The St. Johns herald., 1896-07-25
WEDDING GIFTS.


 ried Man to the bridegroom. 'Don''
 think you'll get what you want. I'll
 tell you my experience.
 "As the time for our marriage drew
 near used to call at the house every
 available evening and whisper conf
 dentially to the curly head which exact
 ly fitted my shoulder that was the
 luckiest fellow on earth. On one oc-
 casion Agnes sighed and murmured
 dreamily that that was just what she
 felt.
 F. 'SThat was on the 9th.
 r 'tOn the 12th stopped In a minute at noon to see if she loved me as much as at 11:15 the night before. She replied that she did-that love was unalter able-but that she must hurry upstairs now or the dressmaker would get her skirts fute-shaped instead of organ piped.
 ''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 had cousins once removed. I had several uncles and aunts. All were well off; in fact, 1t was a curious coincidence that we were the only poor branches on our respective family trees. I was in an insurance offlce-fire insurance, not life insurance-and when l had con- municated to her the news of my re- cent promotion she had declared in the face of her family's unaccountable preference for Henry Walker (who was manner of means) that to be Mrs. Joseph Lounsbury and live in a small house on a very small income and bliss was precisely her ideal of existence. So we were not marrying as a specula- fion; nevertheless, since marriage comes so seldom In one's 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 polished wood case. They were from the cousin Aggie had been named for: 'Such a sensible present. said her mother; they will last lifetime.' ! Yes said I, it will take us a good while to wear all those out two at a time
 : Don't you suppose we're ever go- ing to entertain any company, JoeT asked the girl of my affection, tapping me on the cheek with one of the forks.
 "The same night had a 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 it ex- citing? Don't tell, dear, but I almost | wish they'd been something else, for I | 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-Gharter- Oak spoons nutmeg spoons, soldiers monument spoons, witch spoons, bust spoons, DOT trait spoons q 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 pair of salted-almond spoons. hoping that we would exchange them If they were duplicated, but it turned put that those were the only ones we had. The sugar spoons were all marked. There were five of them.
 Tt is a time-honored custom in our office when one of us is married for the 'est to combine and buy a picture: md you could generally tell what year l mans wedding came off by a glance It his parlor wall Williams, who was married in 'S4, had Far Away Browns, a few years later. was The Three Fates.' Ours was, of course, the atest thing out It had a silver frame.
 "As the days went by-and pieces of liver piled up on us I was more than 'nce reminded of the couple whose ourtship was conducted in Brown ngese, and who were fitted out by heir admiring friends with Brown ng tea set, with quotations around the dge, Oh, the little more, and how I luch it is! The FordS had a run on z nina, but good deal of it got broken ' he first year. The Smiths speciality ' Tas etchingS; they had enough for ey- S " room in the house-only, they never E ad house; they boarded ever since hey were married. Finally the climax C anne, when my old Uncle John sent us Y solid tea set. hadn't expected any $ hing from him, unless perhaps Bible |