The Penn's Grove record., 1896-07-10
WEDDING GIFTS.

"Pooh, Presents" said the Old Mar
ried Man to the bridegroom. Don
think you'll get what you want. IL
tell you my experience.
"As tho time for our marriage drew
near | used to call at the house every
available evening md whisper con
deutially 10 the curly hend which exact
Is fitted my shoulder that l was the
mckirst fellow on earth. On one oc'
CASTOR Agnes sighed and murmurct
drnumily that that was just what she
"alt.
That was on the 9TH.
"On the 18th | stopped In u minute Al
moor 10 see ii she loved me MS much as
Mt Ills the night before. She replied
that she lid that love was u%naltrr-
able but that she must hurry upstairs
now or the drrsSmaker would get her
skirts futc-shaprd Instead of organ
plpcl.
on the 14th the present began to ar
rive also the relatives. 1t became an
unsettled problem which Of the two
were more numerous. AGgie lad
cousins once removed. | had several
uncles and aunts. All were well of;
in fact, it was n curious coincidence
that we were the only poor branches on
our respective family trees. / was in
an insurance ofIice-iire insurance, not
life insurnnce-and when l had com
municatcd 10 her the news of my re-
cent promotion she had declared in the
face of her family's unaccountnhle
preference for Henry Walker Cwho was
not so good a fellow as l an by any
manner of means) that to be Mrs.
Joseph L%.ounshury and live in n small
house on a very small income and bliss
was precisely her ideal of existence.
So we were not marrying as n specula-
ton; nevertheless, since marriage
comes so seldom in ones life, we had
hopes that our moneyed relatives
would do the handsome thing.
They did. First came a complete
set of knives. forks and spoons in a
polished wood case. They were from
the cousin .AGGie had been named for.
Such n sensible present! said her
qlother; they will last a lifetime
Yes said l. it will take us a good
while to wear all those out two Mt n
time
Don't yon suppose we're ever E"
ing to entertain any company, Joe?
asked the girl of my affection, tapping
me III the cheek with one Of the forks.
THE same night l had n note from
her saying, dearest Joe, you ought to
see the lovely after dinner coffee spoons
Second Cousin Milly has sent-no two
alike. Orange plush case. Isn't II ex-
citing2 Don't tell, dear, but l almost
wish they'd been something else, for !
think some the girls are going to give
me spoons The rest of this letter was
not interesting to you.
This was the beginning of an ava
lanche of spoons-Charter Oak spoons,
nutmeg spoons, soldiers monument
spoons. witch spoons, bust spoons, p0r-
trait spoons Il called these last our
picture gallery, and suggested that
they should be framed In ribbons and
hung in the parlOr). One Of our friends
sent a pair of salted-almond spoons,
hoping that we would exchange them
II they were duplicated, hut 1t turned
out that those We're the only ones We
had. The sugar spoons were all
marked. There were five of them.
1T is n time-honOred custom In on.
office when one of us is married for the
rest TO combine and buy a picture;
and you could generally tell what year
a mans wedding came off by a glance
at his parlor wall. Williams, who was
married in 81, had Far Away
Browns, a few years later, was THE
Three Fatcs.' Ours was. of course, the
latest thing out, 1t had n silver frame,
"As the days went by and pieces of
silver piled up on us l was more than
once reminded Of the couple whose
c0urtship was conducted In Brown
ingesc, and who were fitted out by
their admiring friends with a Brown.
Ing tea set, with quotations around the
edge. oh. the little more, and how
much 1t isl The FOrds had n run or
china. but Il good deal of it got broker
TIE hrSt year The Slliths' specially
WIS etchings: they had enough for ev,
cry room III the mousse only, they never
Iad a house, 'h"y boarded ever since
th'y W"r" married llhaliy n Gilman
CANT when my "Id hrle ON sent "S
a solid tea act, | hadn't expected any