The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-05-24
SEEKING WIVES
And HUSBANDS.
CASTOR GaFarni Chats About Marriages
by Means Of Newspapers.
How the Matrimonial Advertisements Of the
Past Compare With Those of To-Day.
A German Writer'S Investigations
Written for THE SUNDAY CALL

| Written for THE SUNDAY CALI
A French writer has just published in
| the 'Nouvelles de Munich" curious ac-
| count OF marriages by means of advertise
ments from their origin up to the present
| day. The Oldest advertisement dates back
| to July 8, 1873, and was inserted in the
| Feuille davis of Frankfort. 1t was
cOuched in these terms:
An honest young girl. single, well made and
| very pretty with the aim of OBJ aiming an In
heritance OF 100000 francs, which justly be-
| longs TO her IN this country, seeks lawyer,
| single man, who VIII engage TO gain her lawsult
| Tor her. In exchange the young girl offers TO
| become the lawyers vile.
1t would be interesting to know If candi-
dates presented themselves and if the law
suit was won, but the German journalist
has not pushed his searches that far.
| Notwithstanding all the progress made in
the science Uf advertising, the matrimonial
| advertisements of the past possess a SAVIOR
which these pat forth by our modern matri-
monial agencies totally lack. One can
| judge OF this from the following advertise
ment which appeared May 2, 1872, in The In
| telligenZblatt of Leipsc:
PRACTICAL QUARTET OF GIRLS.
-Four honest and very pretty girls, from Is to
| "a years OF age, belonging to a good country
/ family, and each of whom possesses a marriage
portion OF 5000 fCiins, desire 10 get married In
| order TO live III town. They fatIer themselves
| that they are good hOuSekeeperS, for they have
| been accustomed To all SORTS OF work, and they
| set greater store by honesty and good family
| than by fortune. For more extended inforna-
| tion, gentlemen not older than 40 and having no
| personal defect only can address the office Of
| publication.
The above advertisement is perhaps a
| trit1e long, but at least it is explicit. In this
| regard, however, the palm belongs 70 card
in the journal de Munich of 1910. As
| suredly advertisements must have cost
much less than at present to judge by the
| dimensions of that one, which read as fol-
| lows:
According to the record am already 20, but
| according TO my siren tn i am but 20. She
! whom desire 10 wed must be between 16 and
20, must have beautiful hair handsome teeth
aud small feet. She must be born Of good aud
| honest Parents and her reputation must be with
out stain. Sh' must dress plainly in velvet and
SILK, and under no preteXt wear any other stuff.
| Neither do want her 10 wear earrings, chains,
! hnger-rngs, nor other Ike trinkets, nor false
| heir. Sh must never make her dresses IN ac-
| cordance Win the prevailing fashion. for there is
nothing more detesrable Than aping the fOllies OF
| others. wish her 10 have her dres eS made in
| conformity with her particular taste and DO not
| want her 10 pay any attention TO the remarks Of
| fashionable people.
FEW ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS.
| / want her to know how 10 ride a horse,
or TO learn equestriansm IL she is ignorant OF IT,
She must never amuse herself by embr0der-
| Ing, Tor that Kind OF exercise OF the fingers is
good only 10 mask emptiness of mind. 1 want
! her 10 be bic TO play on some musical instru-
ment, but 10 understand music thoroughly, for
nothing Is more insuDpOrIable than the din mis-.
| called music with which young woman Ordi-
| narily aftiiet those VINO live IN the same house
with them Size shall be absolute mistress OF the
house, as shall consider II pie asure 10 su bmlt
to her reasonable capriceS, 1t being Odious in my
| opinion for the wife 10 be slave OF The nus.
| band. Shr Will accompany me In all my travels
| aud everywhere l may go, for ii IS shame Tor
| men to pass their days aud nights IN the cafes
while they leave their wives 10 worry themselves
| TO death all alone at home.
WHAT THE WORD MUST" MEANT.
In using the word must" as have above. /
| have not wished to imply an idea OF submission,
| but mer ly TO indicate an understanding, an
| agreement wholly 10 the wife's advantage. On
| the day OF her marriage she Will receive &c, 600
| gulden In Russian or PIusSdu obligations, but
| she will engage TO spend each year the revenue
| OF that sum, for nothing j. more repugnant than
| the vice OF ayarlce. Size must never dance fol
| should not Ike TO see my WIFI bob around like
| fool 1t he IS rich, she viii be the mistress OF
| her fortune, but she must spend all her income,
| FOR Know OF nothing more stupid than saving
up for the beneht Of Others. EniOy life--that IS
| my principle and my philosophy"
| FACTORY GIRL.
The advertisements in our journals have
net this innocent expansion or this original
! ity; nevertheless, we may still find some
| tTeasure-tr0Yes IN the sheets of certain
| countries, where publicity is less costly.
| For example, quite recently at Eoda, In
| Russian Poland the journal OF the town in
| serted the following advertisement:
am an honest working girl aud | work In
| the factory. My father owns fifty hogs, each
| worth 30 rubles. work at the factory, as /
| have said, and whoever wants me can have me
| in lawful marriage.
| MISS MCLARMAN's APPEAL.
| America has the speciality of advertise
ments which are not commonplace. as, for
| instance, that which a certain Miss GeOrgina
| MaeClarman recently published:
! FeiloW.cItIZensl Can YOU remain Indifferent
| IN The presence OF webIed compatriOt,
| quaiDted with music, possessing all hat one can
| desire, even though she b. reduced 10 seeking a
| husband through the medium of The newspapers?
Make haste, fellow-cItzensl Forward, marchi
| Marriage death! advance without fearl
| Since The world has existed, never has a cow
| ardly heart been able 10 win woman!
WAIT FROM THE WILD WEST.
An advertisement still more bizarre aud
which proves that the redskins are decidedly
in 1t is this one, culled from the Prairie
| journal:
An Indian chief offers thousand horses TO
| the white man who will marry his daughter,
| aged years In exchange the white man viii
| inhabit the Indian Territory aud teach the
Indians how 10 plOw The horses represent
capital OF $4,000. The young Indian girl Is of
medium height. She has black eyes, abundant
hair and charming
Alas even among the redskins the idyls
have to-day bl00med in the form of adveT-
| tisementsl How far removed are we from
| LOngfellow's poetic reveriesi
ADVENTURES CUNNING TRAPS.
In Paris singularly wOrded matrimonial
| advertisements are constantly published.
Some Of these are undoubtedly genuine,
| emanatng from country girls who wish TO
make their Nay TO the gddy capital, or from
| girls tired OF poverty and toll who wish for
| relief from their misery in the agreeable
| shape of husband; but an experience will
teach that the majority of these advertise
| mentS are so many traps laid by designing
| adyentureSSHS To pnSUarR and caDture I'M
| wary men with view of deSpOing them OF
| what money they may possess.
Only recently thirty men, mostly ParisianS,
! who should have known better, were caught
| by the speciOuS advertisements of woman
who kept them all on the hooks until she had
beguiled them into making her all the gifts
| they would, when she abandoned them If
| she could, but If not married them and van
| iShed Immediately after the performance of
the nuptal ceremony no one knew whittier.
She was finally exposed, aud received her
| just deserts at the hands of the law she had
L Outraged, but that afforded small satisfaction
to her feeced dupeS, who, of course, never
again as such as caught sight of their precious
cash.
If the real truth about nine tenths of the
matrimonial advertisements and matrimo-
NAL agencies could be reached and written
up, it would afford some highly interesting
reading of the sensational type worthy of
comparison with the best detective romanceS
ever conceived and published by Emile Ga
borau or that equally fertile genius, Xavier
de Montepin. CASTOR GAVARNI