The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-10-08
ENGLIsHMEN AS wooERs.
They No Longer Fail ON Their Knees
when Proposing Marriage.
From an Exchange.

From an Exchange
It is pleasant to know that wooing i'm
England is, as a rule, the preliminary to
long and happy union. The latest sta
tistics show that the average annual num-
Der of applications for divorce does not ex-
coed $50, which is certainly small, consid-
ering that the number of Englshmen ami
Englishwomen who marry each year ia
computed at $4,000. If we take the ten
years from 1886 to 1896, we find that
the annual number of divorces has been
about 500 and the annual number of mar
rages about 100000 An English scholar
has actually thought it worth his while
to collect statistics in regard to the man
ner In which men and women of his coun-
try make love to each other. He has
spent considerable lime over this delicate
work and now at last he informs the
world how the men, as a rule propose
to the women, and how the women, as "a
rule, accept the proposals of the men.
At one time it was the fashion for love
intoxicated youths to fall on their knees
when about to make proposals of mar
riage, but this fashion is evidently dy-
ing out for we assured that only
per cent. of those In love at present fall
on one knee, while only 2 per cent. ven
ture TO sue for their ladies' favor on both
kHttS. n GuIlDuS reason mas DSe0 as
signed for the decadence of this chival-
rous custom, which is. that of late years
the neither garments of males have been
so constructed that it Is rather risky for
any man to flop down suddenly on his
knees in q lady's presence Garments
when strained will rip and tear, and no
self-respecting lover desires to have his
act of alteration turned into a farce by
any such casualty. The number of young
Engnshmen who embrace their sweet
hearts at the moment when they are in
viting them to become their wives
amounts to per cent. On the other
hand, 67 per cent of the mea in love kiss
their sweethearts on the lips at the criti-
cal moment, while 4 per cent. shower
kisses on their hair and 2 per cent. con-
tent themselves with kissing their hands.
The behavior of the young women is
similarly remarkable. When the men
invite them TO share their homes they by
no means all act alike Eighty-one out
of every hundred fall without word into
the outspread arms of their chosen ones
and so very easily put an end TO a rather
embarrassing. if otherwise very delight
full, situation; So per cent. blush very be-
comingly, and in maidenly fashion shrink
away, as though frightened at their COM
panion's holiness; one out of every hum
dred-posslbly more, possibly less, says
the English physician-falls on a sofa as
though about to faint, and 4 per cent
ais of marriage Eighty out of every
hundred know very well what the men
have come for, and hence they are not
taken unaware, and they behave just as
they should behave on such a momentous
occasion. Furthermore, 60 per cent look
their wooers boldly in the eyes, evidently
with the idea either of still further be-
wtching them or relieving them from
their apparent embarrassment. Curious
facts these, but the most curious fact of
all is that one maiden out of every hun
dred runs away before the young man
has finished his pretty love tale, with the
object Of telling the good news to her girl
friends.
on the whole says the statistician,
wooers Of to-day seem to be far more ner-
vous than the gallant men who wooed and
won a century ago. Twenty per cent OF
the English lovers are awfuly nervous
when the decisive moment comes, and in
the throat Of each mothers son of them
there seems to be a huge lump, which it
is impossible for him to swallow How
he gets over this difficulty heaven only
knows. Somehow the lump disappears
after they have struggled with it a min
ute or two, after which it is to be hoped
that their agony is at an end