Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-01-04

| at 5OM and gained cents. st. Paul
| q Manitoba added l cent to its first figure,
139. Northern Pacific opened at 46% and
closed 474.
! MARRIAGES IN THE EAST.
How English Misses Formerly Shipped to
| Matrimonial Market. --..
Graphic.
Of the curiosities of Anglo-Indian lit
erature, there are none more amusing than
the stories of matrimonial alliances in
times past. Itseems incredible now that
young lady could be shipped off like a
parcel of goods consigned to an agent in
India; but such was the fate of many a
girl, and it must be confessed that it was
destiny not unwillingly encountered.
Nevertheless, what must have been
the feelings of the young
lady during the tedious time of the
six months voyage to India, know
ing that she was Just as much sent out for
sale as any of the packages among tn 9
cargo, and cognizant of the fact that GER
tain pig-tailed and nankesn-brseched ma
bobs would be waiting at Garden Beach,
Calcutta. or the Bunder, Bombay, to ap-
praise her marriageable value the moment
she landed? By all accounts, the girls
thus shipped to the east, along with the
cadets, the black sheep of their families.
accepted the situation philosophicalIy.
Those who had no female relatives to look
after them were placed under the charge
of the captain, and it is a curious fact.
denoting the manners and Gus
toms of the times, that one eff the
essential qualifications for the command
of an Indiaman was a reputation
in the trade as male chaperon of young
women. Certain captains were well
known foF the care they took of their inter
esting but difficnlt charges. Nor was the
responsibility light one It is to be re-
membered that even as lately as thirty
years ago the East Indiamen carried troops.
and, of course, their fascinating relocated
officers as we'll; also cadets and midship
men, who probably asked for nothing bet
ter than the opportunity of setting the
commanders vigilance at defiance Under
the circumstances and the surroundings.
the poor captain must have resembled
hen with brood of ducklings to look after.
and he must have been Argus eyed indeed
to have prevented all Irritation between his
young ladies and his Young
gentlemen on the voyage out
We catch glimpses of tho good mans
difficulties in such old Indian novels as
'Peregrine Pulteney, and in the sea Jour
nails of travellers of the period. First, the
girls were pretty; otherwise, it would not
have been much use to send them out to the
Indian marriage market, at heavy expense
in the way of outfit and passage; and
secondly they were fresh from school and
consequently romantic. So, too, were the
cadets and young officers on board. And
thirdly, the monotony on board ship
during six months voyage to India
round the Cape of Good Hope was highly
favorable to development of the tender
passion in hearts that were already
fired with dreams of conquest and glory.
No doubt, too, the sacrifcial maidens put
the future as much as possible out of their
thoughts. 1t was no use looking forward
to the wizened old judge or the jaundiced
merchant prince at the end of the voyage.
Better to make hay while the sun shone-
with the cadets. And SO the captain had
to be alert and ever vigilant, lest the ca
dets and midshipmen should be whisper
ing with the young ladies through
the port holes, or, even worse, should
snatch kisses from them in the dark holes
and corners Of his fine, frigate-built ship.
In the novel above referred to an amusing
account of the advantage taken from a
storm is given. The heroine is destined
for a wealthy old gentleman in Calcutta,
but gets into desperate Irritation with a
cadet. And, as they choose to suppose
that the ship is going to the bottom. they
think it no harm to die in each Others
arms, though the young lady's fiance in
Calcutta would probably have thought
otherwise had he been there to look on. :
The splendid marriages, from worldly
point of view, that were made in those
days must have also been a sore tempta
ton. Fifty years ago men could make
fortunes in India sometimes in few wears.
And the girl who went out tocherless lass
might possibly return in few years as
the wife of an Indian millionaire, to astonish
Bath or Tunbridgs with the water Of her
diamonds and the lavish expenditure of
her lord. The whole thing, in short.
was lottery in which there were valuable
prizes and few blanks. The girls carried all
the beauty Of penniless English families to
the market, the gentlemen their laos ofeasily
won rupees. Cupid, In the shape of some
self-interested harridan of the Indian
fashionable world, acted as a go-between,
and my lord bishop of Bengal done the
rest. Shawls and other Indian curiosities
were sent home to happy parents who
| speedily made ready new consignments of
sisters to the bride, and so the game went
on from one generation to another until,
IN some Indian provinces, all the wealthy
or influential people became curiously in
termarried.
The distribution of the forces of the late
Commercial and Gazette have been made
between the two offices for to-morrow's is
sues of the Commercial Gazette and Morn
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