Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1920-01-02

ny EW YORK, Dec. 27--The high cost OF
M living, which makes matrimony a
a hazardous adventure here these days,
has failed to discourage our soldiers in Eu7
rope from rushing recklessly to the altar 1t
may be that the war, in developing their
valor, has left them less discreet, or it may
have made the European women more ae-
tetmined. At any rate, Judging by the way
wag brides continue to arrive in New York,
tnesNwhole American army oS~Uccupation will
be married by the time it gets home.
Not only are they getting married, but they
are marrying German girls. The last few
cargoes of war brides have been almost solid
ly German, so that, despite passport restric-
tions, the Teutonic strain in America is re-
ceiving rapid reinforcement.
In the opinion of Mrs. Harriet NJ MacDon-
aid, director of Y. w. G. A. Hostess House,
which is taking care of the war brides dur
ing their stay in New York, matrimony
among our soldiers is merely matter of
propinquity They marry the nationality which
is nearest to them. In the beginning Of the
war bride offensive, for example, when our
men were scattered all over Europe, brides
Of twenty-one different Municipalities were web,
coined at hostess house. -
Besides the many French, British and
Italian girls, there were Czech6Slovaks
Serbians Jugo-Slavs, Roumanians, Portu-
guese, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish
and Belgian girls, as well as many RussFns
Of superior peasant type, Even at this
early date when the armistice had scarcely
been signed, German war brides began to ar
rive as result of the American occupation of
Luxembourg and Alsace-Lorraine
At this time there was law forbidding
American soldiers to marry German girls
one SO doing was liable to court martial, un-
less he obtained the written consent of his
commanding officer. Presumably this law is
still IN effect, but if so, the life of a COM
handing officer in the American army of &C.
cupation must be one long consent
At first, the Y. w. G. A. hostess antici4
pated certain amount of friction between
Inc war brides of enemy nations but much to
their relief they have been agreeablv disan-
pointed. French girls and German girls. hay
ing endured the vicissitudes of a lonely. ted
lous voyage together, arrive arm in arm the
pest OF friends, while Jugo-SIavs fraternize
sympathetica1ly with Italians
only once French girl asked the room
cIerk aC hostess house please not to put her
IN room with Boche. Remembering this
request, the clerk was about to separate a
pretty German girl from her two French com
pan1ons, few hours later, when the Fren CHI
uamsels insisted that she be permitted to re-
main with them
''She is al alone" one of them explained,
land so what you call-dumb. She knew
nothing of the world, and her husband not
to arrive for five days yet" ~
Most OF the girls are of the European peas
ES~"S-
ant type, which formerly constituted the bulk
OF our feminine immigration. Those who do
not come from the fields, are factory work
ers, saleswomen, milliners, domestics, and
office workers. Often, if their husbands paw
is held up, the brides seek jobs here in New
York until the family exchequer is once more
stabilized, and the couple has enough money
TO reach the mans home town
Much more frequently, however, the BRIDES
| first act as an American citizen on American
soil is to reduce rather than add to her hus-
bands income. On the morning after her ar
rival she appears with her hair freshly curled
| an eager look in her eyes, and request for
! an Interpreter. She wants, she tells the lady
/ at the desk, to ask an important question
The interpreter summoned may be a French
T or Italian or Russian linguist, or a Rouman-
ian or Jugo-Slav, but the question is always
the same. Where the war bride desires to
know, do you buy silk stockings.
American baggage is also in great demand
| by the war brides Their own baggage