Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1871-05-31

CFOf the CouMfry,)
Published Regularly on. TUESDA rs. THURS
DA rs and SATURDA Us, at Siz Dollars per
annuna.
MATRIMONIAL SUpERsTITIoNs.- Il From
Chambers Journal. The 1atelysreviyed GUS
tom of throwing shoes after newly welded
couple for luck is very old one In the Isle
of Man, the shoe is thrown after bride and
: bffaeprasaa IS, they leave their respective
abodes, but the ceremony Is generally perform
ed elsewhere. upon the departure or the nero
and heroine of the day for the honeymoon trip.
In some parts of Kent the shoe-throwng does
NOT take place until after they have gone.
when the single ladies range themselves III one
line, and the bachelors range themselves IN
another. An old shoe is then thrown as TAR as
the throHer's strength permits, and the ladies
race after it, the winner being rewarded
hv the assurance that she will be married be-
fore any of her rivals She then throws the
shoe at the gentlemen, the one she hits laying
the same pleasing JUNCTION to his heart: Some
thing like this is practiced, too, III \ orkshlre
and Scotland. In Germany 1t used to be
rule for the bride, as she was being conducted
TO her chamber, to take off her shoe and throw
it among the guests who battlcd for its posses
sion, the successful he or she being destined to
BE speedily married aud settled. In England
the bride, from between the sheets, threw her
left stocking over the shoulder of one OF the
companv. the person upon whom it fell being
marked out as the next individual to be mar
red. In some places the threshold is kept
warm for another bride By pouring kettletul
of hot water down the door steps as soon as
the bride and bridegroom have taken their de-
parture the fancy being that, before the Wa
ter dries up. another match will be made up,
or flow on, and that it will not be Very long
before another welded couple passes over the
SAME ground In Prussia the method adopted
ofinvokiug blessings on newly married palr
used to be the more the expensive one OF smash
ing crockcry against the door Of the house in
which they were domiciled.
How A FISHERMAN CAUGHT \ GROUND
HOG.-Last week 4 gentleman living near
louisiana Missouri, went fishing in Buffalo
Greek. Having fshed until he became cx
hausted, he took seat at the root OF 4 tree,
threw his hook which was baited with y live
crawfsh into the stream, and leaning back
against the tree, he Was soon in the land OF
dreams, dreaming of huge pixies, BASES, &c.
In the meanwhile, Mr. Crawfsh, with Il hook
through his back (being very CONSCIENTIOUS
kind of a craw6sh,) became tired OF being used
as bait to decoy some other innocent denizen
of the water into unpleasant plight crawl
I'd to the shore, but Just in time to he SelzcI
hy All unfortunate ground hog. Mr. Ground
hog. it is presumed, enjoyed his feast on the
craw6sh until he was masticated and duly
swallowed, when he, to his sorrow, found that
he had lined on more than crawhsh, Tor he
found that he was fast on line, and in his en-
deavor to free himself from it, he awokc the
sleeping fisherman. who jumped up, rubbing
his eyes, and crying to his fellow fisherman
that he had hooked huge bass, for the I'M
fortunate animal, in his efforts to cxtllcatc
himself, had slipped from the smooth rock into
the water, and was making quite commotlon
in the quit waters of Buffalo. The hSherman
however soon got hiS eyes open, and after real,
iZing the state of affairs, was SOon master OF
the situation, for he held the quadruped IN the
water until he was drowned, and drawing him
out, threw him over his shoulder and marched
for home rejoicing that he had meat enongh
for his wife, children, and self for several days
REpREsENTATIoN.--IS Congress as at present
constituted, representative body? This ques-
ton has been raised by writer in the last num-
Der of the Journal OF Social Science, anu 1t
opens up an important field Tor dlScuSslon
From the exhibit it is seen that out OF an az
pregate Of 3lO members in the Forty-fIrst Con
greSS there were
Professional men 10
Merchants ~ ~
Planters and farmers -
Not classified 81
$40
The members of various professions there
fore, constituted moro than two-thlrds OF the
entire body, the lawyers numbering l9o, and
all other professions but 2G. The agricultural
interest was even worse represented than tue
commercial, whilst the mechanical lnterest--aS
contra distinguished from the manufacturing
and the mining interests--WaS not represented
branch of industry may be included in the list
marked miscellaneous. ''--BaN Gazette.
\ COOP INSTITUTION PERVERTED "A very
yood old friend of ours tells of 4 Society. he
found existing in Lexington which he thinks
Of rather doubtful proprlety. 1t was an Anti,
swearing Society," in which each member had
to pay fine for every oath he swore Onr
friend was delighted at the idea OF the great
good to be accomplished, and asked, y" hat q 40
you do with the money? tie was sicats
shocked ut the reply, why. when we collect
as much as dollar, We spend 1t IN ln "niSkef
Society discussed in some of our Debating 90
cetieS Lexington Gazette.
BABIEs.-St Louis lately had baby, SHOW
and great dissatisfaction was expressed because
the Committee awarded all the premiums, to
boys, and there is talk of getting up another 81.
infantile demonstration, with a committee OF
grandmothers for Judges. 1t has been lntlma,
ted that the masculine committee picked out
the biggest children, without regard to beauty
and the other points which go to make up a
first class baby.
M1sTooK HIS RAXk--One Of our citlzcnS
tells the following on himself: Whilst confined