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Show -ar Kathleen Noi ris Says: What Can He Do Now? Ball Syndicate. WNU Features. Me moil important thing it to accept Carlrlon'$ return cheerfully; include him in your plan naturally ei you would if he came home uninjured. By KATHLEEN NORMS A TEAR-STAINED letter on my desk comes from a Los Angeles wife. Jean is 22; she has been married less than a year. Of that year Carleton has spent seven months in England; he was . among the men who made the first parachute invasion. Jean has Just received word that he Is on his way home, will be with her In a few weeks. A month ago his right arm was amputated above the elbow. She sent me his letter, It was a tired, sick boy's despairing letter. He says he never thought this would happen to him. He wishes he had never asked her to marry him. No more tennis or dancing (or them, and swell chance he has , to get on with his architectural career. He'll look like an awful heel when he gets home; they shaved his head where It was cut and his arm Is still bandaged. But she needn't worry; ht Isn't expecting thst any girl as pretty and popular as Jean Is going to stick to a man who's never going to get anywhere. "What art we going to do?" Jean sks me. "I've cried myself sick, and the worry Is about killing my mother. I've been with her since Carleton went away, and we've barely enough to live on as It Is. Mama says we could take boarders, but we haven't a spare Inch. My father Is dead; my brother away with the army, he has wife and two children to care for. "I planned such a happy life after the war; now It's all ruined. I work with the telephone company, but I had promised to give that up the minute Carleton came back. He had been promiied a Job with our Dneit firm here, only he had one more year of study to finish and we were going to take a little place on the college campus, and I take up some literary and language courses with him. I have saved $700; that Is all we have In the world. Mama has an Income of $59 a month. What can we possibly do with these prospects, and a man who is not only Injured but embittered by this terrible war?" Well, Jean, you can do a thousand things, and some of them I know rou will do, to rebuild a sane and happy life. The very first has to do with welcoming Carleton home. Don't overdo either the pity or the careful avoidance of pity; be as natural na-tural as you can, showing him how glad you are that he Is alive, and rou are together again. You say your quarters are small, but If you and your mother seriously think of opening a little private hotel, rou will find plenty of larger places to rent, and plenty of eager customers cus-tomers In these servantless days. Many Thing Te De. But there are many other avenues pen. Keep your Job, or get a better ub, and talk to Carleton, when he tomes back, as If the war had only ormally Interrupted his architectural architec-tural studies. Of course he can be in architect! He can be anything. Be $Ui that he it eft. . . , HAPPY YEARS AHEAD A paratrooper is coming home to his young and pretty wife. This should be a most joyous event, but the wife, Jean, looks forward to the meeting with dread. The brave young man lost his right arm in France, and Jean doesn't see how he can ever get back to his previous way of life. He too, feels that he is ruinejl, and writes sadly that he doesn't expect her to stay with him now. Miss Norris tells Jean that her husband can learn to use his left hand almost as well as his right; that he can resume his career, and that there are many happy years ahead if they all just buckle down and adjust themselves to the new situation. ' even though he has lost an arm. A tennis champion of today no, not mere player, but title-holder, has only one arm. A famous actor, now drawing a big salary In Broadway, was Injured In 1918 and has made a name for himself, although he has lost a leg. One of the most beloved of the movie stars has one leg. And experts tell us that the loss of a leg Is Infinitely more serious, where a career Is concerned than the loss of n arm. ine proiessions are nued with one-armed men; one of the west's biggest engineers began at 26 with one arm, and has never felt it a handicap. The most Important thing Is to accept ac-cept Carleton's return cheerfully; include in-clude him In your plans as naturally as you would If he came home uninjured un-injured and get him back into classes as rapidly as possible. He can earn some money from the start, correcting papers, helping the Instructors, and, If I know these Instructors, he will be given preference prefer-ence over other applicants. I As a matter of absolute fact the loss of an arm Is not the dreadful thing It seems at first I learned this when I broke my right arm last January, and carried It In a sling for eight weeks. In that time, slowly, of course, and clumsily, I learned to typewrite, sign my name, drive the car, cook, even play croquet ' This is not to make any comparison compari-son between that temporary Inconvenience Incon-venience and the permanent loss of a member. But It Is to assure you thst if you take Carleton's condition as naturally as you can, Interest him In other things, give him plenty of love and companionship, plan with him, spur him Into ambition ambi-tion again, you will be amazed to discover how quickly the major fact of the amputation becomes a thing quietly taken for granted. And when people stop pitying him he'U stop pitying himself. Be glad the loss Isn't of the soul or the mind. For all other losses there are compensations. Making Natural Fertiliser Each fall the dead plant tops, leaves from the lawn, weeds that have not gone to seed, and other waste plant material should go Into the compost pile to make fertilizer Instead of being burned. To build the compost, alternate layers of the vegetable matter and of soil or manure are piled and kept wet to that they will rot quickly and thoroughly. The pile should be flat on top or slightly hollowed hol-lowed so that rain and anow will soak la. |