Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-05-24

hearted friend and said with sob:
"Tell me about it."
what do you want to know ?"
Everything. everything. so that the postal
card f1end may get full safety"
All right. here goes. l was married four
times, and have in my desk over there receipted
bills for all expenses incidental to each occasion.
The first time was forty-fve years ago, when 1
was young and green and hadn't a dollar but
what borrowed; and the girl didn't have any
more than l did. so it was necessarily poor
mans wedding. Let me see Creaching into the
desk for the papers), here's the bill. find here
the following iteInized account: One suit of
clothes. ready made. $40; shoes, $50; shirt, IS
cents; hat. 81; yarn socks, knit by mother, no
charge; no collar, no cuffs, no neckties, no but
tOn-hOle bouquets, no gloves, no carriage-hire;
license. 50; preacher, 50 cents in money and four
bushels of apples; no present to the bride. and
no anything else SO far as can remember. To-
tai, $40. Is and four bushels of apples"
Cheap enough" said the scribe; but do they
do it that cheap now?''
eyes; plenty of them, and some Of them
cheaper; but my wife and l were pretty re-
spectacle young people, if we were poor, and
we thought we were putting on considerable
STYLE"
"Of courses but how was 1t next timer"
1.-THE next one took place ten years later. and
l was little better off in the world and was
clerking in store at $40 month. NV bills on
that occasion show the following result: One
suits OF clothes. S25; boots. 81; two shirts. Ct
only wore one. however,. 80; hat, 50: gloves,
SO cents necktie, 20 cents; collar and cuffs made
on the shirt without extra charge; license, 50:
preacher 50 50 in gold; present to the bride,
gold breastpin, 81; cotton socks Is cents; no
carriage hire, no wedding trip; total, 1885,
THAT looks a little heavier"
"fes, but it is about an average and the thing
is done daily now at a similar outlay"
''How was it on the third round?'
well, that didn't occur until fifteen wears
later, and l was partner with about 81 200 or
81 500 year. and was a rising young merchant
OF course was called on then to put on consid-
erably more style, and the bills show up cor
respondingly. as follows: Suit Of clothes $50,
So. necktie 81, buttonhole bouquet Is cents.
wedding ring $40, and present to BRIDE
Jewelry ($25) $35, carriage hire $40, license 50,
preacher $40 Gin gold), incidentals SIS, short
bridal trip 800; total $251.
''Hum," said the reporter, thoughtfully THAT
style costs little more, doesn't it?"
Eyes. they come high, but we must have
them, and 1t is no more than is ordinary in that
station"
''But what are the incidentals specified in the
bill ?"
"Oh, that includes a variety OF unexpected
items man has to meet on a holiday occasion
like wedding and cannot be definitely enum-
Grated. You will see what it means when you
get there, but If you get married in real quiet
way you can avoid much of it,"
Thanks for the advice. Now for the fourth
CALL"
''The fourth event happened at only compar-
atively recent PERIOD when 1 had become a
bloated bondholder, as it were, or, to put it
milder, rich man. married young wife. as
most Of us old fellows do, and she wanted me to
cut a wide swathe, SO the bill was heavy. The
figures were thuswise: Clothes, from the skin
out. hat and boots, 9125; gloves, $3.50; neck
tie. so. the finest in the market; bOutOnniere
Marechal Neil rosebuds, etc., so; carriage
hrfd dc md oil SO
(price charged by statutory enactment); preach
er, $25; janitOr at church, IS; gloves and but
ton-hOle bouquets for ushers, $40; wedding
ring (S1O), and present to the bride, diamonds
$500, $40; incidental, $50; bridal trip, $500;
to which must be added q suit Of travelling
clothes and extras amounting to 800 more and
We have total Of 81, 1880"
Good Lord" gasped the reporter, chow
can poor young man ever climb hill like
that2'
"He can't, my DEAR" replied the sympathiz-
ing old gentleman, 'but he can wait until he lisa
rich old man, then try it. But that isn't any
thing to some Of them. I know of one man
whose actual wedding outlay was $4,000, and
he was plain American citizen. Foreigners, you
know, overgo that, but they have such an
enormous amount Of extras"
NOW, you've told me the cost to q man,
how is it, to state it briefly, on the other
side?"
. "Eer the t women, do you mean'"
"Well, there's no telling Ny first wife's
dress cost s., and it was q mighty pretty
looking piece OF goods, too. 1 suppose her
other fixings were worth IS more, so that So
or $40 would cover it all. My last wifes
trousseau complete cost 81. 600, but then her
father was rich: ! saw little statement the
other day about New York girl who had sent
to Paris for two dresses only, and the bill was
81. 600. Other stuff to match this would no
doubt cost 5000 more, 30 there is q wide
margin on the woman's expense. might
say here that my experience and observation
have taught me that marriage, in more
senses than one, costs q woman dearer than
1t does man. very fair wedding turnout
for girl In the average circle Of society think
could be furnished from 500 to $500, and some
very YER! respectable people cut it down consider
Some further talk was INDUCED in, when the
reporter thanked his friend and went around
to see some other acquaintances who were
posted on the matter at issue. In the course of
his travels he ran on one man who had been
married at an outlay OF only eighty-fve cents.
How did you get 1t SO cheap?" he INQUIRED.
"Well, you see, said the man, "Mary wanted
to marry and 30 did /, and we fixed it all I'D in
about ten minutes In the kitchen and slipped off
{. S, tine ON once and got license and saw the
But the license cost more than eighty-hve
cents"
"Mine didn't, only had that much, and told
the clerk my fix and that wanted the other ten
cents for bridal street car ride, and he let me
have the papers for seventy five cents. Then /
told the Squire how 1t was, and Mary she
blushed and looked 80 pretty that the old fellow
laughed and married us for nothing, except a
kiss from the bride. But look here. young fell
low, If any other man had kissed that bride,
you bet your money the wedding would have
cost good deal more. and don't you forget It."
The reporter promised not to forget it, and
went on with his inquiries until he found that
the figures given by his quadruple married
friend. though given for an earlier date than the
present, were still applicable, and that a young
man could marry in 1882 at prices ranging from
els or $40 to as many hundreds or thousands If
he happened to have the proper pocket-book
ranges: The graver matter, however, of the
cost afterward, presented itself, and when he
had finished writing this article, with It's array
OF figures for the tnquiring correspondent, he
indited him the following personal and confden-
tial postal:
DEAR SIR: Your question In q dollar and cents
point of view Is answered In the above collated
figures from actual bills; but If you think mar
rage ia only to be considered in that regard Won
had better SWIM out, for You are over your
head. MANY MARRIED pROpIE