WAR BRIDES WELCOMED.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 February 1919, Page 6

WAR BRIDES WELCOMED.

RECEPTION IN AUSTRALIA WIVES AND CHILDREN ARRIVING. According to a cablegram recently published in Sydney papers, so lb Australian soldiers have married in Britain, and the number is ueing increased at the rate of 300 a month. A "record batch" of solders' wives sailed from Liverpool iu the Osteriey a few days ago. A large party of war brides arrived recently by the Zealandia. Describing the landjng of the ship's passengers, a correspondent says bright-faced girls with their complexions and eager eyes. won general sympathy, and they were delighted with their reception. The crowd was delighted when a spic-and-span .Anzac darted up the gangway and embraced a pretty girl with a fairhaired baby. A girl on the upper deck, who had been straining her eyes for the sight of the face the sought, suddenly turned toher companions, and remarked in great" excitement, "There he is; there's my man, and 1 didn't know him in civiesl" The meeting which followed on the pier made up for the delay. "Scots girls do not marry men they have only known a little while," was the proud declaration of a lajsie from Edinburgh. "My man used to come up to our place for his leaves, and I have known him for three years. He was of Scutch extraction, though he was born out here, and we naturally took to each other. No, I'm not looking for him now, for he's still lying wounded at Weymouth, but he's expecting to leave for Australia any old time now. "I'm one of the lucky ones. I have a sister out here whom f haven't seen for ten years. I doubt if I'll know her even, but I do know that she lives at Ballarat, wherever that is. Now I'm going out to East Prahran. Is it far out. in the bush?" "We had an idea that things were going to be somewhat rough out here," said one, who was acting as spokeswoman for a group. "Kangaroos and miners in the streets?" it was suggested. The girls laughed. "On those lines," they admitted, but protested that they did not expect things to be quite as wild a,s that. All the girls appeared to be anxious that the good feeling which had been shown to them on their landing should be continued. "I suppose it's natural for the Australian girls to be a bit jealous of us," said one of the older brides, "but they must remember that if a lot of British men came out here under similar circumstances and surrounded by the same glamour, tiiey would be just as eager to snap them up. We have given the Aussies a good time in England, and entertained them at our homes and made them welcome, and the greater proportion of the marriages have every chance of being happy. Some of the girls may have married men they only knew for a matter of days, but the great majority are friendships which have ripened into something stronger. Australian girls should remember that though they may hear sensational stories, we English giris are no better and no worse than they are. We think it is a shame that the first parties who came here were hooted, but we appreciate the welcome which was given to us today." Another added that the English girls were not too pleased when the "Tommies" came home with French wives. Among the party on board were 10 wives who had been married in France. The party landed at Fremantlo, where they were also well received. 'The thing that struck me most there was the shops," said a sturdy girl. "It was a treat to see the windows full of good food again after the meagreness of things in England. You people out here have no idea of what the rationing has meant to us." / The arrival of the Zealandia at Sydney with 202 "war brides," was the occasion of a great gathering on the wharf. Husbands expecting their wives were, in many cases, forced to stay on the outskirts of the crowd, and went through many anxious moments wondering what wuuld 'become of their relatives on board- Not a few of the lady passengers, after passing the military guard in charge of the gangway, had all they could do to get elbow room on the wharfThe feelings of a blushing bride walking down the crowded aisle of a church on her wedding day would be only a mild sensation compared with the tost of eourago under the scrutiny of a thousand eyes as those- young married women ran the gauntlet on the Sydney wharf.