Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-01-04
MARRYING BIZ TUE GLOVE.

A singular custom is this, and in Hol.
land by no means uncommon. Young
men there, having finished the usual
school course, go away from home tc
enter into business for themselves, often
in India or Sumatra, Or Ceylon, to learn
the management Of coffee or spice plan
tations. After becoming established
and in receipt of means sufficient for the
maintenance of q household, Their
thoughts naturally turn toward the
blooming maidens of "fatherland;" pos
sibly may be withered blossoms laid
carefully away, reminders Of half-made
promises; the lonely bachelor dares uot
wholly trust them, but following the
ways Of his forefathers, enters into cor
respondence with friend, gives par
ticulars of his position and means to be
relied upon, and proposes that careful
selection be made among the maidens
now grown to fair estate Of comeliness,
with perhaps a postscript concerning
the "dot" that would be made sure tc
her. This manly confidence meets a
ready response from the home friend ;
he does his best for the absent one, en-
closing photograph of the damsel, and
all parties await the result-camly, if
they can. After the lapse of few
months second letter arrives from
India; enclosed is a soiled, left-hand
glove and a power Of attorney. With
out loss of time ceremony takes place,
the home friend standing for the dis
tant bridegroom, and the young woman
leaves in the next Indian steamer for her
new home. She leaves all she has loved
behind, to meet in strange land new
conditions Of life and happiness. Such
marriage is as binding as if the bride
groom were actually present, and it is
never repudiated. Should either party
die before meeting each other, the sur
vivor would legally share the property
of the deceased. Harpe,'s Ba.ar.
WHO INVENTED THE GUILLo7INEs
"Who invented the guillotine? No
body knows. Some think the Persians
were among the first to make use Of
such an instrument. Long before it
obtained notoriety under it's present
name it had been in use in Scotland,
England, Germany, Italy, and even in
the south of France. Among the priv
ileges of the old nobility OF France was
this mode of being put to death. A
noble had his head chopped off; com
moner was hanged. This was thought
unfair when the revolution broke out
and all We're made equal in the fact of
death. The guillotine gets its name
from DR.. Guillotin, who, as everybody
will tell you, introduced it. This. how
ever, is not the case. DR.. Guillotin
warmly advocated its adoption and in
troduced the bill into the convention.
A DR.. Louis was the real inventor OF the
machine, which was at first called the
"Louisette," after the unfortunate King.
Its present name stuck to in the long
run, much to the disgust of DIR. Gull
lotin. Yes, Louis WI, who was after
ward beheaded on the Place de Ia Con-
corde by means of the guillotine, is said
to have recommended IN alteration,
which was carried out. When Dr..
Louis invented the machine model
was submitted to the King as speci.
men of the most swift and painless
method of execution. Louis examined
it with attention, and approved all the
details except the shape of the knife,
whose edge he said should be oblique.
not straight. This improved guillotine
*as the one by which the King himself
suffered. "-Philadclphia Press.
GEORGE F. PENrEcosr, the eyange.