The Ely miner., 1943-10-21

man, have let this 60 on, glad that
he could find so much relaxation
and amusement. But now things
are getting bad at home; orderly
housekeeping in trailer, with wash
ing and toilet facilities at a dis
tance, is impossible. Until my dar-
ling little Bruce can have an op-
GRAFTON, he will be lame; the baby
is of course exacting, still at the
formula and didy-wash stage. I get
tired, rumpled, discouraged, lonely; :;
the injustice of the whole situation
irks me into occasional ill-temper.
And Fred is either silent, absent
minded, or cross and critical. There
does seem to be queer irony in
the fact that now that so many of
us could afford better living, we
can't find it. Can you suggest some
way in which I can bring my hus-
band to sense of the unfairness
of demanding so much of me, and
wandering off himself to comfort,
coolness, amusement, fattering COM
panionship? He has always been
considerate before, affectionate with
me and the children, and we
miss it"
Marriage Suffers During War.
My dear Ethel. I say in reply, the
cost of war isn't paid entirely in
precious lives and expensive guns.
So tremendous a world upset as this
demoralizes us, every one, tears all
our lives up by the roots, skaters
our lifelong ideals of honor and de-
cency. On all sides there are
outbreaks of immortality; racial
troubles that have slept for almost a
century; young blood recognizing no
authority and obeying no law.
And on all sides, also, thank God,
are titanic efforts to stem this tide
of lawlesSneSS. Fine men and wom-
en- everywhere are giving their time
and their money and their most ear
nest effort to get at the sources of
criminal outbreaks, to protect youth,
to improve living conditions, to safe
guard marriage.
You must put yourself in line with
these workers. You must overlook
the shameful facts that the woman
you call Rose is deliberately break
ing up your marriage, evidently in
idle fun, and that Fred has tenn
porarily forgotten that he promised
to stand by you no matter what con-
ditions arose in your welded life to-
gether. Fred is excited, tired, daz-
zled by novelty and fiattery. Like
some of the European travellers of
yesterday, he has left his code be-
hind him; he has lost the guiding
strings of home, neighbors, customs,
self-respect. His new work, his big
salary, his right to enter Roses
handsome home - all these have
gone to his head.
But this is only phase. Do the
best you can to weather it; save
what money you can in solid gov
ernment bonds; wait for saner times
as we all must. No life is untouched
by today's holocaust; if you can keep
yours serene and normal, you will
emerge from these times somewhat
ahead of the rest.
One more suggestion. Often it is
possible to find, perhaps 10 or IL
miles away from the plant, some
tumbledown old farmhouse or long
deserted home that could be made
into a delightful headquarters for
you all, for the duration. The crowd
isn't looking for these places: 50
many women are working that
homemaking is in some disrepute.
But look for such place; move into
it, make it habitable by degrees.
You'll find yourself happy and alb
sorbed at the task. And while re-
forming some old farmhouse, who
knsws but you may reform Fred?