The Wilmington morning star., 1947-02-21
BY CLARKE BEACH
APP NeWsfeatureS

1 YIN IN grim, ueSO-
late Adak, in the Aleutians. there
are women. About ia Of them with
their children, keeping house for
their Army and Navy husbands.
If you could see Adak, their pres
ence on the island would astonish
you as much as it did me when
I visited the place with a party of
news correspondents.
Their yards are sloping tundra
"a soggy morass matted with
moss, lichen and shaggy brown
grass. The hills and mountains r
covered with it. There isn't n
native tree or shrub on all Adak.
They rarely see the sun. Weather
there is nearly all rain, snow and
t~errifically strong winds, called
williwaws, which blow from all d.
rections. A clammy, chilling fog
| swirls continually around the
small temporary housing units in
| which they live.
The Army picked Adak for ex-
detrimental operations, because it
has the most consistently foul
weather under the American flag.
| There "Task Force Williwaw" has
spent the winter testing the per
formance Of men and equipment
under ''cold . wet" weather condi-
tons.
To find out why women so to
Adak and how they get along there.
I visited the woman who seemed
best Fitted to supply the answer,
Mrs. A. M. Quincy, the first white
| wife to settle on Adak. (There have
been no native Aleutians on Adak
for years-which seemed to me I'm
derstandable.)
Women thrive on Adak and are
perfectly happy, Mrs. Quincy told
me. And the reason ("Ah, sweet
mystery Of life!") is love.
II have never seen a group OF
women 50 contented," said the
lady, a petite, vivacious person,
looking quite metropolitan in a
gray tailored suit, red print blouse
and nylons.
"For one thing. they r condi-
toned to it before they get there.
Their husbands warn them Of the
kind of place it is, and they expect
the worst. When they arrive, they
are usually pleasantly surprised to
find their little home freshly paint
ed and attractively furnished and
to see all Of us enjoying the life
so much.
'"The great secret Of it is. though,
that they are all very congenial
couples. They wouldn't follow their
husbands out to such a place as
this if it were not more important
to them than anything il the world
For the two of them to be together
1 have never seen so many happily
married people,"
Mrs. Quincy went to Adak as a
bride last May-two days after she
had married Col. A. M. Quincy.
the commander of the Adak Army
post.
The afternoon I visited her she
was preparing to give a buffet sup
per party for ten persons. The
tablecloth was decorated with
crisp green sprigs Of tundra moss.
Her five-room bungalow was bright
and summary, and a corner of the
living room was filled with the on
1y green plants I saw on the island
sweet potato vines, ivy and a few
other shrubs flown from Anchor
age.
A window box was filled with soil
from the mainland, since you can't
grow anything from the states in
the sour earth of Adak.
The Gurneys' cottage is on a 400
foot hill overlooking the great an
chorage Of .Kuluk Bay-orr govern
ment's chief interest in Adak,
which was to have been the stag
ing area for the invasion of the
Kuriles.
In a williwaw the house shakes
and the wind roars for two Or three
days. Williwaws come about every
week.
Everybody does a lot Of enter
tanning on Adal-. but all sociel life
stops In a williWaw. If women
must go cut, they are escorted by