"It seems to me," Mrs Darwen remarked, "that you are substituting a coldly brutal type for a passionately brutal type. Men are very much nearer animals than women."
"The engineer has also to deal with men as well as engines, which has a humanizing effect on him, Mrs Darwen," Carstairs said.
"Yes! Fortunately Providence has provided a safety valve for his pent up emotions; you can't possibly imagine the intense mental relief of growling at a stoker because the steam's low, when it's not really the man's fault at all."
Carstairs laughed. "I rather like stokers myself, they're a rough and ready crowd, they'd knock you down for the price of a drink. And the language—Shakespeare isn't in it."
"They do swear, but if you think a minute you'll admit that the average stoker isn't in it with the average engineer; it's the same as everything else, it takes brains and feelings to swear well."
"I wonder if women will ever be engineers."
"My dear mater! Women are the finest engineers in the world now, they engineer us poor men, first to the altar, then to the graveyard or to the work-house. Men run engines, business, etc., women run men. The world is run by women, not by men. I remember talking to a stoker once about matrimony. 'It's alright for a change,' he said, 'but it ain't no use permanent.' I suggested that a little kindness might improve matters. ''Taint no use,' he said. I then ventured the opinion that to go home drunk and break up the furniture, sometimes has a conciliatory effect. ''Taint no use,' he repeated again. 'Stop supplies for a bit,' I suggested. ''Taint no use,' he repeated. 'Well, clear out.' ''Taint no use,' he answered. 'I've stayed home and helped 'em in the house, I've give 'em all my pay. I've come home drunk and broke things, I've chucked boiling water over 'em, and beat 'em with the poker, but ''tain't no use,' he shook his head with infinite sadness, 'you always gets had,' he said. He was a thoughtful, intelligent sort of man, and he'd had three wives, so he ought to know."
Mrs Darwen laughed. "He was a thorough sort of man, anyway, and women like a thorough man."
"So do men, Mrs Darwen. Personally my daily prayer is to be preserved from the wishy-washy fool who does what he's told in unquestioning obedience."
"Listen to the Saxon expounding his creed, mater. 'Oh God, give me some one to have a row with.'"