The morning times., 1895-09-15
Peculiar Manners Of Seekers of
Licenses to Wed.
CLERKS KNOW THEM AT ONCE
Some Try to Look Unconcerned, Others
Smile. With an Air of Self-Satisfac-
Iion-The Romantic Young Man
Calls His Girl by Her Pet Name.
The widower's Demeanor.

hall was standing in the door that opens
on the large stone-pillared portico one
day last week when Young man of about
three and twenty years alighted from
car Immediately in front tie entrance. The
young man stepped To the pavement and
again appeared in full view beside the
statue of Lincoln.
The new conner looked about him an
instant He was not a frequcnter of That
particular spot, axe was not familiar with
the temple OF justice. Then be advanced
up the store steps towards the doorway.
He was mce-loukinE, was probably
department clerk or a bookkceper down
town.
When lie reached the door he said TO the
clerk:
'wili you direct me to the place where
marriage licenses are i4sued?'
GOT WHAT HE WANTED.
The clerk went with him and served as
the open sesame to Hymen's altar. The
young man selected a five-dollar bill from
welI-filled purse and departed with the
trophy. For all tie reporter could have
told he had gone through that same little
performance a hundred Times, lie did il
SO unconcernedly.
How did YOU know that fellow wanted
marriage license when you saw him COM
ing towards the door" WAS asked the clerk.
by his looks" was the cpigrammatic
response. You evidently didn't notice
the nervous vein in that air OF unfamiliarity
he showed with his surroundings. Just after
he passed the Lincoln statue You evidently
did not see him burst unceremoniously into
smile that Immediately vanished when he
looked up and saw us. Maybe your eyes
were not strong enough, too, to see the little
dark spot on the ease of his watch when he
opened il 40 note lhe time. That was her
picture. Then was when | made my an
nouncemcnt"
And il is so always. So accustomed does
the marriage license clerk become TO the
characteristics of the man VINO is about TO
enter the realm of matrimOny that il is or
dinarily waste of words for the license
seeker To say what ne wants after he reaches
the door of the clerks office. The clerk
has the blank certificate out and is await
Ing him when he reaches the desk.
LICENSE HUNTERS CLASSIFIED
While the actions Of the young man just
described are not an UnconTnon character
iStic. yet .he belongs Ia he minority
the uuutereSting minority. or course,
they all become more or less Interesting
to the clerk. he sees So much OF t.r.m.
But there are others
There is the romantic license humer.
He is fun of love and it crops Oh; in his
actions. When the clerk says, ''wha; is
the young iady's nanc?'' Ile - mantle
man inva riably calls her by her iJc5 name.
Then he recalls himself aud hlDShcs and
steamers and corrects himself. Tfcn
when the clerk hands him ihc certificate
it doesn't look right. The -cason IS that
her name is spelled out ~ fnil. Shy
didn't he just leave IL her pet nan.e?
The romantic man will carefully PAGE
the envelope containing ;he' Iicncsc in
his inside vest pocket as lie goes AVA?
There is another class, the widowcr. He
steps up to the desk with the atmosphere
about him reflectinG the fact that he has
been there before. If the clerk needs any
information the license-seeker can give
it. He knows which name to give first
and needs not ask how much the license
costs. He doesn't tell his story. He doesn't
have to. The little gold heart locket,
intended as an article of jewelry for the
other sex. that has superseded his watch
charm tells it.
GOLDEN HAIRS ON HIS COAT.
Then, too, there are two or three golden
hairs lying innocently on his shoulder.
They didn't come from his head, not for
years, anyhow. for the Individual hairs
that are particularly shy of the crown of
his head and leave that portion of his
anatomy staring ike an ostrich egg
from pile of Sahara sand are short and
gray. They show that she down whose
back they were supposed to have hung
Is young. He was u widower and knew a
thing or two.
The colore individual is one OF the
most frequent visitors the marriage Ii
ceDse clerk has. In fact, though there is
no positive way of determining, it is a
safe estimate TO say that oDe-half OF
the marriage licenses issued are taken
out by colored people.
In many instances, however. the col
the marriage is more ludicrous than the
lover who bought the license.
Only yesterday one of the clerks dis
covered in an equity docket, where only
the proceedings in suits in equity are sup
posed to be enrolled, u minister's return
OF marriage he had celebrated. The re-
turn was made on the 9th day of Decem-
ber, but the clergyman failed to append
his name 10 the. entry.
Another species of marriage license ap-
plicdDt is the soft young man. He who
has sat on the park bench with the girl
he calls his and has watched with her
the full moon roll along The next night