The Opelousas courier., 1889-06-01
HOPE FOR SEINSTERS.
A Railroad Agent Devises a Scheme fol
popuIarizing Marriage.

lopularizlng Marriage.
c. I. Lewis, who is the agent of the
Canada Pacific railroad at the impor-
tant station of Indian Head. Northwest
Territory, has come before the world
with a transportation ~saheme, which
would have been hailed with delight
| by Adam and Eve, had it been possible
to put it into practical operation at the
time of their inforceawithdrawal from
the Garden of Eden, ana which, though
lying fallow and dormant in human
imagination through all the years that
have followed Adams emigration, has
lost nothing of its intrinsic elements
of popularity.
Mr.. Lewis calls. and calls loudly, for
the introduction by all the railway
and steamship lines of the civilized
world of a 'passenger's return rebate
marriage certificate" He says it is
needed in Indian Head, and would
doubtless be welcomed everywhere
else. He has beguiled the tedious in
tervals between trains at Indian Head
by writing a book on the subject,
which. in this era of erotic literature,
is as fresh and welcome as the earliest
daisy of the spring. 1t is indeed ''a
daisy" for in it the author deyotes the
fertility of his brain and the eloquence
of his pen to the furtherance of a
scheme which shall render lawful we'd
fnaE moro 0nr,,1o, fhop AVIAN
It is the belief of Mr.. Lewis, fos-
tered by a long experience in the
Northwest, that nothing is so much
needed out there as population, and he
has noticed with pain that although
the influx of males is considerable,
the majority of the newcomers leave
their girls behind them. The ''return
rebate marriage certificate" which he
urges upon all railroads to adopt, is
designed to facilitate a speedy union
of loving hearts. This is the way the
railroad ~litterateur puts the PROPOSE
ton and explains how the inspiration
dawned upon him.
The idea came to the author amid
she din and hustle of railway life,
when trying to explain to a pioneer
young man, who had confided to us the
story of 1.-The girl he left behind him."
which he related with pathetic inter-
est, that our great railroads had no
means to distinguish between him and
any other passenger who had no inter-
est in the country. That as COM
mon carriers we could offer him only
ordinary rates. and when he positively
charged the Railways with their high
east-bound rates as being really respon-
sible for his misfortune in not being
able to return East and fulfill his mat
rimonial engagement, we wer forced
to defend our position; hence the pro-
posed rebate certificate. That silenced
all his arguments and filled him with
enthusiasm at the possibility of such a
thing being accomplished. This young
mans experience is the key to the sit
uation, and only illustrates the cases
of hundreds of others that are contin.
ually occurring.
Mr.. Lewis Their goes on to explain
the form of the rebate certificates he
would have the railroads issue. Tt is
a printed document which any man
going West or elsewhere, who is about
to marry, can purchase for a nominal
figure at any railroad Office. Upon
the reverse side a space is left for the
copying o. alteration of the marriage
certificate which is given to all brides
when their felicity eventuates. This
certificate. when backed by the evi-
dence that the purchaser has taken to
himself a wife, entities the couple to
materially reduced railroad fares dur.
ing their honeymoon. Mr.. Lewis has
given considerable attention to the sub
iect and thinks he has "got it down
fine" Under no pretext whatever can
the certificates be made to provide for
any rebate in the railroad fares de.
manded of mothers-in-law.-Minneap~
oils Tribune.