Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1885-06-10

who witnessed the affair, some of them
her own relatives, only laughed. and
her by saying that she would
soon be reconcilcd to her situation" 1t
Is evident that this scene was also a
relic of custom of which the signifi-
canoe had perhaps been lost even by
those engaged in it.
ADVANTAGES OF CAPTURE.
The advantages of a captured wife
over any other kind are obvious. When
n savage has captured wife, she Is
away from her own people, has no
and he Is not afflicted with q
mother-in-law, she has no relatives
handy TO make trouble between them,
and he is relieved from the necessity of
seeing swarm of people put up"
with him at times when he is neither
ready nor willing for thejr company.
But it is not little singular to see evil
dences OF the custom of capture sur
viving when there is no reason for
them, and when. in fact, they consti-
tute serious Inconvenience. Many
tribes in India, for example, are d.
vided into clans, and no man may mar
ry woman of the same clan, while the
rule seems to prevail to some extent, at
least, in Tartary, among the Circas-
slams and other nations. Davis, in his
work on Chine, says that marriage be-
tween persons Of the same surname is
and this rule includes all
male descendants forever. In SO vast
a population, there are not more than
hundred surnames, and the embarrass-
ments tn at arise from SO strict law
must be considerable. Some of the
tribes of Canadian Indians are divided
into clans, and there are totems OF
standards which arc common to all the
tribes. The crests are the whale, the
porpoisc, the eagle. the coon, the wolf
and the frog. .In connection with
these crests," says Richardson, ''some
important points of Indian character
are seen. The relationship existing be-
tween persons of the same crest Is near
err than that between members of the
same tribe, which is shown by this, that
the members of the same tribe may in
termarry, but those of the same crest
may not do so under any circumstances.
That is: A whale may not marry o
whale, but whale may marry frog,
and the like"
THE BRIDEL-CAKE.
Even at the present day there are sew
eral ceremonies which, without the
light of historical research, would be
inexplicable. There is, for example, q
custom prevalent in many quarters Of
q bride's-cake, which, at the
wedding feast, must be always cut by
the bride. Exactly why there should be
such cake, or why II should be cut by
the bride rather than by any one else,
might be a mystery did we not know
that there was once n custom among the
Romans of marriage by confareatio, or
eating together, which consisted in the
preparation of banquet, portion Of
which, and in particular cake was pre-
pared by the hands of the bride. So
also in New England, in former times,
it was the custom not to allow young
Puritan woman to be married till she
could slice a loaf of warm lightbread
without crossing it. Among the Iroquois
Indians, there was once custom OF
by eating together, the sole
ceremony consisting in the bride allow
ing the groom to partake of q feast
which she had prepared. This exercise
was sometimes varied, when there were
several claimants for the hand of the
young woman, by her calling them to-
gether on n given occasion, and after
they had all eaten, given the one whom
she had chosen particular cake which
she had prepared for the purpose, which
both she and all the contestants under
stood to be the signal of her choice, and
they considered themselves bound by
the act of eating together to defend the
chosen man in his right to his wife.
THE HONEYMOON.
The social scientists think they see q
deep meaning in the honeymoon, when
the husband and wife go on tour to
enjoy their newly-found happiness.
According to the speculations, this
month of bliss is a relic of the time when
marriages were effected by capture, and
when, after the capture was made, the
husband was compelled to hide his wife
from her relatives, and also, sometimes
to withdraw himself to escape their
wrath. The scientists say that the Gus
tom survives long after it has lost its
meaning, but that it was once reality,
ana a pretty solemn reality, too, but
now followed from the inability of men
to break from the customs of their fore
fathers. In many parts of the continent
of Europe it is still the custom to lift
home, and on no account to let her
touch the threshold with her feet. This
also, say the philosophers, is relic of
the days when men stole their wives
from the resistance of the latter, the
custom surviving when its Significance
has been lost. In several of the country
districts of Europe it is not considered
etiquette for newly-married man to
speak to his father-in-law and mother,
in-law for some time after the wedding,
and this peculiar practice is believed to
have had its origin in the necessity, in
former times, the married man was fire.
quently under of evading the society OF
those estimable persons in order that
he might not be compelled to answer
awkward questions as to the where
abouts of their daughter.
THE SHOE AND THE RING.
Every one has seen superstitious per-
sons cast IN old shoe after the departing
carriage containing newly-wedded
pair, but few have Investigated the orr
gin of this custom or thought of 1t at
all perhaps, save as superstition.
Travellers in Central Asia have noticed
the same thing there, and the probable
ity is that it is also a reminder of mar
riage by capture. When the bride was
stolen away 1t was customary for the
relatives to use i'm hostility any missile
that came handy. When the stealing
form the missiles ceased to be danger
Gus, and finally the sandal, being the
most convenient, was thrown as an en-
blem. In this country rice is also some
times thrown after the married couple,
the custom coming to us from China,
and the Chinese getting it, perhaps,
from Central Asia and India, where the
rico 10 not tbrowu hut ia aaut In, n littla