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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (April 24, 1904)
Would Wi n ftleepless Mas. EAT yar proposals have boon nu merous for Albert llt-rpln, the Trenton, N. J., man who say ha has not slept (or the last ten year or morn. He has had four tern of them up to date and their fre quency seems to increase an the end of the reign of women In the right to propoM drawn nearer day by day. And not only has he been receiving let ters nuking til in to become the husband of Com coy and blushing maiden or widow. but also he has wtlhln a week received a personal visit from one of his admirers. The visitor waa a New York widow. She Is still a widow, for, In splto of her per sistency In hunting up the abode and place of work of Ifcrpln. he would have none of tier suggestion thut they be murrled. Hcrpln la a widower of ten years, but he Bays he hi no desire to enter again the bonds of wedlock. He Is content to live with hla half-grown son, spending his time wondering how he on lnduc; sleep to come to him as It comes to other people. He refuses, however, to make public the Iden tity of any of tho women who aro so anx ious to become Mrs. Hcrpln. Nineteen Wives Wanted. Nineteen of the unmarried men of Car thiige, S. !., have adopted a unique method of securing wives. In a communication to a Carthage newspaper they muku the fol lowing announcement: "Tle following mimed parties, being de sirous of taking unto themselves wives, havo decided to state their wishes to the public through the columns of the News. Ladles whom a proposition of marriage would strike favorably arc urgently re quested to write any or all of the under signed candidates for matrimony." Those who attached their signatures to this notice are A. J. Murphy, W. 1 Hoott, J. J. Kelly, II. J. Rauenhorst, Tom Serine, Frank H. Turner, J. C Jenson, John Paul son, O. 15. Harrows, Ixirens Wagner, Otto K. Dubro. D. M. Wilson, O. Arthur Wiley, William 8. Rogers, Kd U Mack, C. IT. lilanchard, A. K. Paulson, C. A. Peterson and John Wlndeduhl. Applicants are not limited to the young women of South Dakota alone, but applica tions will be received and considered from young women living In adjoining states, or, for that matter, anywhere In the United States. This novel method of securing wives ap pears to have become epidemic In that locality, for a fnrmer bearing the familiar name of John Smith, residing near Car thage, Is also advertising for a wife. In ' Ms advertisement he states: "Wanted A young farmer living near town wants a housekeeper. If I can find the right one for a wife, all right. Call on me at the Moore farm, south of town, or address) John Smith. Carthage, a D." Renvoi Children Klone. Rnrl Colvtn, 16 years old, and Julia Clark, who Is about the same age, disappeared from school at Marlon, Ind., March 25. The parents of the boy were not greatly sur prised, as It was not the first time he had left the city without their knowledge and had returned safely. Tho disappearance of the girl was not connected with that of the boy until both returned together sad called at the home of the boy's parents. Mr. and Mrs. Charles) Col via. The boy stated he and Miss Clark had been married at Sullivan, Ind., March 18. I Us parents refused to believe the story until he p reduced a certificate of mar riage signed by John W. Burnett, Justice of the peace of Sullivan, who had married them and properly filled out the certificate. For a year young Colvln and his bride have been sweethearts, and have always gone to and from school together. This was noticed by their parents and friends, but that It was nothing but a, boy and girl affair no one had an idea. Colvln said that he and his wife had carefully laid their plans to elope, and had told them to no one, not even their chums In school. It took them several weehs to mature their plans, but they went care fully over every detail, and nothing which could contribute to their success was overlooked. Young Colvln declares he will not depend on his relatives, but will procure a posi tion and support his wife. The truant offi cer, who has been looking for the two children. Is puzzled to know what to do now that they are married. Cnpld Busy In School. One forenoon Mr. and Mrs. Van Wage nen of Fulton, N. Y., received a telegram from their daughter, who was at boarding school In New York. It rend: "I am coming home with my husband." That same evening the doorbell rnng, and the parents, who had not yet recovered from the surprise of the telegram, opened the door to their daughter, who brought in a young man, whom she introduced as "my husband, Mr. Hatch." The parents had to submit, but their re lief was unbounded when they discovered their daughter had married Kdward F. Hatch, son of Justice Hatch of the New York appellate court, and prominent in Syraucso social circles. $ Deserter Taken from Bride. Wedded only recently, Oscar K. Irfishell, for three years a deserter from the United States army, in which time he wooed and won his bride, a young woman of Savanna, 111., was arrested In that city recently by City Marshal C. C. Parker. He was brought to Chicago and later sent to the authorities at Fort Sheridan. "I couldn't stand the severe army life," said Lashcll. "I would advise every young man to think the matter over carefully before Joining tho United States army or navy as a private." Number Four at IOIality-SI. In the presence of his son, eight grand children and four great-grandchildren James S. Van Court, a rich resident of Mount Vernon. N. Y., in his elghty-Blxth year, and three times a widower, was mar ried Saturday night to Mrs. Ixiutsa Pines, of New Rochelle, formerly of Brooklyn. The bride Is about 40 years of age and handsome, Is a widow and has a son 10 years old. Sunday morning the bridegroom surprised his friends by attending the Reformed church, of which he has been an elder forty years. In company with wife No. 4. Mr. Van Court Is a venerable looking man, with long, white locks and beard. He said to his friends: This Is my fourth experience, and I take It that I am setting a good example to the younger generation. I waa married the first time at the age of 23. Twelve years later my first wife died, and I was mar lied again at M. My third marriage oc curred when I was (7 years old. The third time I waa married I was engaged at 9 o'clock in tha morning and married at U." The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Van Court was solemnized at the home of the bride groom's son, Charles, who Is 67 years old and who, like his father, has a fourth wife. Married In a Bookstore, Amid the lore of Shakespeare, Byron, Emerson, Burns and F.dgar Allen Poe and the poetry of Shelly, Keats, Wordsworth, Phillips and Klla Wheeler Wilcox, the mar riage of Alonzo Leora Rice, an Indiana writer of both prose and poetry, and MifS Anna Wuertx took place In Indianapolis one day recently. Attuned to the literature of ages, Mr. Rice, who Is from Shelby county, ns Is his bride, selected Winter's store, above the Shlel flats, on North Illinois street, as the only proper place and fitting place to effect his marriage. Mr. Rice arrived In Indianapolis shortly before 2 o'clock, but he let no spring grass grow under his feet until he could with honesty speak the name of Mrs. Alonzo Rice. He Immediately hied himself to his old bachelor's haunt, the book store. "Say, Winter," said he, o'erflowlng with business, "do you know of a good preacher?" "Oood! I associate with no had ones," replied Mr. Winter, feigning offended dig nity. "What do you want with a preacher?" "I need one mighty quick. I'm going to be married In thirty minutes and we have got to have a preacher none of your Justices of the peace." "Where are you going to be married, Mr. Rice?" asked Mr. Winter. "Why, here. If you don't object." "In this book shop?" "In this book shop, certainly. Why not?" So It came about. Maids and Marriage In Slam. There are no old maids In Slam. K very girl there gets married sooner or later and generally as soon us Bhe Is 14 years old. And when she does get married the ceremony continues for two whole days. Another tiling, girls In Siam never speak to their husbands until after they are mar ried. She is not supposed even to see hlm. Her parents arrange for her wedding with tho parents of her husband. Of course there are exceptions. Once In a while a Siamese youth meets a Siamese maiden. They fall In love with each other and elope. An elopement In Siam is not as compli cated as It is in the United States. In Bangkok, for Instance, a young couple who plan an elopement simply elope. Perhaps thoy meet at the railway station, get on the cars, and ride up .the country sixty miles to Ayuthla, the ancient capital of Slam. Thou they come back In a few days and beg forgiveness. That's all. No mar riage license is necessary. No priest or Justice of the peace is necessary. They Just elope. It saves lota of fuss. But elopements are not frequent In Slam, especially In good society. The con ventional courtship and marriage is a highly tedious, complicated and unromanUo afTilr. A Siamese youth sees a pretty, sloe-eyed maiden of 14 summers and decides that she Is the only girl in the Orient for him. Does he take her out boat riding on the moonlit river and let the whip-poor-will listen to his pleadings? No, Indeed. He tells his father. His father tells the family and some one of the relatives, usually a discreet and elderly aunt Is sent to visit the girl's parents. This ambassadress makes a formal call tipon the lady's parents, sips her tea with becoming deliberation, and when a favor able moment occurs, gently discloses the real purpose of her visit. Nothing decisive ever Immediately fol lows the disclosure, but the mother of tha girl will convey some Idea as to whether the proposed arrangement Is distasteful or not. If she Indicates that a formal pro posal might be favorably considered, the young man's friends choose a kind of small committee from amongst themselves. They hold a little tea party, at which they discuss the contemplated marriage In all Its bearings and finally decide whether It Is the best Interest of their young friend that he should proceed further with the matter. Then the relatives of both families hold many consultations. Finally the girl's par enl accept the young man as a husband for their daughter. In all this time does the young man visit his Bweetheart or send her flowers and presents, or take her to the theater? Of course not. All that would be highly Im proper. When everything is arranged, the bride groom's house completed, the furniture put In place, tho wedding day, or rather the two wedding days, are fixed. Early on the morning of the first day a great feast Is prepared and crowds of priests, friends, and hired musicians as semble to do honor to the event'. Soon a sound of music is heard in the distance and the bridegroom's pToevsslon approaches. With him come troops of friends and more musicians. All are dressed In orange, pur ple, green, pink and blue, making a merry medley of color, which gains In brightness from the ever-present sunshine. The bridegroom on his arrival goes to his new house and eats of the betel nut and other good things that have been sent by his future wife. Presently the marriage service begins, but a screen separates the happy pair. They arc sprinkled with rice, scented oil, and flowers, and then the screen Is taken away. The priests pray and the couple kneel down to be bathed. The chief priest present takes a bowl of water and pours tho whole of Its contents over th head of the bridegroom, after which he repeats the operation on the bride. He pronounces a blessing on them both and the ceremony Is over. Feasting and dancing occupy the rfst of the day and at eventide the vl itors re turn to their homes. Woman Politician Knmirit, Miss Pauline Hardin, Kentucky's most successful woman politician, h;is under taken matrimony. Miss Hardin has been for several years state librarian, hoh:irg this lucrative office for more successive years than any other person In several decades. Her parents, who reside at Hodgevllle last week announced her en gagement to Solomon I Van Meter of this county. Mr. Van Meter Is a wealthy landholder and cattle breeder, and was left a widower some years ago. He became infatuated with the pretty librarian while he was a member of tho legislature two years ago. Miss Hardin began her political career in 1896, when she took an active part in tha currency discussion. She also espoused tha cause of Senator Goebel when he ran for governor and her work for him Insured the position as state librarian as long as she cared to remain at Frankfort. Tha beauties of the blue grass farm captivated her and she will soon turn her back o politics forever.