Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-01-14

NIlCIl Ian dA'oeiO-ANi SNA-sN C4lS
| marriage postponement
! "The bride and bridegroom wait LONG
time-years sometimes" she informed me
| occupied in studying each others charac
! tiers. Moreover, 1t is a pretty practice. at
| least, in some parts Of Fatherland, for the
| lady, however poor, to furnish the house, and
find all the linen"
1t was explained to NE that q lady's want
of dover did not prevent this, inasmuch as
each of her friends would give a present
none of the trumpery trinkets such as people
give in this country, but good, substantial
| household goods-one, wheelbarrowful OF
crockery, we may say; another, a stove vet
| another, what shall we say?-a bed, perhaps
| and thus to every detail. In Germany almost
the majority Of people are Government en-
plovees and in this case a mans income is
known to the farthest penny. a young lady
does not expect to begin welded life with all
the luxuries owned by her parents.
At any rate" continued my informant,
"earlv marriages are more frequent in Ger
many than in England; and inasmuch as the
battle of life is more easily fought in Ger
many than here, | am disposed to think that,
upon the whole, married life is happier. The
wedding day being fixed, we come to the
'pOlters abend.'
eff you consult your German dictionary
said she, you will find that potter means a
great noise-what your English bows call
kicking up great row. Well, bride and
bridegroom, brides friends and bridegroom
friends meet together On the evening before
the wedding, and eat and drink and make
merry together. As to amusements, they are
matter of taste, and vary, as you may sup
pose, with the rank Of bride and bridegroom;
but singing dancing, music and blindman's
buff are usual Well, the next day comes
the wedding, of which I need remark no
more," observed my fair informant, ethan
what may seem to you, an Englishman, the
popularity of an exchange of rings-one be-
ing given by the gentleman to the lady, the
other by the lady to her husband. This ex-
change l consider fair" musingly, and trife
dogmatically, remarked my informant.
'And next the honeymoon" began I, lead
ing off into a new train of communications
"Well, no." she said; "not a honeymoon,
in your English sense, for the whole married
life Of German couple is one lasting honey
moOn," Gf there be any exceptions my fair
informant leaves them inferentially) "they
never bicker, never get tired of each other
Incomes are mostly small, but certain; hence
there is no money anxiety. People, knowing
what they have to live upon, live upon it.
Everybody being aware of the extent of
everybody else's means, there is no field af
forded for the display Of that sort of small
pride which shows itself in living or dressing
beyond ones means. German ladies make
the best Of wives" continued my informant
the German lady. "They pet their husbands
more than is the custom with English ladies :;
are, in short more solicitous A German
lady does not order her husbands pipe and
coffee, but herself fetches them. She brings
his slippers as a matter Of course and, as for
his dinner, the cooking of it is sure to be at
least superintendent by the lady; still more
probably she will have cooked portion of it
with her own fair hands; and there is none
Of that shabby evasion of cooking implied by
cold meat-no yesterdays mutton-bone-
thing so dreaded by some husbands You
have a custom here in England, they tell
me, Dt presenting a fitch of bacon to any
married couple who can prove that they have
not quarreled for seven years, and that neither
has desired to be unmarried. To carry out
this practice in Germany would be impossi-
BILE; pigs enough could not be laid hold of to
supply the bacon. So YOU see if it should
please God to grant twenty-five years of mar
ried life to a German couple (being an equiva-
lent expression to twenty-five years of mar
ried happiness, it is strictly natural to sup
pose that some sort of rejoicing should take
place. The ceremonial of that rejoicing
constitutes what is known by the appellation
of silver wedding Twenty-Five years is a
long span peoples tastes have altered in
that time Singing, dancing, blindman's buff.
'polters abends, - amusements, in short,
would be out of place. There is a quiet
meeting Of friends, for all that; and on the
morrow there will be what you may Call, if
you please, another wedding The couple 90
to church, where a service appropriate to the
occasion is read, and this is called the silver
wedding Oh, | forgot to tell you that pres
ents from friends come dropping down; pres
ents of remembrance, more than of utility
this time, as you might have inferred, consid-
ering the thoughtfulness of the people.
And lastly now, about the golden we'd
ding Alas it falls not to the lot of many
married folks to number fifty years of married
life. Death, in most instances, has been lay
ing his cold hand on man or wife ere then
1t happens sometimes, however-the occa-
sion for this golden wedding-and when hap
pening, it is celebrated with all the visible
ccremonials of tender regard and devout
thanktulness that you might have expected
from thoughtful and imaginative people.
There, now, have told you all about the
silver and golden Weddings" said the Ger
man lady.
thanked her, and went away musing.
Making all allowance for certain exaggera-
ton in the style of her recital, IAN exaggera-
tion the product of strong national feelings
cannot but think that much that the Ger
man lady told me is worthy of our regard.
81 CURE FOR NAILS GROWING INTO THE FLEsH--
An eminent French physician has published
an account of the efficiency of the sesquich-
lOride of iron for CURING the Growth of toe