The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-08-13
R. c, WORKER ASSAILS BRIDES FROM OVERSEAS Asserts Most of Marriages to Soldiers Will Prove
 Failures. MISS M'FALL IS
 CHICKSAW INDIAN Regrets America Has Been Compelled to Receive
 These Women.

Most of the marriages of French and English girls to American sol diers will be dismal failures, accord ing to Miss Byrd McFau of Tulsa, Okla, a Red Cross worker, who re- turned yesterday on the liner Lap land, after having been in charge of the despatching of more than HOO of the war brides to this country on American transports.
 Miss McF'al was in charge of con cenration camps where the brides were stationed before going aboard ship in France and later in England. She was abroad for eighteen months. She a member of the Chickasaw Indian tribe, and upon the death of her parents, was adopted by Chief Ishata. Resourceful and well educat- ed, she worked in a Government de- partment in Washington for two years before going to France.
 Miss McFau regrets that America has been compelled to receive the majority of the women who have ar rived here as soldiers wives Con cerning them she said:
 Tt is a shame that many of them were allowed to sail from either England or France, but there the soldiers had married them and what were the army authorities to do? There seemed to be no rule that could keep them back, and even when investigation did show that many of them should not be landed Tn America, there was too much req tape to be cut to prevent their de- parture. There were girls that had police records and girls of the street.
 Not until the latter part of their arrival in America was there any at tempt at medical supervision and then only after it had been shown repeatedly to the army authorities that these women were not fit to be part of Americas citizenship. I be- leve nearly all of the trouble was caused by the fact that the army of fered to send back without charge the girls married to soldiers.
 "1f the soldier had known that he would have to pay a wife's passage at prevailing rates. I think that there would have been far less mar riages contracted. The majority Of the marriages, we found, had been made on very short acquaintance, and some of the girls boasted that they did not intend to live with their hus- bands after their arrival in the Unit ed States.
 ''They said they married only to get to the United States I will not say that all of the girls were like this, but there were far too many who were.
 We received reports as to the ac- atons of the women aboard the transports, and from one liner we re- ceived word that five of the brides were under lock and key when they reached New York because of their conduct during the voyage. Several were arrested for theft, having stolen everything within their reach that was of value.
 q established instruction classes in the concentration camps for the brides, for the majority had not the slightest knowledge of America The value of money and a small amount of the geography of the United States was taught them. Some of the girls believed that they could step to a telephone and call their husbands in Portland, Ore, to come down to the pier for them. These girls would have been in sore need had it not been for the Red Cross''