The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, April 17, 1942, Image 7

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\ V 9 THE SUN, NEWBERRY, S. C„ APRIL 17, 1942 Kathleen Norris Says: Most Divorces Are Failures (Bell Syndicate—WNU Service.) I was glad to come home from Mexico, but / faced great unpleasantness between my parents. Mother wanted to place me in a school that cost almost twice the one hun dred dollars a month that my father was paying for me. By KATHLEEN NORRIS HAT can I say to my mother that will make her stop knocking my dad?” asks Susan, who lives in St. Paul. “Mother and Dad were divorced six years ago, when I was 10. When she first told me that she was leaving my father and going to marry a man I will call Sam, Mother said that she still loved Dad, that we were often going to see him; it was only that she loved Sam more. “However, complications arose. For a few months I was left jyith my father and his sister, my Aunt Ann. Aunt Ann has two children about my age and I was very happy there. Then Mother and Sam came home, and great was my excitement because they were going to take me to Mexico with them. We stayed a year, and during that time my mother became so angry when I spoke of Aunt Ann, or of my cousins, that I stopped mentioning them. “About that time it seems Aunt Ann and my father sold some furni ture and some books that Mother thought were rightfully hers, and that began it. After that she enter tained all her friends with long ac counts of my father’s and my aunt’s peculiarities. ‘No Smith was ever honest. That’s the Smith temper com ing out in her. Nobody knows how cruel John Smith can be. Nobody knows what I went through. My doc tor told me it was divorce or in sanity. I think John wasn’t quite right in his head.’ Faced Unpleasantness. “I was lonesome in Mexico and glad to come home, but when we did get home it was to face great unpleasantness between my father and mother. Father was paying $100 a month for me, but the school in which Mother wanted to place me cost almost twice that, excluding extras, and she tried to get a court order for a larger allowance. “My father’s home is ten miles out of town and quite near the school, so I could live with him, but Mother won’t hear of it. She told my dear est friend that my father was so close with money that nobody could get along with him, and that cost me a scene with my mother and a crying spell. “Don’t you think that when a man and a woman decide on a divorce the least they can do is to spare their children from taking sides? Incidentally my mother and her hus band now quarrel a great deal; he is 34 and she is 37; they go out al most every evening and often for week-ends, and leave me to home work and the radio. That is why Mother wants me to go away to school. I know I will never be di vorced, for no matter what my hus band did I would forgive him, but if ever I did you may be sure that my children will never hear me say ing anything of their father that is not kind and generous.” Susan Protects Mother. The injustice of a case like Susan’s is this; she is reluctant to hurt her mother, to leave her moth er’s house and perhaps expose her to criticism or blame among her friends. Susan doesn’t want to give any one a chance to say that she was unhappy with her mother. Oth erwise she could go to her father, at tend the desirable school, build a new life for herself as his closest companion and housekeeper. Susan, in other words, is treating with generosity and kindness the mother who has never shown her the slightest consideration. Instead of repaying that mother in her own IT ISN'T FAIR Divorce is bad enough when there are no children to be con sidered. But it simply isn’t fair, says Kathleen Norris, to deprive a child of the normal home life he needs just because things may not be running as smoothly at the moment as you want them to. Successful marriage has al ways been based on willing com promise and adjustment, and parents must think of their chil dren as well as themselves when they consider divorce. A child’s happiness is too big a price to pay for a little self-indulgence. coin, Susan is protecting her. I know that if I suggested to Susan that by quietly moving to her fa ther’s home and bidding her mother an affectionate farewell she would be doing the fairest thing possible, she wouldn’t pay the slightest at tention. * Her mother has hurt her in every way; robbed her of her father and her home; put a strange young man in that father’s place, refused to let Susan’s own father offer any solution to the school problem, and neglected Susan for days at a time. What I do suggest, therefore, is a compromise. I suggest that Susan have a talk with her father and ask him to pay her expenses as a board er at the extravagant school for the next half-term. From school let her spend as many holidays as she can with her father, and after the half-term quietly move to his house. A Common Tragedy. But how can mothers so complete ly overlook the welfare of their chil dren, and sacrifice their lives so cheerfully? It is going on all the time, everywhere, this disruption of homes and demoralization of girls and boys. If marriages are child less, that is one thing, and divorce, however regrettable, is not quite the same sort of tragedy. But when there are children to love and build for and establish in normal attitudes toward the serious business of living, then it is simply extraordinary that so many good women can con vince themselves that it is “really better for all concerned” to break up the right and natural relation ship. Some years ago I was passing the doorway of a hospital room when an extremely pretty woman, married exactly 17 months, called to me to come in and see her. While con gratulating her upon the arrival of a fine baby boy I spoke of the father’s pride in the new arrival. “Oh, George,” she said, smiling and flushing, “I don’t believe he’ll come to see him. You see, we’re get ting a divorce, and he said he was afraid he’d grow fond of him. He loves children.” And seeing my consternation she added pleasantly, “No one could live with George, of course! He’s actually out of his head most of the time.” She married again in a few months; the new husband, it seems, is so rigid a disciplinarian that be fore the first child of this second marriage was born, the wife was obliged to see her small son dis graced and punished in a way that would have done credit to Mr. Murdstone himself. Her new mate was angry when his own chile turned out to be a daughter, and presently the little stepson was sent to boarding school, was taken ill, went to his adoring grandmother and so got back into his father’s hands. And the much - criticized George has proved to be an excel lent father. GIFT FROM CHINA I am tremendously interested in the modern embroidery brought to me by Mr. and Mrs. Owen Latti- more. They have now sent me the letter which accompanied this em broidery, which is a gift from Madame Chiang Kai-shek. The let ter is so full of confidence and hope for the future that I want to share it with you and, therefore, quote it here. Headquarters of the Generalissimo of China Chungking, Szechuan 12 January, 1942 Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: These eight immortals gladly stepped out of their frame on a Chungking wall to fly to you. I hope you will bid them welcome and find a place for them in your home. They wish to assure you, as they have assured me many times during these years of bloodshed and suffer ing, that the world of war and woe is but a passing thing, however necessary it may be, for over the edge of the horizon lies a path lead ing to universal harmony and world brotherhood. With all good wishes. Yours sincerely, Mayling Soon Chiang (Madame Chiang Kai-shek) • » • NEWS ANALYSIS I wonder whether PM is becoming to you as interesting a paper as I find it. There is barely a day when some article in it is not worth reading from beginning to end. Long ago Mr. Louis Howe told me that a good newspaper man put into the first paragraph of his story all the essential news because so few people ever read more than the first paragraph. Since the great major ity of people never read anything but the headlines, I have always thought of what a terrible responsi bility the headline writers carry. I always read at least the first and last paragraphs of anything which seems to me a really important story. But it is only now and then that one finds something which holds one’s attention from first to last—not only because it is well written, but because it is on a subject of vital interest at the present time. • • * VISIT AT WELLESLEY I enjoyed my short time at Wellesley very much. It has a beautiful campus and Miss McAfee’s home there is charming inside. The view is what impresses one most. Miss McAfee is one of the people with whom one would like to spend more time than a brief visit per mits. I caught the night train back to New York city very easily and ran into a group of sailors in the station who kept me signing autographs, while I waited at the ticket window to collect my accommodations. Back in New York city I spent the morning visiting the Naval hospital and two friends who have been ilL After an early lunch, Miss Thomp son and I came up to Hyde Park. There are few signs of spring as yet, but it was good to take a walk through the woods in the late after noon and to have a quiet afternoon before the fire. Today is a beautiful day and we shall not have to start back to New York city until after lunch. • • » DAY IN THE COUNTRY One morning, in Hyde Park, the day dawned gloriously; a blue sky and cold, crisp weather. I went out to discuss the best place for a garden with the man who does the outside work. We are going to plant extra things for ourselves and for preserving purposes and winter use, as well as some things which we can contribute, if necessary, to the school lunch program, should their supplies from surplus commodities be reduced this coming year. I found considerable concern about how we are going to manage on the place with only one station wagon, which I have told them to use only once a week for going to town. I suggested mildly that I thought it was time we made the rounds of our neighbors and start some kind of a co-operative arrange ment for buying supplies and, since I was not at Hyde Park often enough, I would leave it to them to get to gether. It seems ie me that this is really an essential first step in realizing that we are fighting a war. Somehow or other, when I walked through the woods and as I sat in front of my fire, I realized for the first time how easy it would be to forget what is happening in the outside world, if one were not tied to it by strings of affection, or just left the radio turned off. • • * MEETING A ’STRANGER’ I have read Mr. Raymond Clap per’s article in Liberty about “Mrs. Roosevelt.” It is so interesting to get to know a stranger. There are a few slight errors in fact, but psychologically, I am sure he is right—I made him dance because of my childhood repressions. I hope when he returns from India he will come and tell us of his impressions. There will be no newspaper dance this year, for like all other enter tainments which are purely for pleasure, it will be given up. Uuf. Cltamie/ui Spring Luncheons As spring spreads its fragrance and gayety once more across the days, do your moods turn to thoughts of ex quisite, gracious luncheons? Yes, to be sure, they do. You get love ly visions of pic ture-plate lunch eons, crispy green salads, tiny, moist sandwiches, the tinkle of china on cool, crisply laundered cloths, centerpieces of delicate flowers. But this year’s luncheons are dif ferent from last year’s. The plates are pictures to behold, true, but the menus are kind to purse strings and food shortages. A bowl of colorful greens, curly endive, crisp lettuce, tossed togeth er with grapefruit and orange sec tions with red slivers of strawber ries are perfect with these muffins and all you would want for lunch eon; *Molasses Nut Muffins. (Makes 24 small or 18 large) 3 tablespoons batter !4 cup sugar 1 egg IVi cups flour 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon ginger Ys teaspoon salt >4 teaspoon soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 eup chopped Brazil nuts % cup milk V& cup pure, dark molasses Cream butter, stir in sugar gradu ally and cream together. Stir in well-beaten egg and blend. Mix and sift flour with spices, salt, sbda and baking powder, then mix in Brazil nuts. Add alternately with milk and molasses to the first mixture. Bake in well-greased muffin pans in mod erate (350-degree) oven 25 minutes. You can have a veritable smor gasbord on your main luncheon plate if you carry out the general idea by serving several different kinds of salads in frilly lettuce cups. Pick out some combinations you like best from these ideas here: •Chicken Salad. (Serves 8) 2 cups diced, cooked chicken 1 cup finely chopped celery 1 cup halved, seeded grapes >4 cup toasted pecans ^ cup mayonnaise Combine all ingredients lightly. Chill, add mayonnaise and toss lightly together. •Fruit Salad. (Serves 8) 4 thick slices grapefruit 4 thick slices oranges 4 slices pineapple 8 whole apricots 1 small package cream eheese Pare oranges and grapefruit. Cut into slices. Cut pineapple, oranges and grapefruit slices into halves. Arrange in a fan shape on curly endive or lettuce. Stuff apricots with cream cheese and place at low er edge of the fan. Lynn Says: The Score Card: Latest reports reaching me assure us that: we have enough black pepper and most spices for at least two years. Coffee and cocoa supplies are adequate from South Ameri ca, and tea stocks are still good. Domestic fats and oils will have to replace imported palm and coconut oils used for frying fats, soaps and oleomargarines, and homemakers must conserve all soaps and frying fats care fully Tin will be available for can ning foods that cannot be pre served in other ways, but you will be wise homemakers if you learn to use dried fruits properly, and can from your own defense gardens this summer. Be kind to your kitchen equipment and gadgets made out of tin, for there will be no more after that is used. Pineapple is still being planted and shipped to the mainland, and no serious shortage is yet notice able. This Week’s Menu Guest Luncheon Assorted Salad Plate: •Chicken Salad •Fruit Salad •Egg Salad in Tomato Cups •Molasses-Nut Muffins or •Cheese Rings Coffee or Tea •Recipes Given. •Egg Salad in Tomato Cups. (Serves 4) 4 medium sized tomatoes 1 package cream cheese 1 tablespoon finely chopped green onion 2 tablespoons finely chopped green pepper Yi medium sized cucumber, chopped 3 hard cooked eggs, chopped 14 C'jP mayonnaise Wash tomatoes, peel. Slice off top, and scoop out the center. Toss the other ingredients lightly to gether and fill the tomato cups. Chill well and serve on lettuce. All three of the salads given can be served on one individual platter. Arrange them attractively, a scoop of the chicken salad, a fan of fruit salad, and then the tomato cups. Your platter complete for a lunch eon and a very pretty sight to be hold! A hot muffin to accompany and a fragrant cup of tea or coffee completes the luncheon. On the other hand, if you prefer salad bowls which the guests will serve themselves, here are ideas: Greens: chunks of lettuce, water cress, slivered green onions, rad ishes. Oranges: Use sections on a bed of curly endive or curly garden let tuce, with raspberries or strawber ries for color. Vegetables: Cooked green beans in lengthwise slices, carrots, raw or cooked, in slivers, cooked limas, chopped ham. Fruits: Beds of lettuce, length wise slices of bananas, berries in season, cheese balls dipped in chopped nuts. Dressing makes an important ad dition to salad, and many times this is left to your own preference, or, if you like, have the choice of two permitted for your guests. Save sugar in the little ways, is our motto, so here is one way to do it. This dressing uses molasses for sweetness. Piquant French Dressing. V4 cup salad % cup vinegar V4 cup chili sauce Vi cup pure, dark molasses 1 teaspoon salt Vi teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon onion, grated Mix all ingredients together and beat thoroughly. When you invite your friends over for salad and rolls for these lunch eons, this may seem like so little, but it’s guaranteed to make a hit if you do the little details up right. Have the salads crisp and cool and well blended. If having rolls,'these should be piping hot for contrast. If you don’t feel inspired to make rolls, then do other things like getting ready-made rolls and pretty them up: Toasted Long Rolls: Split, butter and sprinkle with grated cheese. Pop into the oven until cheese melts. Serve hot. Cheese Rings: Use day-old bread and cut rings with a doughnut cut ter. Brush with butter or salad oil, dip in cheese, and bake in a moderate (350-degree) oven until golden brown. Orange Biscuits: Add grated rind of orange to a baking powder bis cuit recipe. Roll and cut. Dip a cube of sugar in orange juice and press into top of each biscuit. Bake in a hot oven 12 to 15 minutes. Lynn Chambers will be happy to give you advice on your luncheon or salad problems. ICrite to her at Western News paper Union, 210 South Desplaines Street, Chicago, Illinois. Please enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope for your reply. (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) W ITH this one pattern you can nutfit vnur vounester with as fine a set of play clothes as the most pampered child in the world could own! The pattern includes a smock—full cut, fitted through the shoulders, topped with a round col lar and appliqued with two bright red apples which turn out to be pockets—overalls of sturdy pro portions and very brief rompers— these again to be appliqued with the cunning pockets. * • » Pattern No. 8120 is for children of 2. S. 4, S and 6 years. Size 3 smock, 1% | yards 32-inch material: over all li> yards, romper % yard. Appliques 4x12 Inch 1 piece plus 4x10 contrast. 2Vs yards ric- rac for rompers. Send your order to: SEWING CIRCLE PATTERN DEPT. Room 1324 211 West Wacker Dr. Chicago Enclose 20 cents In coins for each pattern desired. Pattern No Size Name Address Built for Co-operation We are made for co-operation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of upper and lower teeth. To act against one another is then contrary to Nature, and it is acting against one another to be vexed and turn away.—Marcus Aurelius. CORNS BO FAST Pain goes Quick, corns speedily "emoved whan you use ;hin, soothing, cushioning Dr. Scholl’s Zino-pada. Try them! MKAMME KILMER docs her part of the work in the house and on the farm. Jeanne is a Majorette in the high school band. $he says: “I’ve got lots to do, and I eat pretty early in the morn ing. That's when the ‘Self- Starter Breakfast’* tastes wonderful—and it helps keep me going strong till noon recess.” Let's Get Going- Full Speed Ahead Show Our Foe Patriotism Isn't Dead! / Test Driver Don Kenower puts ’em through the jumps for Uncle Sam—shares the Army man’s preference for Camel cigarettes.* . YOU SET / SMOKE S&SFS™ A FLAVOR THAT'S GREAT, ^ JpSet/ ★ With men in the Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Coast Guard the favorite cigarette is Camel. (Based on actual sales records in Post Exchanges and Canteens.) CAMEL THE CIGARETTE OF COSTLIER TOBACCOS