The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-06-16
A CURIOUS WEDDING PRESENT.
Did the Merchant Wish to Rebuke His
Daughter, or Was 1t His Simplicity?

| Did the Merchant Wish to Rebuke His
/ Daughter, or Was 1t His Simplicity?
There was a fine old gentleman in
this city, who from the humblest begin
nings made his way steadily up TO COM
mercial fame and immense wealth. all
by the manufacture of soap" said Anew
Yorker the other day, land with all his
wealth and prosperity he never forgot
how poor man feels or lost any of his
consideration for the rights of others,
Pride never pulled him up nor made
him ashamed 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-
Gle, and his great factory in this city
was full of machinery Of his own inven-
ton and manufacture. He made one
ample fortune solely out Of patenting
the ideas of his fertile brain, and several
others by selling the manufactures hs
was thus able to turn out.
"1is wife was as intensely purse proud
as he 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 10 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 a dowry. He
thought the bridegroom should support
his wife unaided till her fathers viii
gave her share Of his estate. The ut
most he could be prevailed upon to do
was to glv5 his daughter a wedding
present. What this would be he stead
lastly 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 topic bottom.
1.-The bridaltou 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 aud plate
and entertaining their friends in it.
Great was the delight with winch 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. bat
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 % her husband, en-
gTaved on il INFINITELY bat with elaborate
detail, the representation Of bar Of
soap with her fathers wei known trade
mark on it.
This queer crest was everywhere
about the house, worked into carved
furniture, woven IN the linen and hang
fngs, and even painted on the carriage /
and stamped On the harness which were /
presented with the houas. Il was the I
old mans greatest pride, that trademark
and what il stood for, bus Whistler hs
had il pat On his daughters things out
Of sheer simplicity Of heart o. Whistler I
he intended IL as a rsbuke % her foolish 1
pride never found CIT. Neg YORK I
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