Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-10-01

: They marry young and the rule here il Q
Large family. Nearly every woman you see has
baby at the breast and Russia has perhaps
more children to the population than any other
country on the globe. Marriages among the
peasants are often arranged by the parents and
there are frequent love matches at which the
priest is not called in. The habits of the peo-
pie are such that 1t is n wonder there is not
even a greater per cent Of illegitimate births
than there are. The sexes herd together like
cattle in these little Russian huts, and young
girls and unmarried men and the women and
men OF several families will crowd together
upon the ledge Of the Russian stove, and there
Is no such thing single beds in q Russian
village.
THE DAUGHTERS OF MERCHANTS.
Above the peasants is ths merchant class and
the women OF this class are to a large extent
different from those Of the nobility or the
peasants. They do not do the hard work Of
the peasants nor have they the intelligence Of
their sisters Of the nobility. The merchants Of
Russia form to large extent the middle class
and the merchants wives and daughters are
kept ont of sight. They spend their time In
dressing. smoking and eating, and their hus-
bands when they chat with their fellows about
women usually SPEAK of them as 1.-The children
of the devil, and they are full of
all sorts of superstitions concerning them. In
none of the Russian churches is a woman per-
United 10 go into the inner sanctuary, and il
one Is going out hunting il IL considered bad
luck to meet woman and he had better turn
back The daughters Of these merchants are
often very religious and very superstitious Their
marriages are usually made by matchmaker,
and the merchant is expected TO
give good dowry with his daughter
when she enters matrimony. Long engage
ments are not common and they seldom last
more than two or three months. Among the
peasants the girls usually weave and embroider
their own wedding gowns and they begin to get
ready for marriage as soon as they are old
enough to sew. Among the merchants after a
girl Is engaged her friends come in and helm
her sew upon her wedding outfit and she has
sewing circles and quilting bees in preparation
for the marriage. These sewing circles are
held during the afternoon and after tea the
bridegroom and few of his bachelor friends
drop in and the girls and the future bride have
a dance with them during the evening.
RUSSIAN MARRIAGES.
Russian marriages generally take place at
night and the ceremony is performed by the
priest The bridegroom meets the bride at the
church and the pair carry lighted tapers with
them to the altar. The taper that burns out
hrst Is supposed to indicate the death Of its
holder. After the ceremony the bridal party
walk three times around the part of the church
where the cross IL, and after the benediction
they kiss the holy pictures of the church and
they Kiss each other three times during the cere-
mony. When the whole service is over the bride
/ groom leads the bride 10 his house. where his
| peasants greet him and where they are blessed
with bread and salt. There is q wedding supper
after this and during 1t the bride and BRIDE
| groom go of to bed. Every Russian man wears
boots, and ID used to be the custom that the
bride must pull on her husbands boots the first
night Of the marriage. In one Of these boots
before going TO the wedding he usually secreted
a sum OF gold or silver, but he did not tell his
bride in which boot the money was II she got
the right boot the money belonged to her
and her husband had to draw Oh his own
boots in the future. II shs got the wrong one
! be had the right TO use hsr = bootjaok whsn-