Evening star., 1942-08-18
BY WILLIAM L. WORDEN,
wi1s World

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Aug, 1s.-
Pity Mary Jones!
You can pity her honestly, be-
cause Mary's love life is one of the
minor casualties of war in Alaska.
| Back in Minnesota Mary heard
! that Alaska was a romantic place.
(Mary's name, for the purpose OF
this story, is wholly fictional) She
also heard whisper that there
were 10 or 20 men for every girl
So she came north on a ship that
arrived in December. Alaska was
bitterly cold, and the city to which
Mary came was composed largely
of sheet iron roofs, clapboards and
log houses.
But Mary loved it all. Especially
the fact that for the first time in
her life she never lacked a date. If
she liked she could lunch with
lieutenant, dine with a. major and
dance with private who was
handler with his feet than either Of
his superiors.
And almost Immediately, on De-
cember % to be exact, Mary got
good job in a bank
Two weeks later she fell in love
with captain.
Failed to Finish Reading Rules.
Mary was cautious girl. She
thought long time before she de-
cided to marry the captain and she
looked up the regulations. Sure
enough, the regulations said that
an Army mans wife who had a job
before December "a, 1941, was q
bona fide resident Of Alaska and not
subject to the evacuation which had
separated most Army wives from
their husbands. Mary was 50 ex-
cited that she forgot to read the
rest Of the regulations. She was
married instead.
Too late, the captain and his
bride read the rest of the long
list OF rules. And now Mary Is
back In Minnesota. The rest of
the regulations said that exemp-
tion from evacuation because the
wife was employed prior to Decem-
Der "a, 194l. applied only If the wife
was on the payroll Of the Civil
Aeronautics Authority, the Army
engineers or similar defense organi-
zations. The bank was a nice bank,
but 1t did not 1T the definition.
The troubles Of Mary Jones il
lustrate one of the strangest de-
velopments Of war in the Territories
of the United States. An Army
rule says that the wives of Army
personnel may not remain in the
Territories of Alaska or Hawaii dur
ing wartime. The purpose is OBJ
vious-to prevent distraction Of hus-
bands from their war duties, but
few of the results are peculiar.
Strange Cases Result.
For example:
A girl who has lived all her life
in Fairbanks until she married a
lieutenant in Anchorage now must
return to Fairbanks, although she
need not leave the Territory.
A couple from Oregon, so long as
he is working for a civilian defense
agency, may live happily together
in Anchorage-or any other Alaskan
city. But the moment he is drafted
she must not only prepare to live on
the wife's portion OF an enlisted
mans pay, but must also pack her
things to 60 back to Oregon.
A girl may monopolize all an
Army mans free time. But the
moment they marry she is subject
to quick travel at Government
expense.
The exceptions to the general rule
are few-bona flde residents of the
Territory. women employed before
December "a on certain defense
jobs, a few who can prove special
reasons why they should remain
here. The last named are so few, as
a matter of fact, as to be practically
existent.
Some few cases require judicial
decisions. A woman who has been
in the Territory for Ave years
marrying the soldier after she ar
rived-has a rather good prima
facie case to prove she is a bona fide
resident. With less than five years
residence, the Army is quite likely to