St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-23
MARITAL ODDITIES.
Most widOwers and Widows Re-
marry, Sometimes Twice.

Most WidOxers and Widows Re
marry, Sometimes Twice.
New York Dispatch,
1t has been remarked that times of
speculation are invariably accompan-
led by an increase of marriages. DR..
Farr, the eminent statistician, hazards,
therefore, the suggestion that it is the
spirit of speculation itself that leads
many to embark on matrimony at such
times. Another reason, which he is
careful not to ignore, is the increased
prosperity that induces and sometimes
seems to accompany what he calls the
periodical epidemics of speculation.
A great war, after it is over, is good
for marriage. So is a good harvest,
so is the establishment of new indus
tries or the extension of old ones. The
reason is the same in all these in
stances; the increased prosperity OF
the general body of the people. So in
timately is matrimony associated with
national well-doing that it has come
to be styled the barometer of prosper
ity. It's indications, however, are more
for the future than for the present,
dealing rather with the expected and
anticipated than with the actual. But
this only goes to SubStantiate what
was said of marriage as a speculation
The nation is sometimes extraordtn-
arily sanguine, and when this is the
case marriages are plentiful. Great
popular leaders inspire this feeling.
A statesman of genius at the head Of
affairs perceptibly increases the mar
riage rate
In word, the great fluctuations in
the marriages are the results of peace
after war, abundance after Gearth,
high, wages after want of employment,
speculation after languid enterprise.
confidence after diStruSt, and national
triumphs after national disasters.
The marriage reurns invariably show
a corresponding increase for any aug
mentation in the duties paid upon malt,
wine and spirits. They in the same
way keep pace with the consumption
of tea, sugar, coffee and tobacco,
and with the imports of raw silk,
cotton, wool and timber. The one in
crease is not, however, the cause of
the other; both are but the. effects of
the same cause increased national
prosperity
Marriages after banns are five times
as numerous as marriages after IL
censes. When the price of wheat is
high the diminution in the former class
is comparatively much greater than in
| the latter. They are the first to be
affected by high prices, license and
banns being regarded as the pros
pective badges of capital and labor
not without important exceptions, how
ever.
Autumn is the favorite season every
where; with few spring is preferred
Half the weddings throughout the
country are celebrated on Wednesday
and Thursday. Saturday has more
than the average number. Friday is
not a favorite, as few marriages are
celebrated on that day.
than bachelors. Widows are more in>
clined to marry than spinsters. Both
facts are eloquent in favor of the COM
parative advantages of matrimony.
For one bachelor that marries be-
tween the ages of fifty and fifty-five
seven widowers remarry between these
ages. These are marriages out of equal
| numbers of each class; the actual num-
Der of bachelors married will be great
er only in proportion as they exceed
by seven to one the actual number of
| widowers living at these ages. Under
the same conditions, for every spinster
married between thirty and sixty-five
two widows are remarked.