Sharp County record., 1888-04-05

feebly attempt to picture to ourselves
the state of miserable detection into
which the husband elect would sink on
the eve of his marriage, knowing that
he would have to turn butcher before
winning his bride. To cut off the head
of an OK, even when killed, is no easy
task for practical hands; but we will
draw vail over this preliminary part
of the ceremony and suppose it to
have been successfully accomplished.
Then is there any British matron,
glorious in lace and velvet, who would
consent to have q CORY head brought
within fifty yards of her apparel when
dressed for her daughters wedding?
All this simply goes TO show that Gus
toms differ essentially in different
parts of the world; the English mother
would 8cornfully reject the ox's head
from her son-in-law, while the Barra-
long mother would look with equal
disdain on our settlements, wedding
breakfasts and showers of rice and
slippers.
How would it sound if we read in
the journals which chronicle such
things: Among the bridegroom's
| gifts was lovely rib of beef pre-
sented to the bride. four splendid car
casses of Welsh mutton as gifts to
the bridesmaids, and the head of the
OK that took the first prize in the re-
cent cattle show as tribute of re-
spect for the brides mother?' We
are happily never likely to read any
thing of the sort; but at the same
time, in an economical age like the
present there would be a distinct ad-
| vantage in an inexpensive portion Of
a bullock given as a wedding present
instead of the costly offerings which
are usually considered essential
Then, it would be curious to read:
THE BRIDES travelling dress consisted
of capital hide, fayed off a prime
American by the bridegroom"
In old Scotch history we know that
the presentation of bulls head new
" cut off was the sign that the
person to whom this horrible gift
was made must prepare for death;
but in Barralong social circles they at
tach no such gloomy significance to
the present The mother-in-law
smiles graciously, puts the head away
in her larder, if she possesses one'
and informs the bridegroom that he
can take his bride whenever he likes.
The young lady, no doubt, has fallen
in with the custom of the country and
would decline to give her hand to any
swain who was too delicate to wade
through slaughter to the hymeneal
altar.
The name of the female child of
nature whom Mc. Bethel welded Was
Teepoo. She, it appears, Is still alive
and has borne him son. The Court
of Chancery some timo ago directed
inquiries to be made to the proper
authorities in Bechuan aland, which is
now British territory, and the answer
received was that Mr.. Bethel married,
according to Barralong customs, this
young lady, Teepoo, shortly before
the country was annexed. Therefore,
| it would follow if this were the fact
that she was his legal wife and the
child the legitimate heir to Mr.
Bethell's property. That is just the
question which Mr.. Justice Stirling is
now considering.
Mr. Christopher Bethel was the son
of Mr. W. P Bethel, member of Par
lament for the West Riding Of York
shire, who died IN 1879. This gentle
man by his will devised real and lease
hold property to trustees and ultimate
ly 10 his son Christopher, when he
should attain the age of twenty-five;
or, if he died before that age, then to
his wife and children. In case of his
dying childless, the property was to
90 to a brother of Christopher Bethel,
who is the plaintiff in the present ac-
ton and who seeks to obtain the
estate as against the poSthumous
child of the Barralong Teepoo. 1t is
a nice question for the courts to
decide. Barralong Teepoo's son is
probably not fitted by nature to adorn
English rural society, SO that even
if he were adjudged to be the rghtful
owner of the estates, he might not
know what to do with them. How
ever, we are not concerned with the
consequences of what. seems 10 be a
foolish action on the part of this i'll
starred young Englishman, sent out
to try his fortune in South Africa at
an early age, and subject TO all the
temptations of solitude and bar barOus
surroundings The whole point which
the court has to consider is practically
what constitutes recognized Barra-
long marriage ceremony, and if Mr..
Bethel went through the rites, OK
head and ALL II is the rite itself
which is our present theme.
Ca the whole, the custom, strange
as il appears. is hardly more gro