Show Kathleen Norris Says About Divorcing Worker Defense the er Wife Sell Bell Bate Features p J B Boft 11 oft r L Lr r o fo f II r I uil f i ir r J rJ ller Fier shoes to 10 heeled v-heeled she goes off gaily gally In the morn ng with her lunch box At AI noon she and her fellow workers make ii 11 a cup of coffee gradually some lame of the men hate hai a jo 10 ned them contrib con tang lIng theIr own supplIes By KATHLEEN NORRIS TTY ELLIS IS an ex extremely BETTY attractive worn an of 32 Betty IS one of those pretty friendly gent girls whose husband wins wms from all other men the tribute of Lucky Bob She seemed to have too much charm spirit beauty capabIlity to be sunk out of I sight m in one mans man's nursery and kitchen but that's what happened to her She mar mar- ned Bob Ellis salesman m in a abig abig big motor parts industry she had a daughter and then a ason ason son she loved home chIldren garden cooking books radio club marketing and she loved Bob lIke the fine nor nor- normal normal mal typical young American woman she was Then came the war Bob s moth mother mother er was lIvIng WIth them now her herself herself self a fine housewIfe and devoted grandmother Betty and old Mrs Ellis lIke and understand each oth other other er when Betty had a chance at a I good good Job m in a munitions plant it was her handsome efficIent 54 year old mother m in law who advised her herto herto to take It Betty made more money than Bob dId from the first And how she enJoys It DressIng comfortably In shIrts and slacks her hair cut short her shoes low heeled she goes off olf gaIly In the morning WIth her ber lunch box At noon she and her fellow workers make themselves a cup of coffee gradually some of the men have joined them them contributing theIr own es and now Betty IS queen of an adoring cIrcle that meets dally daily Betty EnJoys Freedom In Betty s case all thIs has bas gone to her head For ten years her interests have been centered m in kItchen babIes and husband Now I she is free Free morally for Bob can t check on what she IS doing and nobody else has any right to free financially for she can spend more money on her clothes nowa nowadays nowadays days than she used to have for all household expenses combined It is Betty s husband who writes me about It About four months ago there was a great change in her says Bob s sletter sletter letter All winter long she had been coming home too t red to do more than Just kIss me and the chIldren eat her dinner listening to the rest of us talking and tumble into bed But last spring she seemed to come to I fe Once or tWIce she was late she called It working overtIme but she wasn t at work She changed her clothes at a friend s apartment and went out to dinner and dance ThIs happened three tunes tines before I caught on We d been puttIng most of her herI earnings into bonds but she stopped I that she had bad gotten herself a fur coat In March She said it cost costI I two hundred but my mother said it was worth at least a thousand But I didn t really suspect any anything thing untIl I heard that Betty was out dining and dancing after which it took very lIttle eVIdence to con can convince vince me that she had a lover II a arich rich young yoong fellow some years young yoong younger er than she who works lD in the same plant When I questioned her try trying trying ing not to show her ho v insane with anxIety sand end wretchedness I was she laughed and kIssed me saying that she was no different from other women was soon entering the service that It was not serious on eIther SIde side he not wanting II a dIvorce any more than she did As II a matter of fact thiS man did go away but now another an older man who has a wife and two grown sons is constantly tele phoning her and a week ago she went away for the week end she saId WIth a party of frIends but I know he has a small place lD in the mountains and I do not feel at all sure that there were others m in the party The catastrophIc effect of all this upon my home happIness I can leave to your imagination My wIfe has always been on a pedestal to me meshe meshe she has always seemed the wIsest truest happ est of women What accounts for thus horrifying change and what can I salvage from the wreckage of my home Our daugh daughter daughter ter IS rune nine the boy SIX They wor worship ship theIr mother they need her herMy herMy My mother will lIve With us only during the war when peace returns she must reJOIn her husband in a dIstant city Shall I dIvorce my wile wife embittering her and myself and scarring the children s lIves After all a aman aman man has ills his pride and thIs sort ot th ng can t go on forever without taus caus ng a lot of talk Please ad advIse advise vIse a heartbroken husband Unfaithful Mate late SerIOus Problem My dear Bob thousands of worn en have wrItten me of your problem hem lem In the past 15 years What to todo todo do about the unfaithful mate Is a avery avery very serious questIon I am going to advise you as I almost invariably adVIse them hard as thIS course is 15 to follow I advise you to treat Betty stem s tern departure from decency and common sense as you would a men mental mental tal illness with silence patience forg veness and when you can help WIth help Wars do not last for forever forever ever soon there will wall be three mu lion hon strong young men back from the battle fronts looking for work and entitled to find it Our social sItuatIOn will receive a Jolt then WIll be faced by II a predIcament that will take all we have of courage and faIth in es to solve Even EvenI With the maintenance of an enor enormous enormous I military force even with the return of actIvIty and all along the lIne there will be readjust readjust- readjustments ments that will stagger us all It WIll especially stagger the moo mon money ey makIng defense Job filling worn wom women en A comparatively small force wIll keep our armories tilled filled WIth ammunitIons In peace The great factories will turn their machInery In a dIfferent direction the men will swarm In and the women will come home And just between our ourselves ourselves selves Bob thousands of them will willbe willbe be glad to return The relationship between you and Betty will never return to Its old confident loving status Your b hut prIde will never wholly recover recover But you won t be the only man and woman who extract considerable satisfaction comfort and even corn com companIonship out of a life built upon Just such wreckage |