Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-05-23
THRILLING WITH THE UNMAR.
RTED.
Dress Parade of Anxious Applicants
for Matrimony,



for Matrimony,
Chicago Tribune.
Not long ago a personal advertisement
appeared in Chicago paper worded some
what as follows:
DERsONAL.-Wanted, the acquaintance of
Il refined, progressing young lady, by a
gentleman Of ilrst class standing, with means
Object, matrimony. Address OK
Forty-one answers were received by
Mr.. OK" of all kinds and styles-some
dalntily written and expressed, others
misspelled and folded with grimy fingers,
but all containing the assertion that it
was the first time the writer had ever
replied to a personal, and a few words Of
description, such as: II am slender and
blonde" ''pluhp, with black hair and
dark eyes," ETC., one concluding with the
remark: II am stricklv Verchuous if
you are trifling don't anser." Many gave
their full names and addresses, while
others concealed their identity behind a
post office or fictitious address.
Mr.. y. replied to one, and requested the
writer TO meet him on the steps of Nc
Nlcker's theatre the next afternoon. car
rying magazine in her left hand as a
means of identification. Punctuallv to the
moment she appeared and stationed her.
self upon the steps, gazing anxiously
around for the appearance of the gallant
serving her from a distance, but was tar
from being impressed by her charms. Call
ing a friend, they passed and repassed
her, coolly criticising and quizzing her ap-
pearance, but not allowing her to suspect
that one of them was the gentleman she
expected.
After half an hours solitary watching
and waiting she abandoned her post, and,
mingling with the crowd, disappeared.
NJ : l.
ents in this way at a distance, but, as all
fell far short of the standard of beauty
and refinement he desired, he concealed
his identity from all, and concluded to
wind up the affair with grand dress pa
rade Of his fOrty-One fair friends, and in
Yited half a dozen gentlemen to witness
it. He then wrote a polite note to
each of the addresses he had re-
ceived, apologizing handsomely for his
nOn-appearance, with the plea of uneX-
pected business, TO those with whom he
had already made an appointment. He
begged each one to meet him at 8 o'clock
Friday afternoon on the north side of
Randolph street, between Dearborn and
State, and taxed his ingenuity to suggest
a separate and distinguishing mark by
which each one could proclaim her
identity. One he requested to carry a
blue veil in her hand, another to wear a
green ribbon at her throat, another to
carry parcel wrapped in newspaper,
etc.
The stretch of sidewalk appointed for
the meeting was in plain view from the
windows of Mr.. KS office across the street
and at the time appointed the friends in
vited were on hand promptly to see the
parade. AS the clock struck 3 the ladies
began to appear, and excitement reigned
in the office.
First came stylishly-dressed little
widow, sauntering carelessly along, car
rYing under her arm huge newspaper
parcel at which she glanced from time to
time with evident disgust. Then appeared
from the. other direction tall, dlgnified
young lady, who wore at her throat a
green bow, large enough to decorate an
entire st. Patrick's day procession. The
blue veil also duly made its appearance,
carried by an elderly, dOwdily-dressed
woman, who was so determined to make
the acquaintance Of her correspondent
that she fingered on the block till dark,
waving her blue banner at times as if to
summon the recreant knight to her side.
But all in vain; the shades of night fell
at last like a pail upon the city, and upon
her hopes, and as Mr.. y. passed her on
his way home to dinner she was just turn
ing to abandon the spot.
Thirty ladies of all ages and styles ap-
peared in response to the appointment,
and the fun in the office waXed fast and
furious. The notes were spread upon the
window stills, with the appointed signals
penciled upon each, and the gentlemen
enjoyed the piquant situation to the ut
most, shouting with laughter at the ap-
pealing, inquiring chances cast by each
lady at the gentlemen hurrying past, with
such complete and cOmical unconscious
ness of her twenty-nine companions in
misfortune. One young lady had been
requested to twirl her glove in her right
hand, and as she had come in all the way
from LAGRANGE to keep the appointment,
she was evidently resolved that there
should be no mistake as to her identity,
so she marched back and forth for three
quarters of an hour, twirling that glove
with energy sufficient to have raised two
hundred pounds fifty feet if properly ap-
piled, or to have fed half dozen electric
lamps.
The parade and the manGuvring We're
pronounced a grand success by the spec
tatOrs, and continued with no break in
the ranks for about 80 minutes. Then the
widow pitched her newspaper bundle into
the street and walked briskly off, the rest
following her example in the course of
the next half hour. When all but the
damsel with the blue veil had departed,
the gentlemen threw all the notes into the
fire, and they separated, after passing a
vote of thanks to Mr.. Y. for his delightful
and novel entertainment. Thus endeth
the history of the personal, every word of
which is true, with the exception of the
locality mentioned, as will be certified by
any one of the gentlemen spectators in the
office, or of the Al ladies who answered the
advertisement.