Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1885-04-07
BARRIoS' RUDE coURTsHIP.
He Selected a Maiden. Educated Her AM
Forced Her to Marry Him.

He Selected a Maiden, Educated Her and
Forced Her to Marry Him..
GUATEMALA CRY, March l2.-The man.
ner in which Barrios got his wife illustrates
the character and methods Of the man. Be
ing on q journey into the interior, he was
entertained by 9 merchant Of some note,
who bad q daughter, q rosebud OF q girl
whose beauty struck a responsive chord In
the heart of the widoEer President. Before
leaving the place he informed his host that
be desired to make the girl his wife, but as
she was not quite old enough to be married,
he wished her sent to school. and educated
in English and French conversation, in
music, embroidery and painting. In about
two years he thought she would be Of sufi-
cient age and accomplishment to preside
in the Presidential palace, when he would
formally ask the honor OF her hand in mar
rage.
This proposition rather staggsrd the coun-
try merchant, and he was only able to re-
ply, Isl, Senior, the girl is yours" but in
his mind he determined that no daughter
OF bis should ever be the wife of Ru6no Bar
rios, The President, however, kept an eye
on the family, and twice sent an officer to
remind them about theschool arrangements
before the latter carried it out. He also
advertised extensively that he had selected
the maiden as his future wife, and would
marry her as soon as her education was
completed.
He Claimed His Bride.
Two years passed and Bsrrios claimed
his bride. The girl refused to marry him,
and the father sustained her in the refusal,
expressing his views of his would-be son,in-
law in no guarded terms. To speak evil
of the King is treason here, as it used to be
in England in the time of Henry Ill, and
the country merchant was promptly arrest
ed. His property was conhscsted for the
use Of the Government, and he q sent to
work in the streets with q ball and chain to
his leg. Il sounds ike o fifteenth century
romance, but every one in Guatemala knows
TIE story is true.
Finally, the girl, frightened at her fathers
distress, gave in and begged the old gentle
man to yield his consent. He reluctantly
did 60, and attended the most brilliant wed.
ding feast that was ever known IN Central
America. The bride received a diamond
necklace and coronet, halt a million dollars
in money, and the finest residence IN
Guatemala. The father was released from
arrest, his property was restored to him, he
was established in the banking business, and
became the fiscal agent OF the Government,
which is worth q smallfortune to him every
year. Barrios very generously forgave the
Old man, and the two are now great chums.
A Lovely woman-Her New York Property.
Mrs. Barrios is the l~oyeliest woman in
r.---1. k,,,s,N,l ~ oharanlcr 90 pall "a
in person, socially brilliant and graceful,
charitable beyond all precedent in a country
where the poor are usually permitted to
take care Of themselves, generous and hos.
pitable, q good mother to q fine family OF
children, and q devoted wife, loyal to allthe
Presidents ambitions, and an enthusiastic
supporter of all bis schemes. Their rude
courtship intensified the devotion of their
married life, and the most ardent admirer
of President Barrios today is in his own
household. There is . tender spot IN the
tyrsnt's heart, for he is deyotedly attached
10 his wife and children, whose portraits
stand always before him upon his desk IN
The executive Office.
Like a wise man who knows the psrlls
which constantly surround him, and the
uncertainty of the head which wears q Gro Sn
in these counties, he has made ample p-o-
vision for his family by purchasing for Ms.
Barrios q handsome residence on Fifth
avenue, near Sixty-frst street, New York,
and investing about q million dollars IN her
name in other New York real estate. bis
life is also insured for S25O,O0O in New
York companies, which, it must be said,
nave taken q hazardous risk, as there are
hundreds of men who live only to see Bar
RIOS buried. Very few of them are in
Guatemala. They do not find the atmo-
sphere agreeable here. They are exiles in
Nicaragua, Costa Rics, Mexico, California,
or elsewhere, but waiting for a chance to
give him a dose of dynamite or prickhm
with q dagger.