Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-01-14
WEDDING PRESENTS.
A RomOnce Of Biscuit B0xes-An EN-
barrassment of Riches.

| barrassment of Riches.
Returning from my wedding journey yester.
day, says writer in the ST. James Gazette, ]
found three brown paper parcels on my table
did not undo them. What happened was this
My wife carried them out of my presence, and
soon afterward heard the saving of strings
with table-knife. Then all was silence. When
We met again'at dinner I raised my eyebrows
interrogatively, and she replied, 1.-TWO" We
have had no further talk on the matter, for We
understand each others feelings thoroughly.
The outsider, however, will need an explana-
ton.
Though turned my back on those parcels, !
am not naturally an injurious person. When
first wedding gifts began to reach me, indeed,
could with difficulty restrain my desire to I'M
wrap them until the housekeeper had departed.
For a reason that has always puzzled me,
had put of telling my housekeeper Of my APP
preaching marriage, and when did tell her, a
few days after the event Drowning in case she
should attempt to be jocular) found to my
surprise that she had known it for a long time
Since then have remembered that when the
packages reached me they had generally an
air-hole in them. That, however, is by the
way. The first present that reached me was
biscuit-box, and I took it out of the cup
board (where l was concealing it from the
housekeeper) several times to have another
look at it. That very night wrote a warm
letter of thanks to the donor, telling him that,
strangely enough, he had sent the very article
We longed to have. In reply, the tone of which
was rather Disappointing he commented upon
my premature use of the first person plural,
and added, Il have given dozens of wedding
gifts in my time, and, strangely enough have
always been informed by the recipients that
the present was the very article that they
longed to have Try something less hack
neyed in the way of thanks with your friends"
he concluded, and by-and-by had reasons of
my own for taking his advice. The lady who
is now my wife, and whom l shall here call NJ,
also had letter from me about my first we'd
ding-gift. l did not tell her what it
was. but offered her a pair of gloves if she
could guess. She replied by the next post,
Il feel certain it is a biscuit-box." This
might have opened my eyes to what was to
follow: but Ms jumps at conclusions have
always been happy, and verify believe l as
psychological phenomenon she had explained
to me, and her name for which is sympathy"
had no more wedding gifts for some days;
but another bachelor friend dropped in on me
one night and asked me to choose an article for
myself at Regent-street shop. He mentioned
the price limit, but, with folly that now
chafe at, told him not to bother about giving
me anything. Next forenoon came, with his
card, biscuit-box; and in the evening had a
letter from NJ. telling me that among her gifts
was biscuit-box. 1 remember laughing
heartily at this before replying, Fancy our
that was: we have now seventeen"
The biscuit-boxes kept rolling in-round
biscuit-boxes, square biscuit-boxes, oblong
blscult-boxes, silver, glass and china biscuit
boxes. During those last days seemed to be
doing nothing but carrying biscuit-boxes
carried them lovingly; but time came when
showed them in. When opened the cup
board door one or more biscuit-boxes fell out
got to know biscuit-boxes in their brown
paper, however their covering might disguise
them, with as much certainty as they say a
dramatic critic can tell the plot Of play after
glancing at the stage furniture. Only once
(after became good at it) do I remember
being deceived. l thought my present this
time was box OF cigars; for, having stripped
Of the brown paper, l came upon a cigar-box
with BEST wishes from j. J. Warwick" scrubbed
on it. Warwick is a great smoker, and my de-
light at that moment made me forget his taste
less sneers at my favorite mixture. But my
joy was short-lived. for no sooner had forced
open the lid than a biscuit-box jumped up.
The expression is not an exaggeration, for it was
patent biscuit-box, and the spring had slip
ped, thus enabling the box to expand sud-
denly. We cannot discover how the spring
works, but that Is no great matter, have four
other patent biscuit-boxes.
Dublin lady sent me a letter saying that
sue udu iorWdIueu NE tIat Gay q lttle wedding
gift 1t has never reached me; but did not
like to tell her so. She did not say what the
little gift was, and after few days wrote her
reply, thanking her for "her charming
present" have since seen her husband and
from a casual remark he let fall learn that
the present was biscuit-box. Only to ladies
did l reply in this courteous manner. When
the donors were men took to acknowledging
their biscuit-boxes stiff1y on a postcard and
in my mind 1 even drew up autographed
form of reply: Dear (space left for name). l
thank you heartily for the biscuit-box YOU
so kindly sent me. Yours makes the -"
(space for the tenth" or fifteenth" as the
case may beg.
1t must not be thought that we only got
seventeen blseult-boxes in ALL / got sixteen
Gncluding the two awaiting my return from
the wedding journey, and NJ. got seven; so
that we really received twenty-three. NJ, how
ever, exchanged all hers except one and she
wanted me to ask my friends to exchange mine.
Unfortunately, though l knew who had sent
me biscuit-boxes, could not say who was the
donor of any particular box. By way of exper-
iment l sent back one box to my old friend
Lindsay, explaining to him that / would feel
obliged if he would send something else in its
place-anything else. He replied that he
would be happy to do so, only that had not
returned him his present. The box he sent me
was glass with a silver lid. This was no guild
ance, for seven OF my biscuit-boxes answer
that description. The matter ended with Lind
says returning the biscuit-box Git turned out to
be patent one), though should have been
eternally grateful if he had kept it.
My wife has thought it best still to conceal
the biscuit-boxes, few of them even being ex-
hibited at the Neutrality-suspicious. What dis
tresses her is that. when the donors visit us.
the chances are that they will not be helped to
biscuits out Of their own boxes. l look for
ward to that