The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-02-09
JACKIES WOO AND
MARRY BLUE-EYED
MAIDENS OF erin
Brides Now Looking For
ward to Day They Shall
See Goods Country"

Base American F1otilla in British
Waters, Jan. 30. - Correspondence
of The Associated Press.) - Every
part Of the United States has sup
piled a hero in love romances that
have eliminated in happy marriages
! between American bluetackets and
blue-eyed Irish maidens since the
arrival Of the American destroyer
forces in the south Of Ireland. After
| the war, every part Of the United
states from Maine to California, and
from the Great Lakes TO Florida will
boast Of an Irish bride who was
wooed and won in her native land by
an American sailor.
All Of the brides are looking for
ward to that happy day when they
will see what their husbands so
proudly proclaim as Gods country"
Already the American sailor has sup
piled his Irish bride with all neces-
sary documents to establish her
identity as an American, and some
have even had their property in the
United States transferred to their
wives as a precaution in case they
lose their lives for their country.
There is the marriage of a form
er ranchman, Bert Adams, to Brigid
O'ROurke, whose family descends
from an Irish king Of that name.
Adams, who is a boilermaker on one
Of the destroyers, halls from Hugo,
Colo. He is now arranging to have
his ranch in Colorado, decided to his
wife as a precaution in the event
of his being torpedoed. His wife's
relatives live in Bruce, County
Limerick, and there is plenty Of anec-
dote connected with the family's
fame. Il don't know anything about
ranching," Mrs. Adams told The
Associated Press correspondent, 'fbut
/ am preparing myself for the fair
land Bert has told be so much about
by studying a history of Colorado.
Then there Is the case of Mary
Ridge, head waitress at the leading
hotel here, who lost her heart to
Harland G. Richie, a mechanist's
mate first class, of Allston, Mass. She
was one of the most popular girls in
town. The dining room over which
she presided is out of bounds to en-
listed men but Richie contrived to
see her when she was off duty. They
knew each other for four months
before Mr.. Ritchie led her to the
altar of the village church.
Falls In Love First Day.
But the record for love at first
sight among the Americans belongs
to a young seaman, Paul Valachovic
by name, who used to work in the
machine shop of the General Electric
Co. at Schenectady, N. 7. He fell
Ia love the first day he stepped
ashore here, from his destroyer. Ada
Jones, a Cork girl, was the object Of
Cupid's dart. After the war
Valachovic is going to take her back
with him to that thriving city in
New York.
A few of the Americans first met
their wives on visits to England
Charles Herman Cobia OF Charleston,
g. G., fell in love on the beautiful
Cornish riviera with Ada Gilbert, a |
widow Of "a, whose home was in
Plymouth. Another English bride Is |
Nora. Elizabeth Kilt, who was mar |
ried to Joseph w. Highheld of Des
Moines, Ia
But the majority Of the Americans |
married Irish girls who lived in the
vicinity of the American naval base
and whom they met at the dance hall
or roller skating rink. Thus Doris |
Frances Phillips 10 now Mrs. Lea
Vincent FIavell Of Hanover, Mass,
and Mary Ellen Sullivan has become
the wife of Thomas A. Balschi Of
Mount Carmel, Pa After the war
Mary O'Keefe, who became the wife |
of Edward c. Turner, expects to |
desert the trying climate Of southern |
Ireland, for that Of sunny San Jose, |
Cal, which Is her husbands home. |
William spauIding of DeLAnd, Fla, |
has married Ester Allen, while Oral |
z. Cox OF lola, Kan, won the hand of |
Phyllis Rose Rogers.
Among others Of the American
sailors who have taken to themselves |
a wife over here are Benjamin ]. |
Moore Of Dallas, Texas; Blbert r. |
Of Pensacola, Fla,
Harry u. Holder Of Denver, Colo, |
and Michael J. Della Rocco Of
N. Y. And the list
gives promise Of growing steadily.