Evening star., 1942-09-02


''%' from how to
Henry McLemore. distinguish the
male canary from the female at so
PAGES. to the advantages of living in
a town where the fire department is
composed entirely of volunteers.
So. 1t was with a start, partly from
surprise and partly from gratitude.
that we read the letter from one
seeking our help. Unfortunately,
we don't believe we are going to be
of any great service. The man
wanted to know just what sort of
letter a husband should write to his
wife who is a WAAC.
II saw where the military authori-
ties had advised civilians as to the
type of letters they should write to
men in the service" he wrote. Let
ters full of cheer and with the un-
pleasant happenings on the home
front mentioned lightly if at all.
But so far the military authorities
have not seen fit to advise us hus-
bands on how to handle the COR
respondence to our wives in the
service. We need advice, des-
perately."
The husband then explained his
troubles. Nothing he had written
his wife--a staff sergeant, we believe
he said she was-has been salts
factory. When she first went away
to Des Moines he made up his mind
to tell her the truth in his letters.
He would spare nothing in describ-
ing how he missed her, how empty
the house was since she went away,
and how the house was getting along
with him in charge as housekeeper.
THAT was mistake" his letter
says. II should never have done
that. Only my wife's intense
patriotism kept her from going
AWOL on receipt of my first letter.
In this letter I painted an honest
picture of how the house looked now,
that she was gone. Apparently it
upset her to learn that the kitchen
stove had only one burner that
worked; that I had closed of all OF
the upstairs to save sweeping the
rooms and making the beds, and
that the front porch furniture had
been blown away by a storm when
was absent at work"
Honesty having failed. the hus.
band in later letter, went of on
another tack. 8,
This time I adopted the happy,
cheerful cherub approach. I told
her not to worry about me, that
had made up my mind to carry on
without her, and was getting along
fine. I told her that the boys
dropped in twice a week now, to
play poker and bridge and cheer
| me up, and that as I didn't want
her to worry about my eating, I
had taken to having dinner at a
little combination restaurant and
night club just outside of town.
I assured her that the food was
very good, the simple little floor
show, featuring passable chorus,
was good enough to make the time
pass quickly, and for her not to
have one single worry about me-" ];
| The husband said this letter came
within an inch of making his wife
deserter. Only the presence of
stern sentry, he intimated. kept her
from leaving Des Moines on the next
train. But he got a letter from his
soldier-wife which singed his fingers
to open it, and which was so blister
| ing it freckled his face while he was
reading it.
So. the hubsand doesn't know
| what to do.
If he tells the truth, his wife can't
keep her mind on close-order drill
LOT worrying ABOUT nm.
If he fibs to her, and paints
sweet and cheerful picture of life at
home, she burns and blisters and
reports for drill with her cap turned
backwards.
He wants the Government to issue
a QUESTIONABLE which husbands of
WAACS can fill out once or twice
| week and send to their wives. He
suggests questionnaire along these
lines:
l. Have you sent off the check for
the insurance?
q Have you had the windows
washed?
3. How are you feeling?
4. Are you watching your weight?
5. How long since you moved the
lawn?
6. Do You miss me?
7. Did you like the picture of ma
in uniform?
We trust that Mr.. Stirnson will do
something for the husbands of
WAACS.
distributed by McNaught Syndicate, 1nc1
II p.fi~,,.