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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 14, 1904)
Itrlde Worth m Million. ITH the arrival in Chicago last wek of Charles M. Alexander, the Tennessee Binding evangelist, and hlH wife, friends of the com panion of Dr. U. A. Toricy w learned how he had won a million-dollar bride while engage! In evangelistic work. Mr. Alexander llrst mot Miss Helen Cad bury, daughter 0f a wealthy maunfacturer, when he was engaged In the evangelistic campaign In lingland, Scotland and Ire land, in which lie and Dr. Torrey made) t.1.000 converts. Miss Cadbury attended one Cf theso meetings in Birmingham with members of lier family. Mr. Alexander was conducting the singing. His manner attracted h-r and after the meeting she Was Introduced to lilm. For two weeks the evangelist and Miss Cadbury were much together. All the time they could sparo from tho church work they spent in each other's company. Before he left Clrm lnghnm Mr. Alexander had a parting nioet lng with Miss Cadbury ar.d tho same even ing the engagement was announced. They were wedded after the fashion, of tho Quakers, Mr. Alexander simply an nouncing thut he took MIkh Cadbury to Wife, and r-he made the declaration that he waa hor chosen husgand. This an nouncement having been made, the mar riage ceremony was completed. The ringing evangelist attributes a large part of tho success of lils work to the in flnence of music upon those who crowd the meeting!!. In the campaign Mr. Alexander used brass bands. At one meetiug he bud three brass bands playing at the same time. Rmh a Ronaue of Wnr. The wedding of LJrurnant II. B. Merrill, of Geneva, la., to Mrs. R. A. Campbell of Charleston, Mo., which occured at the lat ter place last week, wus the consummation of a romance of the civil war, which for Interest and novelty hns never been du plicated. Roth of the parties are now well past middle ago, but their romance it as pretty and fresh as though It had culmi nated almost a half century ago. The early part of tho story has bocn written by Lieutenant Merrill himself, as follows: "I was with the Fifth New York cavalry. Company A, commanded by Colonel O. De Forrest AVith a mnall detachment of men I was detailed to hold an outpost' eeven miles from Warsaw, Mo. I had been there about a week without having seen any sign of the Johnnies. "About two miles up on a sort of plateau was located one of tho finest farms In the etato of Missouri, owned by John Craw ford, a wealthy confederate. I did not al low my men to do any foraging, but we paid fur all of the supplies which we ob tained from tho farm. I made several trips to tho farm for fruit, meat, egys and tho other eatables which taKterf ho good to a soldier, "It was ou one of theso trips that I first met Miss ltuth Crawford. Although I be longed to what she then regarded as a hos tiio forco, un acquaintance was mutually agreeable from the first. One dark night I was sitting In my quarters when I heard a slight noise, and looking up waa surprised to see a woman In my tent door. I at once recognized Mis Crawford, who had In ome manner got through the picket line without detection. "She broathloBsly Informed mo that a largo foroo of Morgan's men were comln;f to aurprlse'and capture our force. Somo of the men were already camped on her father' a farm. "Scarcely taking time to thank her and bid her farewell, I waa soon retreating through tiie mountains with my men. Miss Crawford refused to be accompanied buck on account of the risk it would iucur to the escort." That was the first tho two young people saw of each other for a third of a century and more. The war ended and Lieutenant Merrill, having fought In the west and be come acquainted with this part of the country, left his eastern home and settled In Iowa. He did not hear from the girl Who had saved him and his command, al though It Is not too much to believe that ns the years pas-scd and tho event became more iialnly fixed In his memory the ac quaintance, which 'was mutually agree able from tho first," ripened Into a memory of something more than mere acquaint anceship In the mind of the man. The pausing years saw many change In Missouri. With the defeat of the southern forces, with which Mr. Crawford and hla daughter had sympathized, the girl gave up tho hope of seeing her northern acquaint ance again. After a few years she mar ried R. A. Campbell and removed from Warsaw to Charleston, there to make her permanent home. More years paused. Lieutenant Merrill acquired for himself a comfortable home and competency. Mr. Campbell died and Ruth Crawford Campbell became a widow. Tho years seemed to bring no changes In the life of either, living within 400 miles of each other, but neither knowing It. Rut laat May Mrs. Campbell went on a visit to St. Louis, and that visit resulted In tho recent wedding. Arrived at a St. Louis hotel. Mrs. Cump be'l was Idly Inspecting the namej on the register, when shs saw the name of Mer rill, with an address In Iowa. Bhe Imme diately ak"d the clerk when Mr. Merrill had been at the hotel and was Informed that he wii a guest there at that time. Mrs. Campbell expressing a desire to see the gentlomin, the clerk bestirred himself and found Merrill sitting It tho hotel lobby. Mrs. Campbell waa Immediately introduced to h'm. The man was a brother of the Lieu tenant Merrill whom she had met and saved more than forty years before. The . two chatted together for an hour or more, Mr. Campbell telling Mr. Merrl'l her ver sion of the story, with which hs was al ready famUlar through his brother's oft repeated vers'on. Mrs. Campbell made her vlsithnd re turned to her home. Mr. Merrill wrote to hla brother, telling him of what he had learned, and a correspondence ensued, .which resulted In the wedding at Charles ton. Conrtsblp In Thlliet. Ths traveler ca.nnot fail to bo struck by the hardness or.d misery of ths Thibetan woman's lot. Among some of the tribes wives are secured by tho slmplo methoi of making a foraging expedition on soma weaker tribo and seizing as many women as may be desired. This practice, however boldly undertaken, is likely to mean tho loss of several lives and is adopted only In cases of tho direst necessity. The follow ing method Is more generally employed: When a warrior, surfeited with glory, d eel res a wife he watts upon the father of the girl who has attracted hi eye and makes an offer of marrfcage. The father, after weighing the matter carefully for a refusal Is llablo, to provoke a long and disastrous feud names a price which he thinks consistent with the charms and general usefulness of his daughter. Then ensues a scone of the shrewdet bargaining. The wlBhes or Inclination of the woman are never consulted, but the bargaining goes on for days and even weeks until a final settlement has bocn arrived at. The preliminary bartering having been com pleted, on the day appointed for tho wed ding the woman Is placed either In the upper limbs of a tree, while her malo rela tives remain on the lower branches, armed with thorn sticks or In the back part of her father's hut, while the relatives guard the entrance In a similar manner. The Suitor rides up on his horse, arrayed In wedding finery, and announces his inten tion of seizing hl9 bride. In fact this la love making of the most strenuous kind, requiring ardor and courage of the most ardent sort on the part of the suitor, for In order to reach his bride he Is compelled to run the gauntlet of the male relatives, who beat him unmercifully. If ho is able to elude his opponents and braves their chastisement, on touching the foot of the girl he is welcomed Into the family and complimented on the ardor of his passion. Should he fall, he finds himself In the awkward predicament of being both wife less and out of the presents he has made during the preliminary negotiations. Although a parent may have sold a woman to one man. It does not prevent hie recti sposlng of her to any suitor who may come after, end who Is looked upon as legitimate a husband -as the first one. An the husbands contribute to the wife's sup port. W. C Reid In Outing. Clufc fr Jlltc-d levers. New Tork has a club for Jilted lovers which meets every week In a hotel near Brstdway and Thirty-eighth street. The Initiation fee Is $1, and the dues are 25 cents a week. There Is talk of leasing a clubhouse and Increasing the dues. It doesn't follow that a man Joining the club must remain forever a bachelor. He can gt another girl as soon as he likes after the first one has thrown him over. But he cannot remain a member of the club after ho is again engaged. Further more he pledges himself not to tell any body, even hla new girl, about It Love Cares Inaaslty. Where doctors failed love succeeded nn Henry C. Menko of Carsonvllle, St. Louis county. Mo., has so far recovered his rea son that he has applied to the probate court In Clayton to bo adjudged sane. Three years ago Menke was declared non compos mentis by a Jury. The application wus made through his attorey, Claude Martin. The first signs of improvement In his mental condition were noticeable soon after he became enamored of a young woman neighbor about a year ago. Now . ho is sane and sound, his lawyer avers. Mcnkc is 24 years old, and has lived since his parents' death with relatives. When he attained his majority, three years ago, he came Into possession of an estate by Inheritance. Proceedings were Instituted at that time in the probate court to have a guardian appointed, as it was alleged that the condition of his mind was such as to render dangerous the commitment of the property to bis sole and exclusive ca ro. After hearing evidence the Jury unheld the contentions In the petition for an in quiry, and Judge Wurdetnan appointed Fred Rangert of Ferguson as his guardian. Menke has been under his care since. Although declared of unsound' mind and Incapable of managing his own affairs, Menke was never regarded as dangerous, and was not restrained of his liberty. For years his relatives had consulted phy sicians, who prescribed for him, but to no avail. Almost a year ago Menke fell in love. Tho young woman, whose name Is care fully guarded, sympathized with him in his affliction, and then, as the cloud cleared from hla brain, found that she waa aa fond of his company as he was of hers. Flrat Wedding in a Convent. For the first time in tho history of Col umbus (O.) Catholic institutions. If not the first time in the history of Catholicism, a marriage ceremony was solemnized at a convent chapel, when at 9 o'clock on the morning of August 10 Miss Hanah Margaret Leonard, the daughter of Theodore Leon ard, became the bride of Lieutenant C. '. Leonard of the Seventh Infantry, the cei mony being performed In the chapel at St. Mary's of tho Springs. In the thirty-eight years' history of St. Mary's, many young women have marched down the aisles to the altar in this sacred retreat to take the vows of sisterhood. Among those who have taken the vows are many of Miss Leonard's relatives Sister Gertrude of the convent being her aunt. Miss Leonard's grandfather, Theo dore Leonard, sr., in ISfiC donated to the Dominican nuns the present site of St. Mary's. The Leonard family have been continual benefactors to the Institution. Vanderbilt antl Goelet. The fortunes of the richest young bach elor and the greatest heiress In New TcrlC will bo united by marriage. If the reports received in New York from Kngland In re gard to the engagement of Robert Walton Goelet and Miss Gladys Vanderbilt are true. Robert Walton Goelet has already 110.(00, 00 In his own right, and will Inherit $ 0 (00, 000 moro at the death of his mother. Mies Vanderbilt received $7,500,000 from the es tate of her father, the late Cornelius Van derbilt, at the time of his death, and Is heiress to a portion of the $10J,000,000 rep resenting his entire fortune, so that ehe wlll ultimately be worth about 130,000,000. The report of the engagement proba! ly originated in the fact that Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt and Miss Gladys Vandeb!!t are tho guests of Mrs. Robert Goelet and young Robert Walton Goelet for a crube to the north capo in the magnificent yacht Kahlua. Both Miss Vanderbilt and Mr. Goe'et are very young. Miss Gladys is still In her teens and is under the careful tutelage of governess and mr-sters. She will not ome Into her fortune for almost three yearn. Robert Goelet Is S years older. Brldearreoni Is Spanked. Charles Schaffer of Pittsburg, a 17-yc.ar-old boy, married to 17-year-old Frances Hulings on May 21 lost at Youngstown, O., has finally been restored to his wife, from whose side he was taken, ho claims, by force the morning after they returned from the elopement. Schaffer has horrified tho north side of Pittsburg by announcing that his fashion able parents not only whipped him like a child on hearing that he was married, but that they have since kept him by force on a farm in Indiana county, away from his little bride, who has mourned him as dead.