The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1880-10-21
MARRIED CHILDREN---A BRIEF BUT
EVENTFUL HONEYMOON.

rage notice was published in the Public
Ledger:
MATLACK-CROX-At the Parson-
age, August 1, 1880, by the Rev. VIM.
NJ. Gilbert, George c. Matlack and
Eivia i. Crox, of this city.
On Wednesday the following was
published among the marriage notices:
The marriage notice of George G..
Matlack and Elvia l.. Crox, published
September IA, 1880, is false, as no such
marriage took place.
GEORGE C. MATLACK.
On Friday the following was pub
lished after the last marriage notice:
This certifies that George c. Matlack
and Elvia l.. Crox were joined together
in matrimony by me at the Union NJ. E.
Parsonage, on the 4th of August, 1880.
WILLIAM NJ. GILBERT.
In investigating the facts which led
to the above publications a Press report
er discovered very pretty and roman
tic story.
Last Monday young lady friend of
Miss Elvia L. CrOx, who resides with
her father and mother of No. 1873,
Spruce Street, called on Mrs. Crox and
informed her that her daughter was
married to George G. Matlack, a school
boy and wOuld-be amatuer actor. Mrs.
Crox denied the fact with a great deal
of Indignation, but the young lady was
firm and said that she knew that Elvia
had been the wife of Matlack for some
time. Mrs. Crox knew Matlack whom
she regarded as a mere boy, slightly,
i, 10 A IT,, h,l l~nr
him quite well, and she at once took
that young lady to task. The re-
suit was that Elvia told the whole truth.
She said she and Matlack had been
married by Rev. Mr.. Gilbert, of Union
M. f. Church, on the morning of August
4. The scene which followed was a
more dramatic one than is often wit
messed in amateur theaters.
Mrs Crox loudly announced her dis
approval of her daughter conduct, and
when Miss Elvia began to excuse herself
on the ground Of her love, the story goes
that Mrs. Crox cut the explanation short
with a rattan. The result was the pub
LEGATION of the marriage in the next
mornings paper. When Mr.. Matlack,
Sr., who is a well-to-dO iron merchant,
strict in his dealings with men, and
sometimes quite stern in his demeanor,
demanded the truth from young George,
the husband of a month became boy
again. He had not the moral courage
to tell the truth and he denied the fact
of the marriage.
" Then 60 and put your denial in the
paper" said the stern father. Poor
George meekly went to the Ledger
Office and wrote and published his denial
of the story. The next morning when
the lad saw the JudaS-like lines in cold
type ne was seized with remOrse, and
he rushed to his love and retold the
story of eternal devotion with all the
earnestness and energy OF lover in the
honeymoon. When Elvia asked him
how he could deny the marriage he said
he did it because he was afraid of his
father. who. he continued, had been
extremely cross. He assured andTeas-
sured MS dear Elvia that all was right,
and that some day he would be twenty
one, and until that happy time and for
ever after he would do nothing but love
her. Miss Elvia was perfectly satisfied,
though with wOmanly shrewdneSs. she
reminded George that she did not deny
the marriage and that she, too, had had
a stern parent to deal with. At the end
of the interview the young lovers
thought their tronbleS all over, but the
course of their married life never had
run smooth, and they discovered anoth-
er ripple on the uneven surface the next
day. Elvia's parents could not allow
George Reputation of the marriage to
stand, aud they so informed their
daughter. There was but one thing to
do, and the old folks Int upon that with
an alacrity which astonished Miss Elvia
and astounded Master George state
ment over the name of the preacher
who married them must be got and pub
lished. Miss Elvia entirely agreed that
this was the proper thing to do, and
George for the first time in his life fully
understood the import of the dread
words of the poet:
Needles and pins, needles and pins,
When mans married his trouble begins.
He knew that his folks were not
vet fully aware of the truth. They
firmly believed his story. They
would read the reverend gentle
mans card. The whole truth would
come out and there would be the mis-
chief to pay. George did not at all en-
ioy the development of the plot. A
pleasant little comedy was getting to be
very like a tragedy. The young anna
teur trembled in his shoes and longed
for the conventional, goOd-natured
friend of the parties to make everything
all right in the last act. The Ledger of
Friday came out and with it the bold
and terse lines of the preacher which
the wayfaring man, though bachelor,
could not fail to understand. Of course
the very first thing that Mr.. Matlack,
Sr., saw after he had put on his specta-
cleS and picked up his paper was the
assertion, from a source which admit
ted of no contradiction, that his son and
Miss Elvia had been man and wife for
more than a month. In the scene that
ehsued Mr.. Matlack played the part of
the irate father with more than usual
vehemence and young George recited
his lines with less than the courage of
the average amateur.
The principal parties to this affair,
Miss Elvia l.. CroX and George c. Mat
lack, are well known in amateur theat-
rical circles. Miss Crox is the daughter,
or adopted daughter, OF John H. Crox,
who formerly kept restaurant at No.
26l South Ninth Street, but who now
lives on Spruce Street. She is a re-
markably pretty girl and has just turned
seventeen. In dress she is rather
snowy and always attracts the atten-
ton of the gentlemen. She is also ex-
ceedingly graceful in person and intel
ligent enough. her friends thought, to
make a fine actress. For long time