Evening journal., 1896-10-28
QUEER WEDDINGS.
OCCASIONS WHEN ODDlTY WAS AN
IMPRESSIVE FEATURE.

Weoded by Photograph - SymbOlioal
Marriages of India.
Tho conventional idea Of wedding
does not agree with the tastes of some
people, and OCCASIONALLY very eccentric
and sometimes romantic marriage cere-
monies are solemnized. Men and wom-
sn entirely opposite in disposition and
character frequently unite in the holy
/ bonds Of neutrality-suspicious. much
( to their mutual regret This peculiar
fact, it would seem, also applies to oddi-
ties Of human nature. In many of the
travelling shows the freaks who help to
dIaw money from the public intermar-
~, and it is not an unusual thing to
find the fat man welded to the skeleton
woman and the tattooed man to the
bearded lady.
Mrs. hannah Battersby, who one
time toured the country as fat wOm-
an, was married to a Pennsylvania
man, and it is stated as a curious fact
that no sooner wore they married than
she began to lose flesh and he to gain
/ il. His weight increased so rapidly that
] 4aN FANl tiih ~ NAlAlhAAAiH liA4Arlll tlc a
fat man An exception to this rule of
contrast, however, was Colonel Glover,
the giant who stood C feet inches. He
was wooded to Martha Peabody, the
American giantsss. Several years ago,
when they appeared in public together,
they uscd to receive as much as $3.50 a
week
The Italian consular agent at Cincin-
rati performed the most peculiar mar
riage ceremony on record. Tho groom
Was well to do resident Of the Ohio
city, and his bride lived in Italy. The
contracting parties were thousands Of
miles apart when the wedding was Per
formed, tho inarringe being hy proxy.
The consul filed in blank certificate,
which he forwarded to authorities in
ltaly. who IN tie presence Of the parish
! pricsf exhibited it before the bride, who
affixed her signature, accepting it as her
action. The marriage was perfectly
binding.
A very similar ceremony was per-
formed come time ago. The affair took
place by proxy, and Miss Maple was
married by a Clergyman in New York
to q man who at the time of the mar
riage lay dying in a Texas town. The
bridegroom was represented III the cere-
mony by the brides cousin. who made
the necessary responses and signatures
as his proxy. The two lovers had been
engaged Tor long time, and Miss
Maple wished to bear the name Of her
beuOthod even though she could do so
only Gs q widow.
The all important ring is sometimes
| forgotten, and in more than one case
the door key OF the church has had to
do duty, but it ia not often that portions
OF tho marriage service are omitted. In
a southern town, however, little while
4s9 m %s asfseE sas eersev tPga tPga ebs efefRg6qh
had forgotten the words. with this
ring 1 tkCe wed, " etc, thus relieving
the bridegroom of tho most serious part
of his obligations, and the fair bride
was minus "a wedding ring. Instead Of
sitting down to the breakfast the party
hurried back to the church and were thus
practically married twice in one day.
Cupid ran amuck some years age
among the old folk Of a Georgia town.
An old soldier, 78 years of age, led &c
the altar an aged damsel who had seer
2 summers. There were three brides
maids, whose ages respectively We're 60,
So and 20 They were all spinsters
The best man, who was 10, brought the
combined ages up to 423 years.
An unusual kind Of marriage wal
celebrated in New York recently Thii
! was between a couple both deaf anC
dumb. They held prayer books while
friend pointed ont the different passage
in the service as they woro spoken b.
the clergyman, and they made the Gus
|, tomary responses in the deaf and duml
alphabet.
An ingenious couple once conceive,
. the idea Of being married by phono
!. graph. In tho place where the bride
= groom resided he and the minister wen
over the marriage service, and he recite'
the proper responses into the instrument
The phonograph was sent TO the lady
/, she willingly supplying the requisite
!, Il WILL, ," and 81 do" in the presence O
! her pastor, who then pronounced tn
= pair united in matrimony. No cxplana
: tion is given of how they got over tn
difficulty of the ring.
. A well known anthropologist, in de
: scribing various marriage customs, re
9 fers to a strange sort of symbolical mar
riage which is supposed TO have origi
mated in India. 1t is marriage witt
trees, plants, animals and inanimat
. objects If any one proposes to ente
upon union which is not in accordance
. with traditional ideas, it is believe,
that i'll luck which is sure to follow
may be averted by a marriage Of thi
d kind, the evil consequences being born
p by the object chosen. In various region
1 girl must not marry before her eldes
10 sister, but the difficulty is overcome b,
70 the eldest daughter marrying the branol
of tree. Then the wedding Of tn
younger daughter may safely be cele
" bratcd. Buffalo Express.
r. Contradictions.
tfThp ls,o~p tho ,oa,.r;o, - Not cr