Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1880-01-29
New Series-Vol. 20. No. 8.

with bated breath the result of some
"Hallow-Eve" charmp These were the
days of happiness, and, of course, every
rural maiden had a sure, infallible
charm for telling the future husband
On the eve of the New Year the anx-
propose with the seriousness becoming
the occasion. He avowed he would be-
have as if he was acting as chief mourn
or at his fathers funeral, and actually
took his lady love, after church, to see
the family vault, and there in a sepul-
chral voice asked her aft she would like
to lay her bones beside his bones" 1t
is enough to say she agreed.
A very neat way is for the gentleman,
after dancing number of times with a
young lady, to say: "If ever he became
benedict he would like his wife to look
exactly like and dress precisely as she
dOes.' This may be a proposal or not
When, however, shy man, having got
his mother to plead his cause, says to the
beloved one, with a tremulous gasp:
Wont yeu do the thing my mother
asked ?" there is no doubt of his wanting
her for his wife. More than one propC-
sal has been made by underscoring the
lines i'm the marriage service, wilt
1llOu HdNC llllo Hl0u " D6 lily
husband?" and passing the book and
peneil during the sermon to the favored
one; and it sometimes, oftener than not,
comes back with faint but visible
stroke under the II will" A young
man of pOetical turn sends the follow.
ing to coquettish maid:
Oh, lovely maid, thou art the fairest slave in
all Gods mart;
Those charms to win, with all my Empire
would gladly part;
One kiss l send, to pierce like fire thy too
reluctant heart.
1t may be interesting to the young la
dies who are not already aware Of the
important fact that leap-year empowers
them to do something more than pop
the question" Notes and Queries for
1850 contains the following: IF young
lady should SO far forget herself as to
suggest union between herself and a
bachelor acquaintance, who should be
uncivil enough to decline her proposal,
she could thereupon demand from him
the gift of q new silk dress. But to
claim this dress with prOpricty, she must
at the sametime be the wearer of a scarlet
petticoat, the lower part of which she
must exhibit to the gentleman, who, by
the law of leap-year, is bound to present
to the lady silk dress to cover the scar
let petticOat, and assuage her displeas.
ure at the rejection of her proposal"
This item of feminine folklore may
prove exceedingly useful to the male
readers of The Star in putting them OIL
their guard during the year. For it is
not probably without a determined sig
nificance that the wearing of red petit
coats is made one of the chief novelties
of ladies' dress during the winter sea-
son. In fact, it may reasonably be in
ferred that the ladies' law of leap-year is
about to be inflicted upon the gentlemen
in its most expensive silk-dress form.
From the above it can readily be seen
that those vascillating bachelors who
have managed for years to steer clear OF
Hymens tolls, will be made to play or
pay 1t is indeed wonderful how many
have so long managed to bid defiance to
the many charming women who have.
year after year, shone with dazzling
brilliancy in the magnificent entertain
ments of the gay capital; some of them
rivaling in beauty the famous Agnes
SOrel, whose beauty was so striking that
it caused Henry IL, King of France. to
tremble when he first beheld her.
From careful consideration Of the
various dangers arising from this ~leap-
year privilege" am inclined to think
Mr.. MeaglO's advice to the beadle is
worthy of imitation, and that whenever
we see young lady sin full fig" with u
scarlet petticoat coming down the street.
we shall show our best discretion by
turning and running away.