Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1897-01-16
WHERE WIVES ARE BOUGHT.
Countries In which Marriages Follow the
PAYMENT of n Price.

Countricd IN winch marriages Fouo0 tnD
Payment Of Price.
There are many countries In which,
II man wishes to be legally married,
he has to go out and buy wife, though
the market price OF that article varies
considerably. In Uganda you can get
what you require for two or three bull.
locks, or even for six good sewing nce-
dies, or perhaps box Of percussion
caps; while inferior wives can be
picked up for coat, and II ono Ii In
different to health and beauty, for q
pair Of shoes. In the Caroline islands
wives are cheap.
A father will let you marry his
daughter II you give him little fruit
or small present OF fish, while in Sa-
moa matrimony runs you into pigs and
canoes; among the Fijians into whales
teeth and muskets In Tartary 1t Ia
best to marry beneath you you can do
It on few pounds Of butter), because
q man who has lordly notions Of q mar
riage with one Of the upper ton must
be an owner of horses. The aborigines
Of Australia manage their marriages
upon most equitable principle.
II A wishes to marry BIS sister, he
allows him to marry his own; or II B
happens to be widower, then his
daughter will do just as we'll. One of
the most Objectionable forms OF gain
ing wife is to work for her, 4 prac-
tice among many uncivilized nations, Its
only advantage being that man can
get wife on credit, though his father
in-law takes good care that he serves
his time.
Among some races You have to do
your work before you get your wife, rs
Jacob had to serve for Leah and for
Rachel. Marriage by exchange and
purchase is not customary among un.
civilized nations only. In Central
America and Peru man has to work
for his bride.
In China present is given by the
father of the bridegroom, the amount
OF which Is agreed upon by both
families. The Japanese made use Of .
similar custom, though in their case,
the giving OF presents is the most i'm
portant part OF the whole marriage
ceremony, for, after these have been
delivered and formally accepted,
neither OF the contracting parties Is
able to 90 back.
Wife purchase appears to have been
the basis OF Indo.European marriage
before the separation Of the peoples
took place. Manu- mentions the Asura
form of marriage rs one OF purchase,
and according to Aristotle the ancient
Greeks were in the habit Of buying
their brides; for In the Homeric age o
maiden was called by name which
signi6ed lone who brings her parents
many oxen"
The old Scaudinavians believed that
even the gods had paid price for
their wives, and in Germany the ex-
preston ito purchase wife" was In
vogue until the end of the middle ages.
The old inhabitants of Ireland and
Wales were accustomed to buy their
wives with gold and silver or land. In
Servia, at the beginning Of our GEN.
fury, girls had reached such a price
that Black George reduced their value
to one ducat
Among the many savage nations the
equivalents of wife are varied and
grotesque. Poor Bashkirs purchase
theirs with carloads of wood or hay;
the Indian Kisans, with two baskets
Of rice and n rupee; tribe In Cali
fornia, with half n string OF dentalium
shell, and among the Padams, rude
people of India, the sutton shows his
Intentions by gifts of field mice and
SQUIRRELS Mall Gazette.