The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-07-02
A CURIOUS WEDDING PRESENT.
nd the Merchant Wish to Rebuke
lis Daughter, or Was 1t His Sim
.HfAf&u
New YORK Trlbune.l

''There was a fine old gentleman in
this city, who from the humblest begin
ningssmade his way steadily up to COM
mercial fame and immense wealth, all
by'the.manufacture of SOAP" said New
Xorker.the other day, "and with all his
wealth and prosperity he never forgot
how a poor man feels or lost any Of his
consideration for the rights of others,
Pride never pulled him up nor made
hhmlashamed Of his business or his early
history.
"He was proud of the. purity and ex-
cellence of his soap, and. the secret of his
success over his rivals lay in the fact
that he invented several processes for
cheapening the manufacture of that arti-
cle,, and his great factory in this city
wasjfull of machinery Of his own inven-
ton and manufacture. He made one
ample fortune solely out of patenting
theideas of his fertile brain, and several
others by selling the manufactures ne
was TINS able to turn out.
"His wife was as intensely purse proud
asshe was simple, though her origin was
as.simple as his own, and her daughter
took after her. This child married well,
as they say; that is, young swell about
town proposed to her on account of the
great wealth he knew she would inherit.
When the engagement was settled the
daughter and mother asked the old man
what he was going to do in the way of
setting the young people up in life.
Here they ran up against an unex-
pected snag. The old boy would give
nothing in the way of dowry. He
thought the bridegroom should support
his wife unaided till her fathers will
gave her share of his estate. The ut
most he could be prevailed upon to do
was to give his daughter a wedding
present. What this would be he stead
fastly'refused to say just then. On the
wedding day, however, his gift to the
bride was the deed for handsome house
in fashionable street, completely fur
nished in costly style from top to bottom.
"The bridal tour had all been arranged,
so no stop was made by the happy pair
to examine the new house. All through
the honeymoon they talked of the pleas
ure they would have in going over the
house, examining the pictures and plate
and entertaining their friends in it.
Great was the delight with which they
entered their new home on their return.
The carpets were velvet, the hangings of
silk and lace, the furniture hand carved,
the pictures old masters, the linen of the
finest, and silverplate was everywhere,
even in the kitchen.
''The bridegroom was delighted, but
the brides cheeks were crimson, and her
eyes flashed fire that tears could not
quench. Everywhere she looked she was
familiar objects that filed her with rage.
Snatching heavy silver salver from the
table, she showed to her husband, en-
graved on it infinitely but with elaborate
detail, the representation of bar of
soapwif' her fathers well known trade
mark ON it.
''This queer crest was everywhere
about the house, worked into carved
furniture, woven in the linen and hang
ings, and even painted on the carriage
and stamped on the harness which were
presented with the house. 1t was the
old mans greatest pride, that trademark
and Whit it stood for, but whether he
had it put on his daughters things out
OF sheer simplicity of heart or whether
he intended it as a rebuke to her foolish
pride l never found out"