The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-12-30
Some Are Besought, and Many
Are Stolen.
CUSTOMS AND COSTUMES
THEY ARE as QUEER as THIEF
ARE VARIED.
The Funniest wedding is the Coster-
monsers, and it is n Sight Ihat
comparatiyeIy Few People, Even
in London, Have Witnesseo-
About a Jap Bride.

sight which comparatively lew peo'
nile even in London have witnessed Is
a coster1nonger's wedding. AS WIT
their social betters, the worthy -olh
make the day one Of festivity ana re
ioicing. In this respect the affair oil
fers little from an ordinary holiday on
which they bedeck themselves IN al
their hest. and eat, drink, and gener'
ally make merry.
The novelty of the thing is the con
duct of affairs at the altar. Bridegroom
and bride have spared no resources VI
a1levdom to insure the most presentaoIe
a nnear rance possible. His billycock ua'
is turned we'll down at the ends OF lne
hrim and we'll up at the sides; he wears
q. yelyeteen coat with numerous pear
buttons, flannel shirt and gorgeous
necktie. and trousers winch NJ cl4sely
about the thighs, and from tale hHet
downward are suggestive Oh d slaIi'
candle extinguisher. She wears d-.ldi $
hat with a feather or combination OF
81 +bars which for size a Duchess OF
cafnsborough might envy, long plaeh
iacl,et. a. bright red dress and a Wn4Ie
i,archief round her neck. Wlth the
swinging gait characteristic OF coster'
mon gerland, the pair make their way
nm the church, followed by thell
friends. most of whom take their places
in the pews. -
The one feature then wanting IN q
usually solemn ceremony is solenElty;
The bride especially seems to regard
the affair as a grand joke, ana IN the
middle of it all thinks nothing OF turn
ing round and giving her fr1ends De-
~ In, nj
in their turn do not wait for the con-
clusion of the ceremony to commence
pelting the bridal pair with rice DIS
missed by the clergyman after a whlle,
the bridegroom marches off, leaving MS
bride to follow. They both give and re-
ceive coarse but good-natured chaff,
though the bridegroom seems Tor the
moment somewhat over-absorbed IN
consciousness of his own Importance
In barbarous or semi barbarous Iands
capture is seen in more or less serious
form, and where the bridegroom does
not actually use brute force, the prlde
is yet afforded an opportunity OF escap-
ing a hated union by outdistanclng him
in a race, in which she is given a start
that insures her winning if she cares to.
An. amusing variant on the story OF
Hippomenes and ATLANTA is TO be
found in the neighborhood OF Slnsa-
pore. Marriage there is a very easy af-
fair, depending almost entirely on the
arraneement made with the parents OF
the girl If the tribe lives on the bank
of a lake or stream. she is placed in a
canoe. and started off sometime before
the would-be husband is allowed 10
enter another. These contests must or
ten be very. exciting. If the girl IS anx-
ious not to be CAUGHT she need not be.
If, on the other hand she wishes to be
married, she may yet give her lover a
smart run. and only slow down sllf-
ficientlv to let him overtake her In the
end When no stream is near, Mr. j.
Cameron, in his account of Malayan
India, says that the race is run on land,
under the same conditions, but in this
there is nothing exceptional
We have seen how, in some cases,
brides have to be captured by simulated
assault and in others by racing. In
the Malay Archipelago there is another
very curious custom. In Sunlatra, the
large island which lies to the northwest