Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-03-13
ruN At WEDDINGS.
-. If the Grotesque Mistakes That Oo-
n'" cur at Nuptial Ceremonies.

Mistakes happen in connection with
s,odd;ngs or marriages than l have ever
Sot;ced in connection with any of my
Their work. There r times when I
h.ve difficulty in keeping my counte-
lance straight, and of curse you
.nouldn't like to be laughed at by the
sinister Just as he was about to join
.,ou solemnly in wedlock with the lady
,o, loved. The most trying time I
.ver had was when l was young in the
m;nistry, and when 1 had not such con-
.r,,1 over my keen sense of the ludi-
',rons as I have since acquired. I was
lated at Houlton, Me. One day a
sa,n}e drove yer from Woodstock,
y s. and when they arrived in the
.r;l,age began inquiring for a minister.
snne of the mischief-loving boys got
hold of them, and took them down to
tha market, where they were placed on
."nb;bition and piled with ali sorts of
ridiculous questions, to the great
asnusement of the crowd, and without
embarrassment to themselves, for they
,rere too green to appreciate the Joke.
E;na]lv, after everybody had had his fill
81 fun, the bride and groom were
escorted to my house by a few of the
most mischievous of the crowd. 1t was
Ill could do to keep from roaring
when they entered, but I felt that /
must maintain my dignity, not only for
the sake of the bride and groom, but
because some of the young men pres
ant we're members of my congregation,
and if 1 yielded to my feelings then 1
mipht have difficulty in restraining N.Y.
self when [ faced them from the pulpit.
The woman was the %tallest, most awk-
ward, and most fantastic female [ ever
Jaw. She was six feet and two inches
hiph, and dressed in all the bright
eolored toggery she could get on, with
out regard to harmony or style of
make. But one article struck me so
forcibly and was thrust on my atten-
zion so prominently that / forgot all
+he other details. She had a hand
which came nearly answering the de-
s%eription as large as a goldfish and
these were inclosed in a pair of thick.
warn mittens, which made every finger
look as big Is a potato. These gloves
were a marvel. They were striped,
red and white, the stripes running
yenrthwise the finger, while on the
back of each hand She had worked, in
coarse yarn. what she thought was
some sort of a flower, into which she
lad wrought every improbable color
that a grotesque Imagination could
picture. The man was a diminutive
salf-breed, Indian and French, and he
had no vest or collar on, and his pants
were held up by a lumberman's leather
belt, fastened with an old, rusty iron
buckle. l managed to get through the
ceremony, however, and relieved my
feelings after they had gone.
Il remember a bashful fellow who
came to my house with his girl to get
married. He was so bashful that l
piticd him. He was absolutely over
whelmed-paralyzed, 1 ought to say.
Iic came into the parlor with his hat
IN, and did not remove it once, despite
all the hints that his bride and l gave
him. l said all the assuring things /
could, and tried to engage him and his
lady in conversation. but he was so
abashed that he could neither answer
nor move. l limited that he stand be-
side his lady, but he was SO frightened
that he did not understand. Finally,
in despair, | said quietly and privately
10 the bride: If you will take your
place beside the groom I will marry
you and when she approached him it
seemed absolutely to startle him with a
new fright.
Zone young man, who came on the
same GRAND, was struck with curiosity
the moment he entered the house. He
absolutely ignored his bride, while he
wandered about the parlor, scrutiniz-
ing In q wondering way every picture,
every book, ornament, and piece of
furniture in the room. The bride sat
and blushed, while l tried to call his
attention to the business of the moment,
out he kept on, and it was more than
'fteen minutes before 1 could get the
Two corralsd near enough together to
marry them.
Il married a queer couple once, a
short time before l came to Boston.
ihe man had just entered uponhis pro-
F@ession, which we will call that Of a
physician, and had determined upon
ms place of settlement. The young
Eady, a bright, intelligent, well-edu-
Gated girl, who knew the ways of so
c'ety, had made up her mind that she
would marry a doctor, and finally she
mad brought matters round in a quiet,
somanly way to the point Of his asking
or her hand and heart, and of course
me yielded. The acquaintance had
oeen astonishingly brief. They were
asrdly acquainted when I was sum-
rhoned to marry them. He was very
sAl!nal and devoted to his profession,
~nicn he had mastered well for a young
Eaaa IN theory and practice. But he
NEW less of the ways of the world and
customs of social life than any other
xan l ever met. He was on the point
~ starting for his new home the very
aesc day after the marriage, and, with
nn utmost unconcern regarding the
moprleties of the occasion, had packed
u ail ms apparel ready for the journey.
was stopping at the house of a
= n'na' who, at the last moment, late
the afternoon, discovered that the
n;uegroom did not have a change of
iae 10 dress with. Hurried consulta-
sons We're had, and his hostess, with a
r n'i Il readiness for emergencies,
- Ina No0~, \