Rock Island Argus., 1919-12-31

New York. Dec. 27-The high
cost Of living. which makes mstri-
mony such Q haxardous adventure
here these days. has failed to dis
courage our soldiers IN Europe
from rushing recklessly to the al
tar. 1t may be that the war, in de-
veloping their valor. has left them
less discreet. or it may have made
the European women more deter
mined. At any rate, judging by the
way war brides continue to arrive
in New York, the whole American
army Of occupation will b married
BY the time It gets home.
Not only are they getting mar
ried. but they are marrying Ger
man girls. The last few cargoes Of
war brides have been almost solid
ly German, 10 that, despite pass
port restrictions. the Teutonic
strain in America 10 receiving rap
Id reinforcement.
In the opinion Of Mrs. Harriet NJ.
Macdonald, director Of the Y. w.
C. A. hostess house. which is TAX
ing care of the war brides during
their stay in New York. matrimony
among our soldiers 10 merely q
matter Of propinouitv. They marry
the nationality which II nearest "a
them. In the beginning Of the war
bride offensive, for example, when
our men were sOttered all over
Europe, brides of 81 different ma
[tionalities were welcomed at Host
ess house.
Besides the many French. British
and Italian girls, there were
Czecho- -Slovaks, Serbians, Jugo-
Slavs, Rumanians. Portuguese
Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Fin
nish and Belgian girls, as we'll al
many Russians Of superior peas
ant type. Even at this early date
when the armistice has scarcely
been signed, German war brides be-
gan. to arrive as q result OF ,the
American occupation OF Luxembure
and Alsace-Lorraine.
At this time there was a law for.
bidding American soldiers to mar
ry German girls. One 20 doing wal
liable to court martial, unless hi
obtained the written consent Of hi.
commanding ofhcer. Presumably
this law is still In effect, but II 20
the life of . commanding officer IL
the American army Of occupation
must be one long consent.
At first tho Y. w. G. A. hostessei
anticipated . certain amount o.
friction between the war brides o
enemy nations, but much to theil
relief they have been agreeably dis
appointed. French girls and Ger
man girls, having endured the vi
cissitudes Of 1 lonely, tedious voy
age together, arrive arm in arm
the best of friends. while Jugo
Slavs fraternize sympatheticall.
with Italians.
Only once, a French girl aske'
the room clerk at Hostess hous'
please not to put her in a room
with q boche. Remembering thi
request, the clerk was about to sep
arate q pretty little German gir
from her two French companions
a few hours later, when the Frencl
damsels insisted that she be per
mitted to remain with them.
"She is all alone." one Of then
explained, "and SO what you call
dumb. She know nothing Of tn
world, and her husband not arriv
for five days yet"
Most of the girls are Of the Euro
pean peasant type, which formerl
constituted the bulk of our fem
inine immigration. Those who d
not come from the fields, are fac
tory workers, saleswomen, millin
ers, domestics and Office workers
Often. il their husbands pay 1
held UP, the brides seek Jobs her
In New York until the family e1
chequer is once more stabilize
and the couple has enough none
to reach the mans home town.
Much more frequently, however
the brides first act as an America
citizen on American soil is to re
duce rather than add to her hus
bands income. On the mornin
after her arrival she appears wit
her hair freshly curled, an cage
look in her eyes and a request 70
an Interpreter. She wants, sh
tells the lady at the desk, to as
an important question. The intel
prefer summoned may be p Frenc
or Italian or Russian linguist, or
Rumanian or Jugo-Slav, but th
question is always the same. Wher'
the war bride wants to- know. d
you buy silk stockings?
American baggage is also In gres
demand by the war brides. Thel
own baggage, brought from Europ'
is most curious and inadequat,