Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE SUN, NEWBERRY. S. C. OCTOBER 2, 1942 Kathleen Norris Says: Divorce Sometimes Is Justified Bell Syndicate—WNU Features. ! My second husband’s daughters rifle the ice box. He thinks everything they do is right. The girls say they are always busy with outside activities and have no lime for home duties. By KATHLEEN NORRIS KNOW you hate divorce and never advise it,” writes Norma Brown, “but 1 want to know what you advise in my case. “Two years ago, after an ideally happy marriage, I was left widowed with a boy of 5. I was crushed, bewildered, young, and within three months I sud denly married an old friend, a chiropractor, a man I had al ways regarded as an advisor, an older brother. My mother was furious, and would not forgive me for months. Fred is 49; he had been recently divorced; he has two daughters, who were then 13 and 15. Their mother takes them off for every other Saturday, com ing back to dine with us on Sunday night. I now have a small girl baby, Ellen. “We have a large house; Fred’s offices are in it, also a room for the nurse. This nurse, who is friend ly enough to me, expected to marry my husband, when he and I eloped. I never knew this until lately. They had been engaged for a long while, and although she laughed about it when she told me, the fact that she did not leave him indicates to me that she likes him still. “I have no servant; it Is impossi ble to get anyone to come here for what Fred will pay. The girls do nothing, not even make their own beds; they come and rifle the ice box of my custards or sandwiches; everything they do is right in their father’s eyes. Sometimes Milly, the nurse, helps me clear the table; no body else helps with housework, cooking, marketing, and the baby’s needs and laundry. I am exhausted with fatigue most of the time; 1 never catch up. Both girls are in high school and they claim that with first-aid classes after hours and gym and Junior Red Cross they are al ways busy, and have no time for home duties. There Is No Harmony. “This would perhaps not be so se rious if they were my own children, but there is no harmony between them and my own son, Phil. They tease and annoy him all the time, and my husband blames him. He would like to send Phil to his sister, who has children about his age, but I will not consent. Fred is passion ately devoted to his daughters, and over and over again he will plan for them some outing that doesn’t in clude me. He takes them to mov ies, buys them whatever they want and this summer, during the very hottest weather went away with them for two weeks, leaving me at home with the small children. “This treatment has opened my eyes to the fact that I don’t love him; I don’t even like him, and I never will again. What he needed was a working housekeeper, and in these times he would have to pay her a good fat salary. “I slave and struggle all day and far into the night, and my reward is that Sally won’t eat this and Eu nice won’t eat that; little Phil is sent away from the table to wash his hands or comb his hair, and Fred comments, kindly enough on my own appearance. Ts this the pretty girl I married?’ He also questions all bills, and has asked me twice if I ever got money from the stores and had it charged on the bill. My heart is broken, but that doesn’t mean I have to break my back, too. AN EXCEPTION In her advice to Norma Brown, Kathleen Norris makes an excep tion to her rule against divorce. Usually, she feels, divorce is just a lazy and immature way of set tling grievances that are far less important than the integrity of the home and the unity of the family group. Read Norma Brown s letter carefully before you say to yourself that your problem, too, can only be solved by divorce. And remember that you may lose more than you gain by divorce. It is still a last re sort, and things must be very bad indeed before it is worth the sac rifice it inevitably means. “My mother is well-fixed; she has always despised Fred; she would gladly take me and my two children in and I could be of real help to her, for she takes summer boarders and has a few boarders all the year. But she keeps a fine colored cook and her daughter and what I would do would be only light work. ~ am thirsting for escape and for freedom. Fred, I suppose, would immediately marry his nurse. What She Would Do. “She practically told me the other day that in my place she would pack the girls off to school and get in a good servant, so it may not be all roses for him, but that isn’t my af fair. My husband has never shown any affection for Ellen, my baby, and my old doctor told me as a joke that her father’s welcome of a third daughter was a hearty curse. “Well, I have written you my problem. Am I justified in getting a divorce, in your opinion?” It was a foolish union from the first, for anyone with eyes in her head could see that such a house hold was no place for a young wife and a small boy. Yes, I think you would be justified in legally ending a union that never was real marriage, and in living hereafter for your mother and your children. It is a strange thing that a man like Fred can present the prospect to various women so charmingly that they are willing to sacrifice common sense and reason to leap into matrimony with him; certainly his office nurse has had every chance to study the situation. That you were young, plunged in grief, and that you had always looked upon Fred as a sort of big brother and guide, is your excuse; I hope you’ll be a little more care ful about a third experiment. At 27 you still have plenty of time to con sider the serious thing that mar riage is. Fred could dispute your divorce, for in your state nothing that he has done is actionable. But if he is thinking of marrying his nurse he may not interfere with your going to Reno to establish a six-weeks’ resi dence. Unjust Treatment. One would like to be able to get into the mind of a man like that, to find out just what he thinks he is, an East Indian Sultan or Superman or what? Not only to impose upon you himself, but to allow two un trained selfish girls to walk rough shod over you; to restrict your purse, criticize your appearance, poison your first joy in your baby by a curse at her sex, and abandon you whenever he wants to go on a pleas ure trip, is to treat you as though you were merely a mechanical de vice in his household and not a wom an at all. Eleanor Roosevelt ON AUTUMN AND THE WAR We left Washington and, after see ing one or two people in New York city, reached Hyde Park in time for dinner. The cottage seemed very peaceful and the open fire was both comfortable and attractive. Yesterday, we were out of doors all day, but it was not until morning that I woke early enough to have the full benefit of the early morning birds’ serenade. One -ather young one prched on the ran near me and repeated over and over again what seemed like a musical call. He cocked his head from side to side and his bright little eyes twinkled with each call. The air is still soft, but cool in the evenings and early mornings. When the sun shines, the pool is still a pleasant place, but across the pond from where I sit, my swamp maple is completely red and I know that in another two weeks the autumn colors will be everywhere. Again we opened our papers this morning to read about Stalingrad. This is certainly going down in his tory as a valiant defense. I have great sympathy for the three young Russians now traveling in this coun try, who must scan the papers ev ery day and wonder why we, in this country, can live so comfortably and still be at war; when they know that war means a change in the every day life to every citizen in the Soviet Union. There is one advantage in fighting on your own soil. No one can say, as they say occasionally to me by letter: “Why do my boys have to go out of the country?” Everybody in Russia knows what is happening because it is within the borders of the country. They tell me that even the be sieged cities in Russia get mail by airplane, and that is one of the ways by which morale is kept high. That, of course, has been one of the great advantages in Great Britain also. The young British wing-commander, Scott -Malden, in his radio interview the other night, said he had been fighting two weeks before, about 70 miles from his home in the raid on Dieppe. This is about the same distance as from New York city to Pough keepsie! It is easier to know what is happening when the happenings are so near and many of them occur in civilian areas. Our distant op erations have kept us, as civilians, safe from harm, but they also make it much more difficult for Us to un derstand and co-operate in the wax effort.! • • • ON TAXATION It seems curious to me that we accept with much less excitement so drastic an action as the right of the War Manpower commission to shift workers without their consent to new places of abode, or into other fields of work; and yet seem to find it so difficult to accept any sugges tions for new types of taxation. I was much interested in Senator George’s remark that the treasury’s “spending tax” was a leveling tax. I supposed that was the type of tax we were looking for at present. It must be, however, that the pull of material interest has always been one of our strongest motivating forces and is still stronger in the minds of most of us than the right to work where and whenever we choose. I think that in the present situa tion we have to accept as workers in civilian life, or even as private individuals, the decrees of our gov ernment in exactly the same way that soldiers have to accept them. I would not oppose any of these decrees. The only thing which sur prises me is, that where our pockets are concerned, we fight so much harder and apparently so much more successfully against certain drastic changes. I suppose it is in our tradition and it will take us longer to make the changes. In the end we will accept them, as we do everything else when we realize that to do so will shorten the war and give our boys a bette* chance to come through alive. The RAF and our own men seem to be effectively continuing their raids on Germany, but it does not look as though raids alone were the final answer to the battle of Europe. All we can do is to pray that our production will really reach the point where decisive action can be taken. • * * EARNED APPOINTMENT Jacqueline Cochran has earned her appointment to direct women’s air work and women everywhere will be proud of her achievement. • • • WOMEN IN THE AAA PROGRAM The war is changing the position of women in many ways. I notice that the department of agriculture has requested the farmers of the na tion to consider the election of farm women as well as men, to county and community committees to ad minister the AAA farm program. The AAA’s Articles of Association are being amended to permit farm wives, as well as women farming in their own name, to vote in the committeemember’s elections and to hold office. These Items Are Highlights of The College Girl’s Wardrobe By CHERIE NICHOLAS ■^OW that a college girl’s “yes” as to the fashion status of this and that has come to be regarded as an ultimatum it is interesting and illuminating to check up on her style preferences. The first thought that comes to mind is the enthusiasm with which fair collegiates have gone “all out” in favor of cottons for year-round wear. The major recognition they are giving to smart cottons in as sembling their back-to-school ward robes this fall is really most sig nificant. Take for example the darling ted dy-bear coat shown to the left in the above illustration. This adorable model is made of a white fleece woven on a cotton backing and lined with gay multi-striped broadcloth which accents the cuffs and front closing, edges the pockets and forms the collar. College girls figure this to be a wise buy in that they’ll be as warm as the teddy the fleece re sembles when they wear a coat of this type, and being “comfy” as well as charming helps a lot when it comes to lustily cheering from one’s vantage spot in the stadium. Take it from the college vote that here is a coat that says V-for-Vic- tory in no uncertain terms. Another decision among campus enthusiasts is that they will be need ing plenty of snappy sweaters to keep them in comfort and in fash ion at the same time. Maybe a college girl’s clothes allowance isn’t just what it used to be, what with her being the girl behind the boy behind the bombers, by buying up those war bonds. The thing to do so as to keep pace with fashion’s demands is to bring your last year’s cardigan up to date by trimming it with oodles of chic buttons as the smart ones on the sweater to the right in the group illustrated in the days to “make your own.” With the aid of one of the new thermo plastic dress forms you can cut dress construction time in half by eliminating repeated try-ons. It’s worth while knowing that your local sewing center can mold your form in half an hour. And then, with the fashion short cuts they will teach you, you’ll be all set to do a grand job at home sewing. If you feel the urge to sew you might try your hand at a jerkin cos tume like that shown centered in the group pictured above. This is a style easily made, especially if you provide yourself at the start with a good pattern that makes simplicity its theme. College girls adore jerkin costumes, for with a different blouse they may be made appropriate to any occasion in a jiffy. Then, too, jerkins are so chic and so flattering and so youthful looking. Brick red is the color of the fine wale corduroy that fashions this jerkin dress. The billowy blouse is a golden yellow, which goes to show how wholeheartedly campus dwell ers have gone in for high color. A smart idea is to write your name in your own handwriting across the front of your jerkin blouse, just be low the sqitare neckline then fill it in with a signature stitch quickly on your sewing machine. Dear to every collegiate heart is pretty lounging apparel like that pic tured above in the inset. The “lat est” as shown at the national wash apparel show recently held in Chi cago is cuffiess satin rayon pajamas done in blue for the pajamas and peach rayon satin for the quilted jacket. Please underscore the word “quilted,” for there’s a perfect craze for things quilted, from negligees to smart daytime jackets with hats and bags to match. Released by Western Newspaper Union. With Velveteen Velveteen is being combined with other fabrics this season in effective ways. When brown velveteen is paired with brown and beige hound’s-tooth check woolen the an swer is ultra smartness. That is exactly the case in regard to this charming jacket coStume. A sug gestion of the military appears in the double-breasted gold button fas tening of the brown velvet jacket. The skirt is of the brown and beige check. The jacket edges and simu lated pockets are overcast in beige yarn. The newest fashions fea ture considerable yarn stitching used as trimming. A little costume like this is ideal for early fall, with its warm colors and soft fabric. Memo to a Modern: Buy Pretty Things Here are a few fashion items that the modern girl might jot down in her notebook as “must haves.” Sweaters with brushed surfaces, for shaggy effects are the thing this sea son. Add corduroy separates to jug gle as you please, also a swank cor duroy coat and a corduroy suit in beige or green or bright red. A jumper dress of denim, gabardine or corduroy should be included, and any and everything quilted from a house robe to a hat and muff two some. The new “jive coat” which is a 30-inch topper is wanted in wool. A rabbit’s hair or wool jersey dress with embroidery touches. Velveteen dirndl skirt. Gingham pajamas, neatly tailored and a gingham night gown to match. Flannellette nightie for cold winter wear. Velvet date dress in a luscious color. Cotton gabardine raincoat. Necklace gaily painted acorns. And she will add dozens of little hair bows, flowers and fantasies. Spotted furred tuxedo cloth coat (hat to match). Something in the new purple or violet tones. Lace blouse to wear with afternoon velvet suit. Cowl Neckline Much attention is being given to creating flattering necklines. A “newsy” message from style centers is the revival of cowl neck treat ments. Very new and smart is the black frock that has a cowl drape about the neckline done in a con trast-color fabric. Often deep cava lier cuffs match the cowl. If collar and cuffs are detachable, one can make the black frock do double service. A cyclamen pink cowl on black is very effective. r\OUGHBOY, Potato Bug, Jack- of-all-Trades, News Hound, Yankee Bugler—all these and more too is Rags, the tea towel pup. Right down his alley is this army business, for like any Amer ican with a job to do he takes it in stride and gets into routine right snappily. Seven cute motifs de pict a bit of the serious and a bit of the lighter side of the army, with clever little Rags featured in each. A matching panholder motif shows Rags saluting—and that makes a tea towel set you’re sure to want. • • • Transfer No. Z9489, 15 cents, is a usable- more-than-once hot iron transfer of these eight motifs. Send your order to: AUNT MARTHA Box 166-W Kansas City, Mo. Enclose 15 cents for each pattern desired. Pattern No Name Address Aggravated Fellow Didn’t Tell All, If Seems “Going far?” asked the chatty little man in the club car as the open fields began to whisk by the train windows. “Only to Pittsburgh,” replied the grouch, who had been in Washington filling out question naires. “I’m in the steel brace business. My age is 53. I am married. My name is Henry Smith. I have a son 22 in the field artillery. And a niece with red hair. I shoot around 89 in golf. Is there anything else I can tell you?” “Yes,” replied the chatty little man amiably. “What oil do you use for your tongue?” J. Fuller Pep By JERRY LINK // I been readln’ abou. some of these divorces and It seems to me hus bands are like automobiles. If you take good care of them, you don’t have to keep getting new ones all the time. And one way of takln' good care of him Is to see he gets all his vitamins. And that's where KELLOGG'S PEP comes In. 'Course It hasn't got 'em all, but It's extra- rich In the two most likely to be short In ordinary meals—vitamins B, and D. What’s more, PEP'S one grand-tastin’ cereal, tool f&C&ytjb ftp A delicious cereal that supplies per serrms (1 of.): the full minimum daily need of eiiamiu D; 114 the daily need of vitamin Bu Gainful Listener A good listener is not only popu lar everywhere, but after a while he knows something. — Wilson Mizner. GIVE YOUR COLD THE AIR Get quick relief the famous Penetro Nose Drop 3-drop way. Helps open up cold stuffed nose. Generous sizes, 25c and 50c. Use only as directed. —Bay War Savings Bonds— FOR QUICK RELIEF C/XRBOl L A Soothing Q A I 1/1? ANTISEPTIC W A- W fci Used by thousmnds with satisfactory NM suits for 40 years—six valuable ingredi ents. Get Carboil at drug stores or writs Spurlock-Neal Co* Nashville^ Texm. RHEUMATIC PAM Im4 at! Spell veer Day—Bet after II lew Don’t put off getting C-2223 to re lieve pain of muscular rheumatism and other rheumatic pains. Buy C-2223 today. 60c, $1, everywhere^ Use only as directed. The purchase price refunded if you’re not satisfied. YOUR FRIEND THE DRUGGIST H E comes in early and stays late. His telephone, like your physi cian’s, is at his bedside, and the key to his store is in his pocket. He puts your health ... your safety . . . your convenience ahead of his own profits. Right now he’s celebrating Nationally Advertised Brands Week (Oct. 2-12). Drop in and see how bright and fes tive his store is. You’ll find plenty of things you need ... merchandise M you know ... believe in and prefer ... because national advertising has told you about them. It will also he a good time to tell your friend, the druggist, that you do ap preciate the things he does for you. He’ll like that. He’s as human as the rest of us. VISIT YOUR DRUGGIST Nationauy Advertised Brands Week October 2-12