Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-08-26
PAPERS ARE LOST.
Young Woman Finds It Difficult t
 N. Prove Marriage.

WaSnluB lOu, U. S., AuSuoe
 To be called upon to prove ones mar riage and to be unable to furnish the proof is a most embarrassing situation to find one's self in, yet that is pre- cisely what has happened to young English woman. who applied to the civil service commission recently for the necessary blanks to enable her to make formal application for a posi- ton in the government service. It was one of the distressing cases growing out of the San Francisco earthquate and confiagration.
 The papers which the young wo- man filed with her application tndf- cafed that she was born in Grea' Britain, that she was married and that she resided in San Francisco. No record of her naturalization as an American citizen was included among her papers and the civil service com mission returned them to her to sup ply that omission. She had not been naturalized in the usual way. but she ascertained on inquiry that the fact that she was married in the United States and her husband was an Amer ican rfaturalized her under the law.
 She called the attention ofthe com mission to this fact. While admit ting that her marriage to an Ameri- can would naturalize her, the com mission asked for her marriage certi- ficate. She could not find 1t. She wrote to her husband in San Francis co, requesting him to forward to her either the original or a certified copy of the certificate. He was unable. to comply with her request. In the ire which followed the earthquake in San Francisco, their modest little home with practically all of their be- longings had been swept away, the precious certificate being among the things lost.
 The husband hurried to the office of the magistrate who had performed the marriage ceremony. He founs nothing of 1t. The building had been destroyed and the ground even then was being cleared for the erec- tiop of a new structure. Continued inquiries developed the fact that the magistrate, himself. having lost everything he had in the world by the fire, had disappeared and no pos sible trace of him could be discovered Finally. the husband endeayored to locate the witnesses to the ceremony. but they. too. had disappeared.
 As a last resort, the husband had a careful examination made of all re- cords of marriages to be found. not only ia San Francisco. but in the state capitol at Sacramento. In the hope that an oficial report of his marriage might be discovered The quest. however, was futile as the marriage records of several previous years had likewise been destroyed. and the officials had failed to report them to the health ofice at sacra mento.
 Very much discouraged. the little woman here in Washington explained the situation to the civil service com mission. She submitted to the com mission her husbands letters recount ing the efforts he had made to find the required proof. hoping against hope that the members of the com mission would believe her story. They did believe it and an order has been made by the body waiving the necessity for the filing of the mar riaEe certificate
 Inquiry has disclosed the fact that thIs case. while it has some unique features. is by no means the only in- stance of the distress caused by the San Francisco disaster which has been brought to the attention of the Eovernment Many instances of the effect of the fire on titles to prop srty have been looked into bT gov erunent agents While nost of them have been adjusted. the situations which hare dextloped from ofhsrs have been pitisbIe and dlstrsssins