The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-05-30
MARRIED BY PROXY.
a Wedding Celebrated While the Bride
groom Was Many Miles Away.

a. '" O"oAhS StteDrdGeu Wh1IG the Bride
groom Was Many Miles Away
Senior Ulplano Obando was, until re-
Gently, Consul of the United States of
Colombia at San Francisco.
We, the Senior and myself, lived at the
same hotel and, by mutual agreement,
we each instructed the other in the lam
guage, customs and manners of our re-
spective countries.
l grew to be quite fond of the Senior,
he was so generous and simple and
eager to learn our ways. His consular
duties consisted mainly in drawing his
salary, which he did every month with
clocl-like regularity.
The Senior was married learned and
the picture of his wife, which he always
carried about him, was that of charm
in sonora of the regulation Spanish
type of beauty.
Bogota was the home of this loving
pair, Nine. Obando being the niece of
the President of the Republic.
One day the Senior said to me, in his
broken English: Il must go home to
my wife. l can no longer bear this
separation. Besides, my father has been
married to her about long enough"
His father, thought.
"What on earth do you mean?"
asked. "When were you married,
Senor?"
"About six months ago." he replied.
l knew he had been in San Francisco
a year, so l said:
ooh see, your wife did not like San
Francisco so she returned home"
"She has never been here"
"And yet you say you were married to
her six months since?"
Certainly; gave power of attor-
ney to my father, who married Inez in
my stead"
''Now, see here, Obando," remarked.
81 am afraid you're making fun of me.
This idea of your wife being your step
mother at the same time, and your
fathers wife being his daughter in-law
oh, no, it won't do"
The Senior, however, was in earnest,
and then / learned one of the peculiar
customs in vogue in the South American
republic
AS matter of policy or convenience
it had been necessary that Senior Obando
should marry his affianced, and there
fore the necessary instructions were
wired to Panama, conveyed thence
down the Magdalena river to the port,
and by muleback to the capital. In the
same manner the news of the ceremony
was conveyed back to San Francisco,
and Senior Obando was a duly married
man.
Marriages of this sort are by no means
infrequent among Spani- American
people. The proxies are generally
male relatives of either prospective
bride or groom. An intimate friend, in
fact, may perform the Office, though in
the latter case it sometimes happens
that the friend betrays his trust, and
the fond absent husband returns home
to find himself divorced.
These marriages are perfectly legal
and are recognized by the Church. They
are somewhat like binding slips" in
insurance, the policies" being deliv-
cred afterward.
Upon the return of the husband,
though, he must be married publicly.
In case he dies before seeing his
proxy wife, then his ''vicarious"
widow inherits his property, the same
as if she had been married in the regu-
lar fashion.
Senior Obando returned to Bogota, and
the last time heard from him he was
occupying high official position and
living happily with his wife, to whom
he had been regularly" married.-N. Y.
Herald.