GIRL "HUSBAND."

Mataura Ensign, 16 May 1912, Page 6

GIRL "HUSBAND."

ENOUGH TO KEEP A "WIFE." An interesting phase of feminine nature is presented by the history of a "girl husband," Adelaide Dcllamorc, aged 23, who masqueraded for eight months as a working man and the "husband" of a girl friend named Jessie Mann. "My friend's people kept urging Jessie to marry a man whom she did not like," said Miss Dellamore, "and 1 we agreed that the only way out of the difficulty was for me to become 'a j man,' take Jessie away quietly and live with her as a 'husband.' Last August I decided to" experiment as a man to see if I should 'do.' " Miss Dellamore is short and sturdy, with a round, pleasing face which, Minie not exactly masculine, might easily |>e taken for that of a London you tn. Her voice, too, is low pitched. bhe eut her hair short, obtained a suit of clotiies through a brother, and then set out to look for work. Siie tramped to Bishop Stortford, Essex, but found jobs not easy to obtain, and returned to West London, where she socured employment as a plumber's mate. She earned' 3d an hour at first, but 4u afterwards. With the new year the girl plumber's mato found she was earning enough to support a wife, and the tw.. friends set up housekeeping at C'hiswick. "We were supremely happy together," says the "husband." I earned on an average 18s a week, and Jessie going out to service throe days a wek made another Bs, so that we wore v<"/y comfortable. I used to come straight home from work and not visit th© public-houses as many young husbands do. Sometimes we went together to the theatre, but most evenings we spent quietly at home. We read many books together, and I tried my hand at short stories, but nothing I wrote pleased me. We never quarrelled once. We were a sort of model couple. At last Jessie's people found where we were living and tried to get her away. There was a little trouble in the street. I stood up for my 'wife' and struggled with her brother. At the end I was taken into custody, and it all came out." After all her experiences the "girlhusband" is all in favor of being a man. "It is so much easier to live as a man than a "girl. For one thing, I could earn better money. I was free to go anywhere I liked and do what I pleased. I found a man's clothes much more comfortable to wear than the tight garments of a woman, and in my male attire I was free from annoyances. I used to write to an advertising tailor, obtain a self-measurement form, andi get my clothes in that way. No one ever suspected me. I even played football with men and went rowing on the Thames. I got on well with my workmates and was quite strong enough to do any task they wanted. Once I did a job on a housetop and managed all right."