The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1874-05-31


throwing hnel the covering, revealed
u little head decked with a runled and
embroidered cap aud mothcrch down
among the feathers. so tho mystery
stood revealed Tie small beds Were
IN reolIty, large pillows, on one side Of
which was a pocket made Of lace
aud embroidery, aud into this pocket
was clipped u poor little m0rspfff hll-
mainly clear up to It's chin, and then
over MI was thrown The covering, for
" ~ considered dulto dangerous here
for babies TO get air into their lungs,
The minister made u short address
In roga'd 10 the duties Of parents, and
then rcnd the creed requiring the ne
quipscenrr of parents and gOd'parents.
After this no dipped his llngers into
the lOunt and made the sign Of the
cross three times on the child's fore
head; the child was then passed around
among all its friends, for II ls u super
stltion that the more people who hold
u baby at It's christening, the happier
VIII that child bo In after life, especial
~ II Il girl baby IL held by young
man and n hoy baby 10y a young lady,
One little group who stood just IN front
of me attracted my attention. The
mother, n young, pale, slender crea-
ture, had no companions but two
women Of middle age, They were the
last In order, and when the minister
came 20 bapti2e the child, he said,
I'"this child IL illegitinate and takes the
name of It's mother This explained
why there should be 10 few to ensure
the happiness of the little one at It's
christening. | wondered why, under
such circumstances, the mother should
bring herchld TO II public christening,
but the matter was allcrWard cX-
planned 20 me- II IL Il regulation that
all children must be chrlstened ut or
before three months, and the police see
that the law Is regarded. II the pa
rents are too poor to bear the expense
the city bears II, and II Is much cheaper
to have the ceremony at the church
than ut home, lnchurch IL costs about
sixty cents, while at home, counting
cake, wine and clergyman's fees, IL
would amount to some dollars.
a uIsH TIME.
The christening was over and
the interested group of spccta-
tors and partlcipators vanished,
but another company was ready
10 take their place. and their fine
dress and white gloves seemed to pro-
mise u wedding or "hochHcitr (high
time) rs the Germans call 1t. So |
still kept my seat and awaited farther
events. This time the opening of the
door admitted not one bridal pair, but
u dozen, who arranged themselves be-
fore the altar with their backs TO the
congregation. The friends now left
their seats and took their places as
near rs possible to the couple In whom
they were interested. fhere seemed
TO he considerable difference in the So
cial position Of the parties, judging
from the dress. Some of the brides
were in trailing silks and envcloped in
white walls, while others wore only n
simple alpaca. six of the brides wore
WreAths of flowers; one wore bunch
of flowers in her hair while the heads
of the remainder were entirely una
dorned. ! at first supposed that this
was merely II matter Of taste, but after
wards learned that II has great signih-
| canoe. Virgins only are permitted to
wear wroaths. A widow marrying n
second time may wear flowers but not
In wreath form, while one who Is
neither virgin or widow may not wear
even n single flower in her hair. The
minister made nm appropriate address
aud then propounded the important
wilt thou"' TO the grooms. 4 volley
of "Nas' ran down the line like "A vol
| ley of small shot from an Inexperienced
rifle company. The superstition isthat
the man who uttcrs good "ya,p in n
iull voice, will make good husband
while he who speaks it softly, perhaps,
makes Il mental reservation, and is
looked upon as doubtful. Ii IN pity
that the test could not be applied ut Il
little earlier stage of the affair. The
question was then put to the brides,
and one after the other responding to
it by n silent nod OF the head, remind
ing one OF the one bride in the row
knocking down all the rest. SO far,
the marriage had been, as YOU
may say, 10y wholesale, but now came
u little specific CEREMONY 4 book was
held before each couple in turn, they
exchanged rings upon it and were then
pronounced husband and wife. A gen
e1l benediction followed, and the
couples received the congratulations of
their friends. 1t was particularly no.
ticeable that the grooms paid no par
ticularattention to,thc brides, never say
ing one word to diem or kissing them
after the ceremony, and in few
moments one could not tell which
bride belonged to which man. Speak
ing after the German fashion, | should
not say bride, for the woman is bride
nom the time of her engagement up to
her marriage, after which she is no
longer brdW but trdu. As | left the
church ! saw one Of the newly married
pairs walking home. He was walking
some eight or ten feet in front of her
and paying no attention to her. |
laughed rs | said to myself,
"For says Potter, suys he,
y woman She
Shoulu 1,Ilule mot J,y,,g ,I,r,,,.,t ,lg. -