Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-02-03
WAR WIFE WILL MARRY
BROTHER Of SOLDIER
Mrs. Spiker Amazed That People
Think She Should Follow the
Golden Rules Guidance.

New I Ork, rem 3.-MEe Euiily hno~i7
comedy young English woman, carry
ing in her arms her hve-montfis-oio oao.
Alfred Raw, stepped from the corridor tina
leads to the ferry pier on Ellis Island al,ou
3 y. IN. yesterday.
On the pier was waiting Mrs. Pearly X
Spiker Of Baltimore, whose husband be
came the father Of Miss Knowles baby
while he WAS = private in the aviation
service in England during the war.
Mrs. Spiker had just deposited 81 ,00C
liberty bond Of her own to insure the
admission Of Miss Knowles into the
United States, where Mrs. Spiker's
brother-in-law, Guy Spiker, and Miss
Knowles plan to be married.
Mrs. Spiker has blue eyes, fresh COM
plcxion, a decided and charming manner.
She bad said earlier:
"People are amazed at my stand in
this affair? Well, think the only amnz-
ing part Of it ia that they could be amazed
I always have believed IN the Golden Rule
and plain Justice. And that Is all am
Irving up to now. ] never have been
particularly devout, but l am not an I'm
believer. My husband and are not
members, but go to Presbyterian or a
Methodist Church occasionally.
Il will admit that at fret my instinct
was to so away when my husband came
home and told me Of Miss Knowles, but
that WAS only momentary. / realized At
once that loved my husband and there
would be no happiness for me II left him.
/ realized at the same time that 1t WAS
merely justice that his baby should have
his name and that the babys mother
should I've protected and cared for.
Il cannot help but feel that my hus-
band showed he loved me alone when he
came to inc and told me on his return
everything that happened between him
and Miss Knowles. My husband respects
Miss Knowles and so do l. do not blame
either of them. ! blame only the terrible,
uncertain conditions of the great wsr
which made tho situation In which
Miss Knowles, as a clerical member
of the ROYAL British Air Force, and
my husband found themselves.
81 think no wife should be surprised
If, under such circumstances, after an
absence Of two years, she found her hus-
band had been untrue to her. The only
thing left to do was to right the wrong
done as much as possible and to bring
out of the situation as much happiness
as possible
The word dramatic" has been used so
many times to describe SO many trivial
scenes that it seems a shame a new
word to take its place cannot be coined
for this particular most unusual and per-
haps even unique occasion.
Mrs. Spiker ran forward and put both
arms around Miss Knowles, who is
shorter than she and brown-eyed and
brown haired and SHIN and much more
girlish, and Rugged her and the baby In
one big embrace.
And she kissed Miss Knowles on the
cheek and smiled heart-warning smile
at her. and then she took the tiny bundle
of blanket In which the blue-eyed baby
was blinking and drew the blankets away
from his face and said:
''Isn't he beAutifulf
Mrs. Spiker gave the blanket bundle
that was the son of her husband dexter
Gus hi oh, snuggied him close and led the
way to the ferry. Brother-in-iaw Guy,
beaming, followed with q suitcase. Be
nde him, smiling cheerfully, walked
Benjamin Kirchstein, the lawyer who is
10 get Miss Knowles into the country and
married to Guy Spiker.
Several women, among them employees
of Ellis Island, petted Mrs. Spiker and
Miss Knowles and her baby, who was
named for his mothers brother, killed in
Flanders, and said they were all wonder
full"
Guy Spiker and Miss Knowles both
said they had hoped to be married here.
But the Government agreed only that
Miss Knowles would be released for ninety
DAYS under bond If she would 60 to the
Batte-sby family in Fall River-Mrs.
Batersby is related to Miss knowles
and so they all took the ) o'clock boat,
the Plymouth, for Fall River.
When they were last seen on the boat.
Miss Knowles was nursing the baby and
Mrs. Spiker was sitting with an arm about
botn, and Guy was sitting, near smiling
happily.
1t was explained TO reporter on the
boat that Pearly Spiker, husband of Mrs.
Spiker and father of the baby, could not
be here yesterday because his efforts to
get Miss Knowles and the baby into the
country already had taken him too much
from his job.
Mrs. Spiker said the reason she would |
insist on the baby being legally adopted |
by her and her husband was that he was |
entitled by all justice to his fathers |
name. II Miss Knowles insists on keeping |
him, she said, that would raise a difficulty |
TO be settled later.
"My seven-year-old daughter, Yetive, /
wrote a letter TO Santa Claus last Christ
mas" she explained, asking for baby
brother. / showed her photograph OF
this baby, and she rs simply overjoyed
She thinks Santa is bringing her brother
ri want to keep my baby" Miss
Knowles said, "but I viii do anything
Mrs. Spiker wants. She has been wonder
full My mother was worried when /
decided TO come to the United States,
but know she would be happy and con-
tent if she knew what wonderful woman
Mrs. Spiker is, wish she might have seen
A1rs. Spiker's welcome to me, l owe
everything to her
Some one among the newspaper folk
called a wish of happiness to little Miss
who was arm in arm with
Guy Spiker and smiling with him, and
she replied:
II am going to be happy yet"
She had explained that she and Guy
spiker might be married in Fall River,
and it was lawfully nice" Of him to
want to marry her and to like her so
much.