has a pride and interest in the writing problems ot his wife. They are both busy people. They knew that when they started. And they realized they must be “modern” about things. So home was to both of them home and business headquarters. qk married, figuring that three years was a fair period of time in which to try their marital experiment. They expected to have some general idea at the end of the first year. They could extend the “‘lease” as often as they wished; and it looks as though there would be innumerable renewals. As the time for marriage neared, Winans went about New York looking for a place that would fit in with their plans. He purchased two costly and fashionably located co-operative apartments: one for each of them. He would have his place. She would have hers. While the same decorators would furnish and adorn them—each would have an individual scheme of decoration, Their places looked down upon the East River, with its ever shifting scenes and pan- oramas. He had a bit of balcony where the sun hits in the morning, where he could sit down in contemplative mood and figure out im- portant financial schemes. The Winans section has a definitely male touch. There is the den and smoking room, as well as the reception room, living room et al. Miss Brush’s section has a definitely femi- nine touch, There are all the mirrors that a woman could possibly desire. She has her own study. She has her own pet library. She has her own workroom. She has her own place looking out on the river where she can sit and think while preparing another story or novel. There is a telephone connecting the two places. F hubby wishes a tea or dinner or evening engagement, he gets on the phone: “Dear, are you doing anything for dinne’ tonight?” “Sorry, darling, but I've got two chapters to go on a book. Can't you make it Wednes- day?” ““Wednesday—let me see! Yes, 1 can can a TET TTTTTTTTTTITT TTT tT Teen Pee eee UUUUTTUUUTTCUUAU UCU CCU Sometimes he pays the bills, and sometimes she does, . . . H. Charles Winans, financier and husband of Miss Brush. cel that meeting of the board and drop an ap- pointment. Let's make it lunch—and have a day of it?” Tt may not go exactly like that, but that’s the general idea. And then there's the matter of the upkeep of the two homes. Sometimes the husband takes on all the re- sponsibilities, and sometimes the wife does. If Miss Brush happens to be in the midst of a creative effort, it’s understood that-she doesn’t care to be bothered by such matters as land lords, bills and other extraneous matters. So Winans becomes the head of the house and at- tends to all the various details that keep the wheels of a menage going round. SUT LTLU LAA Dainty, petite, sophisticated . . best sellers and partner in the three-year plan for marriage. sn att TTT TT aT . Katharine Brush, author of Red-headed Katharine Brush's novel matrimonial experiment has worked so well that she ee one day, the wife assumes the re- sponsibilities and hubby can sit back with- out a worry, “Tl take care of everything for a while,” she says, and he sighs with relief. ‘When it comes to social matters, an attitude of non-resistance is assumed. Some explanation of this attitude was vol- unteered by John Farrar, who with Stanley Rinehart is Miss Brush’s publisher and close friend. “If myself or Stanley or any of the friends want to go dancing or night-clubbing, we call up—and away we go,” explained Farrar. “We're all so fond of Kay and Wy—and they’re so fond of each other—that no one and her hubby have renewed it for another three year term thinks anything about what either chooses to do.” Some time ago one of the gossip columnists heard the rumor of a breach, due to one or the other being seen out. They were terribly broken up when it was printed. “Winans was called to Brazil on a big cof- fee deal,” a friend recalled. “And Katharine was so lonely she booked passage on an Atlantic liner and just went back and forth.” So it would seem that there is something to this three-year plan. NSOFAR as finances are concerned, this is another mutual matter. It isn't so much that they believe in a 50-50 basis of economics as it is a problem of keeping one or the other from being bothered mentally with such domes- tic matters. Sometimes one has had a neat bank roll; sometimes the other. At the time of their marriage, the market was beginning to slip. Winans, in his role of finan- cier and banker, was as hard hit as any. He was reported to have lost a considerable for- tune. Later he made a spectacular new one through a South American coffee deal—which is another story! Miss Brush was herself uncertain of the fate of a novel. But soon she had made something like $50,000 on “Young Man of Manhattan.” The serial rights to “‘Red-Headed Woman” were said to be $40,000. The book is a big seller. The movie rights have been traded, and (Copyright, 1931, by EveryWeek Magazine—Printed in U. 8. A.) TY TTC OUTTA UT UHUNNUUUVU GUE DIMA PTY TESS COPVINITUOMMLIE ITO CUUeeetieeriuiveeeiueveuupinev iii) And wifie picks uy darling, but I'm you make it Wednesday >” the phone. . . . “Sorry usy tonight. . . + Can't before it’s all over she will have made about $100,000. But it isn’t so hard for her to remember that not-far-away day when $63.19 was the reward of a year’s poems; when $50 was paid for a short story that passed through the hands of about 13 editors before it finally found a mar- ket. Today she can just about name her own figures. By way of introduction: Miss Brush ar- rived in New York from East Liverpool, Ohio. She had married a young man who owned a string of middle west newspapers. Her immediate background included an eru- dite father, Dr. Charles D. Ingham, who for some years was a tutor and head master at Dummer Academy, Byfield, Mass. He is now connected with the Latin Department at Yale. Her native heath, therefore, is New England, although her novel scenes have inclined toward the Ohio sector. SHE came to Manhattan with a definite chip on her shoulder for a type of small town. But she denies that she used East Liverpool as the scene for the beginning of “Red-Headed Woman.” “It’s any small town,” she insists. And because she has auburn hair which turns slightly golden in the sunlight, many have thought that she used herself as the “‘red- headed” heroine—up to a given point, of course. This she also denies. At any rate, once she had reached Gotham, _ Miss Brush found herself melting into the scene. Within a week she was wearing New Yorkish apparel and within a month she was more smartly dressed than half the women who pride themselves on attire. Sophistication came easy to her; she appears to enjoy cocktails, pre- ferring them to tea. All of which is part of a surface parade, for while she enjoys the chic and the Continental, she also worries about her work, carries a sharp wit about with her, is quite sensitive, has a defi- nite domestic sense, never goes without a mani- cure and is a terrific worker when on the job. Rarely is she seen in the same gown twice. ‘With the result that she has stated that she rarely has a cent, despite her income. “But I had a lot of old debts,” she once - said laughingly to a friend. As for Winans, he is quite as colorful in his approach to life. He is but 35, and has dealt in millions, re ‘Winans were on their honeymoon when the market began to collapse, and from his station on shipboard he could see his for- tune slipping away. Then he got a grand “trade plan.” The Wheat Stabilization Com- mittee agreed to swap 25,000,000 bushels of wheat for a million bags of Brazil coffee. He went to Brazil—a change made possible only by the rather cockeyed condition of trade in the world. This deal brought him back on his feet, although just a few years before he had floated a $30,000,000 loan for Brazil. Tt was this contact that made his later proposi- tion possible, Just as impetuous was the “honeymoon.” The Winans had been planning the decoration of their ultra-modernistic separate apartments: had selected the furnishings and the color scheme, when Miss Brush tumed to hubby and said: “Well, let's start for Europe and get away from this—let's forget it for the moment.” So off they went, leaving the finishing of their place to the mercy of the decorators, But when she arrived in Europe, the new Mrs. Winans began to have feminine fears about the mirrors and similar details. She cabled the workers: “Don’t hang mirror in my room until I return.” It so happens that the place selected as a residence was in the course of construction. ‘When she returned, Mrs, Winans phoned " the decorator. “You didn’t hang that mirror, did you?” she inquired. “T regret, madame,” same the reply, “There is yet no wall to hang it on.” is A few months later, thé new home was ready for occupancy. And, as previously mentioned, Miss Brush has her own living room, servants’ quarters and telephone. _ “We make dates with each other and never make the tacit assumptions about each other that often prove so irksome to marriage,” adds the petite writer. ‘Once I was sure I was through with marriage. I was free and it felt grand to be that way. But this is something else—I could scarcely have imagined such a perfect arrangement.” rt AT UT muvee TT 4