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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1905)
V q f 'i 2 ) 1 I- I' J' -7 1 IXffrC; ASC&H S2 1 w MO ' Justice V.5 .HenJry nMKN the middle or tho proat Illlnom enrn nrit 8l 1 Cupid has found, or, rather, hnd for tho hist J I I twenty years, a most consistent ally. Justice I A I W. B. Ilendryx of nioomlnRton tins married JoMia over ,t,000 couplet In the time ho hns been Jus tice of tho pence In McLean county, and he Is till at It. Six thousand people have trod the road that loads to " Squire " Hendryx nnd have come away aa 3,000. For twenty yeara the eaulre has been doing his host to make McLean county a marrying county. How will he has worked and succeeded along this line is testified by the fact that he Is now universally known In Bloomlngton and f-om one end of McLean county to the other as the " marrying Justice." If a young man, a Btranger, with a young woman on his arm comes to Bloomlngton and casually Inquires for Justice Ilendryx It Is an even bet that he will be directed on his WHy with many smiles and possibly congratulation! for tho future. So widely li Hendryx known and so great Is his " wedding trade " that he has fitted up one corner of his court as a wedding parlor and has printed on his en velopes and letterheads a picture of a wedding ceremony as nn emblem of his craft. Certuln Justice courts In Chicago might with profit copy Hendryx'a courtroom. In the first place, the room Is clean. This alone Is enough to recom mend It for notice ai remarkable. The chairs are all new, and even In the courtroom Itself potted palms and flowers give a homelike air to the place. In the corner, separated from the rest of the room by heavy red portieres, Is tho ' marriage parlor." The person who parts the portlerei and peeps within will bo surprised If ho came with any preconceived notions as to Justice courts in general. The room Is more liko a boudoir than a corner of a courtroom. There Is Brussels carpet on the floor, a centertnble with flowers always on It, a mirror for the bride to arrange her attire before the wedding, arti ficial orange blossoms to weave In her hair, perfume to sprinkle over her veil, and against one wall Is a cottage organ, wherefrom Lohengrin and Mendelssohn frequently resound to announce that two are being made one. Tho room with Its hangings and furnishings is a fit place for romance! to end. No wonder the squire does a big marrying ! business! Sign Proclaims Marriage Parlors. . Before his court In Bloomlngton hangs the sign, " W. B. Hendryx, Justice Court and Marriage Parlors." The latter part of the sign Is for the benefit of the occasional stranger who may go to Bloomlngton on matrimony bent, for all , Bloomlngton and all McLean county knows by heart that he makes " marriage! a specialty." It was something more than twenty-five years ago that Justice Hendryx began marrying people In Bloomlngton. Twenty years la all that he has been actively In the harness as justice, for the squire is a veteran of the civil war, and there is a small piece of thell In his side which eight yean ago forced him to retire temporarily from an active part In matrimonial affairs. But with the exception of the year! taken out because of the old wound he has been busy making two heart! beat as one for the last twenty-five years. In these years he has possibly leen more young people pass before him to be married than any man In the country; he lias married, as he says, "every kind of man mortal ever Buw "; he has been party to every kind of wedding in the category of Cupid; he ha! officiated at elopements, has mar ried people on trains going forty miles an hour, on the top of a standplpe 2M) feet high, in a balloon a mile above the ground, nnd, triumph of nil, last summer he performed the ceremony for a daring young couple In a den filled with lions. He hns had the pleasure of uniting In tho holy state of matrimony young people whoso parents he married more than a score of years before. There Is no hour of th twenty four in which he has not performed the ceremony; no Im aginable kind of weather In which ho has not been called out to make two loving ones one. He is accommodating, is the squire. No one can come to him with a marriage prop osition however novel or bizarre, but that the squire will In stantly " see him " and possibly go him one better. It mat ters not at what hour In the night a young couple may como panting to his door to be married, they will not catch hir sleeping so soundly that ho will not rouse and marry them to the queen's taste. A slanderous newspaper report hnd It that he once per formed a ceremony arrayed only In a nightgown and Judicial dignity. The squire rises to denounce this statement as a malicious falsehood, circulated with a view to Injuring his business among diffident young women; he sleeps with his trousers within easy reach. There Is no limit to the trouble that the squire will go to to make a loving couple happy. Let a pair como Into court during a hearing and make for the marriage corner and the court will order a recess and come down to marry them. Everything Must Wait for a Wedding. " Everything has to wait for a wedding," is the squire's motto. "An ordinnry hearing don't amount to much In the face of a wedding," says he. " No, not much here. A Jus tice court hearing Is generally only a minor matter, but Just think of the possibilities a marriage opens up. A couple's future happiness may be dependent on a wedding. Yes, we sldetr.ick everything In this court for a mnrrylng." The "squire" Is a character aside from his preeminence ns an ally to Cupid. Ho Is typlral of the old type of Illi nolsan, the men who " went In " In the early '60s, who came back to their old homes, and settled down to power and position after the war, and who are now slowly giving way to the new type of Illlnolsan, the men whose sternest bat tles nre waged around the polls and primaries, and who fight only that they may get their hooks fast in something substantial at or from Springfield. Soft spoken and smiling, the squire is, and tho fatherly twinkle In his eyes shows that he takes more than a passing or mercenary Interest In the young people whom he marries. Perhaps no man gets closer to the young people than does Hendryx, and as such his advice on subjects matrimonial is worth listening to. Advises Every One to Get Married. "Do I believe In marriage?" he repeats. "Why, say, son, do you Imagine I'd be marrying all these young people, year after year, if I didn't believe it was the proper thing to do? Of course not. Oct married; that's my advice to the young man, and you can go over McLean county. III., with a fine tooth comb and not fln,d enough unhappiness among the young folks who have followed this advice to make a showing. " It Is not good for man or woman to live alone ' is a good rule, a good, natural law. No man, no eet of men, or women, or no new kind of civilization or condi tions are going to change that rule any. Making no excep tions for nnythlng, marriage is the greatest Institution In the world; the normal young man or woman who doesn't get married doesn't know what it Is to live. I've seen enough, and I know." And It is easy to believe that tho squire has seen and does know. Through the doors of his courtrooms have paused a procession that numbers legions, and which has made the name of " Hendryx " a tradition In McLean county. It Is a wonderful procession, this. Six thousand people, lovers and sweethearts one moment, 'securely married people, "grown people," the next! It Includes parents and chil dren, tho old, free hearted farmer, and the son now run ning a store where the old man's farm once lay; mothers arrayed in the fashions of twenty-five years ago, who drove with their lovers ten, fifteen, twenty miles over country roads in a humble buckboard to be wed; and their daugh ters who come whirling up to the squire's door in fashionable equipages, dressed In the height of fashion, with seminary education and culture cropping out of their every speech and action, and yet retaining many of the characteristics of the old folks and resolved to have the same mentor steer their bark out on the sea of matrimony as set their " pa's and ma's " afloat. All the signs of people and things that tell of a county's or a city's progress during a quarter cen . tury have passed In this procession. And what other things there are to bo seen In that pro cession! The gay and somber, the happy and Innocent, and the tragic and Binning; the men and women who stand high in the roster of the state's famous names, the Illiterate and the criminal. Every range of human emotion, happiness, and suffering has been seen In the procession; every angle and cranny of the matrimonial scheme has been tried out before the squire. What plots for novels could be found If all the romances ending under tho squire's kind eyes could be traced thoroughly! What plots! Nearly enough to supply the Indiana novelists for a whole month! The squire has at times been adviser, abettor, and guar dian to the young people who come to him to be wed. Ho has prevented weddings and facilitated them. Tho youitg folks have learned to trust him entirely In their love affairs. Sometimes He Refuses His Aid. Sometimes this aid of Cupid's balks at performing a cer emony. Not long ago a low browed, hulking fellow entered his room with a littlo scared looking girl upon his arm. His age was 30; the girl's 13. They had a license and wished to be married, the man said, right away. Something in the helpless, woebegone look of the girl Impressed Hendryx. While he believes In marriages, first, last, and all the time, there nre times when he knows that It is not well for a man and maid to wed. This, he knew, was one of them. "Sissy, how old be you?" he Inquired tenderly, bending down to the little miss before him. " Fifteen, squieh." "And you want to marry thla man?" The girl nodded, startled that she should be questioned. "Sissy," continued the squire, " do you know anything about what you're going to do? Po you know what It means to get married? Do you realize the responsibility you are assuming?" The girl shook her head to each question. "Do you love this man?" Then the girl opened her mouth. " Don' know's I know Jest what love Is, squieh," she sa!d with downcast eyes. " You see, squieh, mah folks is all dead, ail dead. They ain't no one left 'cepting me, an' I been livln' with nn ol" man who acts as my gyardeen. He's mean to me, that ol' man Is, squieh, an' he wuz glad to havo the chance for me to get married so he'd tie shot of me. Then along comes Jim, here, an' he promised me a house o' mah own, and a drivln' horse, nn' lots o' fine clothes If I'd marry him. I only knowed him a month, don' know's I love him; but he says he'll keep me better'n mah gyardeen does." The squire looked from the little maid to the cruel, sen sual face of the man with her. " Sissy," he said finally. " You go home to your guardian. It don't make any differ ence how hard it may seem for you to live with him, It is better than life with this man would be. So you go home, Sissy, and some day a good man'll come along and marry you. And you," turning to the abashed man, "you leave her alone, or you'll wish you had." Loses Kindling as Wedding Fee. The serious aspect of marriage passes and In comes a young, smiling fellow with tho big hands and sunburnt face that mark him as a tiller of the soil. " Hello, Dune," greets the squire heartily. " Come here and sit down. Had weather we're having, but rains what we need, after all, about this time of the year. How are all you folks. Dune? All will? That's good. Shipped your slock yet? How what's that? You want to get married? Well, Dune', you kind of surprise me! You get married! And it don't seem only a few years since you' ma and pa stood up in the corner there nnd were spliced. Let s see; ten, fifteen. Lord, it's twenty-two years ago, twenty-two years ago. come summer. And who you going to marry, Dune'? What, Joe Landers' littlo girl! Lord, how time does pass. Well, bring her in, Dune', and we'll have it over with." "Thnt's what 1 come to see you about, squire" the young man hastens to Interpose. " You see the fact Is. I'm short on money. I say, squire, enn't I bring you In a load ol nice kindling chips for s fee?" The squire laughs and allows that chips sre 1or.i1 tender under the circumstances. " ISut." he says In telling the story, "I married the boy nnd he never brought me a chip. Guess he must have forgot It in his happiness." Teople from all over Illinois, attracted by the fame ef Hendryx ns a marrying Justice, come to lie united by him. r'hleagonni who are eloping find it a favorite place to go. The couple that wisins to be married under strange circum stances Is sure to seek him out. A bridegroom-to-be once chaffingly remarked that he would like to be married on top of the standplpe at Bloomlngton, but that no one would have the nervo to go up there snd marry him. Squire Hendryx heard the "bluff" and called It, nnd married the couple ns per the innn's wish. Another time, at a circus, he went up with an aeronaut and his bride, and up among the clouds read tho words that made them man and wife. J Married in a Den of Lions. Last summer at a carnival held in liloomlngton an ad venturous couple conceived a desire to bo married in a lions' den. Again Squire Hendryx came to tin r assistance. With lions nil about them the pair and the Justice stood In a cago of the carnival company's lions and went through tho cer emony. Bo well known is tho squire ns a marrying Justice and so highly esteemed Is the brand of wedding that he porvos that In some quarters it is a tradition that a " Hendryx wedding" is sure to be a huppy one. Recently a couple who were having inueli trouble In their matrimonial life came to him to be remarried. They had been married by nn out of town preacher, they said, and they were sure " it did not take right." because they had been unhappy ever since. So, hearing of the efficacy of a ceremony performed by Hendryx, they came to have the sacred words repeated over again by him in order that their future life might bo blessed with happiness. Rather than disturb tills slmplo pair's faith In human nature the squire went through the ceremony with them. "Queer tiling about this, too," snys tho Bqulre. " They haven't had the least bit of trouble since that second wed ding." In view of this It would seem that Cupid smiles favorlngly upon the efforts of his best allies and boob to it that sucli marriages as they perform are blessed with hap piness. And then perhaps In the twenty years' experience that he bus had Squire Hendryx hns learned some tricks of the trade that his less practicing brothers do not know of. At all events, they will swear in McLean county that If you're married by him you are married to itay and that happiness will be yours for the rest of your days. W. B. HENDRYX JUBTICK COUliT - MARHIAOK l'AKLOKM Till LiUUT AfD VlUKBT IN TII1C HTili tin Ktkrtthinu Ur to Dath FROCfSSIS IISUIO AT Ll HOjK AIL USINfkt INTRUSTIO TO MY CAVI W III It MOMFTLV ATTlNLlfO TO Hloominoton. lri 813 Noam Maid -JOO. A SPBCIALTV Pa F eeoeeesesesssssssssssoscssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss C . m m m- m m. P APT JOHN SMITH, th evil minded Chief CI Powhatan, the death sentence, the rescue by I the lowly Pocahontas, and the wooing and I wedding that ensued have all been duplicated in a romance which just comes to light from the far away Philippines. It Is a complete romance this that comeH from acroits tho sea. There ej-e all the characters, the adventures, the swift, tense action, tho plot, and denouement that go to moke up a reU book romance, and It is true, every word of It. The hero li a big, bold soger boy, with stripes upon his arm, the herolnt a swarthy faced daughter of the jungles. Sergeant Joseph FalrhlU of the Twelfth cav-Alry went with his command up Into the hill country to help subdue the Gad denes, a Junvle tribe whose antics were making the north western end of Luton a place where life was precarious. Captured by the bad men of the Qaddenes, he waa con demned to die. Wliile he lay bound hand and foot in a squalid nlpa shack, there stole to hli side the daughter of the chief of the tribe. " I I have decided you ehall not die," aald ihe. She cut the bonds and Sergeant FalrhlU stood forth with muscles free. " Now, fly," cried the maiden who was doing the Poca hontas stunt. But the sergeant had read his school history well and knew what John Smith did under similar circum stances. "Not I," he aald boldly; "not unless you fly with me." And the maiden, knowing to refuse her heart would be wrong, went. Altogether It Is a wonderful romance. A detailed ac count of It reads more like the effort of an fnventlve fiction writer than a plain chronicling of hard faoU. Promoted for Distinguished Service. Fulrhill decliU-d to cimt hi i lot with tho army a few yeans ago. The Twelfth cavalry was then stationed at Fort Riley, with prospects of bulng ordered to the Philippines In the near future. FalrhlU, longing for the adventure of the Island! across the aeu, enlisted in the Twelfth. A few month! later he went with the regiment to Luron. The Twelfth saw much active service tn the ensuing two years. There wore expeditions into the Islands to eubdue savage tribes, months of garrison duty In captured towns, long, stern chaaes after fleeing bandits, and, Incidentally, much fighting. Privata Fairhill was wounded several times and to dis tinguished himself that he wits promoted first to corporal and then to sergeant He grew from the undrllled rooky of the recruiting office to the well sot up, hard riding, straight shooting fighting man who makes the I'nlted States army tha best for Its sice Jiithe world. Scarred with Fill flno bullet and bolo, browned with the sun of a dox-m cam paigns, drilled to the build and carriage of the regular army bmw. Sr(vant Fairtilll was a fit flgurs to weave a romanoa about. Recently the tribe of Saddened, In the northwttrn part of Luton, began to give much trouble to the governor of that district.' Several companies of the Twelfth cavalry were sent to subdue thorn. FalrhlU's company was In the troop. It was a long, hard chae to find the dissenting tribesmen. Their habitat is far up in the mountainous dis tricts of the inland, In a country of thickly matted woods, Jungle, and long grass, where everything is strictly con ducive to effective and deudly ambuscades. It took the Twelfth a mrvith of hard marching and fighting to catch up with the tribe. When troops and tribesmen finally ela.Hhed the soldiers found that subduing the Qaddenes was a strenuous proposition. Hidden away In their almost unpenetrable thicket, armed with spears, bolos, nnd Imwi and arrows, fighting after tha( fashion of Apaches, then disappearing Into the pathless Jun gles and hills, the auvuges gave tho cavalrymen a merry time. For three months the troopers waged earnest warfare against their foea. In this time several men were killed and woundod and in the end the fever began to decimate the ranks so swiftly a return to Manila was ordered. It was during this return that Sergeant FalrhlU fell upon his ro mance. Wounded and Captured in Ambuscade. The Gaddenes, resolved to make their enemies pay for their retreat, waylaid thorn at every opportunity, and from frequont ambuscades picked off men in the ranks. In one of the.o sklimishea the fighting became of the hand to hand fashion. Sergeant Fulrhill was cut over the head with a big bolo aad loft for dead In the jungle. The command went on to Manila and reported him killed. Rut the sergeant was not killed. Ills scalp was split open and he was made unconscious, but he was far from duatl. When he came to his serines he was lying-, tied hand and foot, In the center of a crowd of Jabbering natives, who danced in glee at the spectacle of the big trooper lying help less before them. Apparently they were discussing means and ends to do away with him In the most satisfying man ner, but FalrhlU had a bud headache from the out over his head and cared little whon they finally took him up and bundled him away to a hut, where he was put under heavy guard. In the little hut he was kept bound a month, lit ast the great spectacle of the village. The children came to the door and peepod in at the bad man, suddenly shorn if hli power, the men and women came and taunted, bu' the maids of the village looked on him with considerable favor. For the sergeant was not bod to look upon. One of the luaJ.leim who saw him was Rotie, the daughter of the chieftain. He saw her. Their eyes met. The sergeant aft erwards admitted It was a case of love at first sight The girl blushud and left the hut hurriedly, J Ordered Sacrificed to Pagan Deity. After a mouth of clove confinement the savages begai to allow Fulrhill some liberty. He was released and was . V - 5.y n 'XAYit c i JOSEPH EAIRHfLL. allowed to go about the village with two warriors to guard him. This continued for some tlmo, until one day h-i wis hastily drugged before the throne of the chief. The entire village was in gala drtws and the chief had on his most gorgeous array of paint. The huts of the village were dec orated with wreaths and flowers. To the captive trooper all this brought back sharply memories of independence day celebrations back In the ntat.. He had visions xf himself beinar asked to have part in the festivities. In this he was not disappointed. He was to have a part in the celebration In fact, lie was to be the principal nctor In the affairs of the day. The ooeaslon was a fesMval In honor of a barbaric god of (he nadde.nts, the god of lovo, who, according to the tribesmen, makes annual pllgrlnag.-s among them; and Sergeant Fulrhill was to be butchered ns a fitting saAsriflce to the deity. There was a great powwow In the hut of the kiuf The man Who had captured the American insisted he should lie allowed the privilege of lifting his sculp, singly mid by him self. The king, set uimui a public. ex.euUon where every body could have a change at him, argued agiUnst t his. but finally agreed to let the captor have his way. Tin- .druiin beat, the populace cheered lustily, and Fulrhill wi led back to his hut to awult the call of tho ni'irmw, that was to usher in the big day of tho festival ana his sacrlnco He was again tied and placed under the charge of two ;iendlsh guards. Rescued by Chieftain's Daughter. In this condition, lying htlpl. on the mud floor of the ut. Sergeant Fulrhill lay and listened to the sounds of revelry that came from the village to his ears. Th j !ad ilenos were having a big time, and the prospect of having a white man to offrtr aa a sacrlfloe made them more Ji yous. Tlwro was drinking and music und laughter uik! sons, and Fairhijl counted the minutes that grew Into the hours which wc-e t make up he night and all this life for him. Hope, had j" d In his heart. Had his limbs been free there would have been a short, flnrce fight in the dark little hut, a quick apxar thrua. nnd another fighting regular would have died off there in the Jungle. Hut, bound iielplsly, time ticeiiicil no chano to do might but await his .leith. Hut the iililef's daughter was to be reckoned with. It had been a case of love on both sldt when they had fimt looked at each other, mid the girl had not forgotten. When the noises of the f. ast were at their lie ht li so.'ny made her way to the prison of her lover. The guards had ilrunK dix'ply und were snuring ouUido the hut. With a ehurp knlftt the girl hastily cut tho ropoi that bound tho rirlsonor She know she wus risking h-r llf; ny so doing, for If hej people discovered hor treachery to them she would be kill a In a Htrang-n manner. Hut she was in love. She, breathed Into FalrhlU's ear the directions for ma.drig his escape back to Manila and bade him go as quickly as pos.i'.ole. Proves Himself Worthy of Brave Rescuer. But tin re were two brave people in that iitt8 hut. Riwe. Hie uncivilised maiden, was one, und the cavalryman the other. Sergeant Fulrhill had other ideas than to leave her there alone. He promptly told t lie girl she mist come with him back lo Manila and I his bride. Kltn-r that or he would stay and moot his death. There was a slight de murring on tb,. part of the maiden, hut her love conquered. Tug'eti,-r iiiey set off f wlftly through the night to make their way to llei , nieileau IIikw. U was a long Journiy on foot and tin-re wan eniirtl nit danger from tho attacks of tho trllMisnien. Hut fortune favored tlunn. A month later they reuched Manila in safety and were marrhvl after the girl had ucca pt.-d the Metln.diMt faith, in a few months Ber-, gnant Fulrhill is to bring his bride home to the states, and then tin- loiiwuii-e of tho modern John Smith und Iocahont.u Will bu complete. ! ' v. : n n n if i V it I i! I 7