The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-12-21
BRIDEGROoMS WHO FAIL.
They I:un way, Hide Themselves or 30
cclnc 60 y lrss.

They L.ur way, Hide Themselves or Eo-
ccme s-:ecc!.lcss.
Possibly every me- about to rna1-
~ experiences q novel inward tlut
ter when the critical hour arrives;
and brings the altar into sight, h1s
Il Il is not often that one hears of
prospective husband whose nerve
deserts him TO the extent that he
fights shy of the ceremony at the
last moment and allows the brids to
leave tho church without having
changed her name. Hitches of this
startling kind do, however, now and
then occur. The bridegroom has not
the courage to face the public ordeal,
and the situation becomes both hu-
morous and dramatic.
A most amusing attack of
"nerves" of this order was witnessed
by a large crowd at a country church
not long since The bridegroom was
late in arriving When at length he
came abreast of the church gates,
heated and aurried, the sight of his
white robed life partner in the midst
of an imposing party fairly scatter
ed what courage he had churncd for
the occasion. He turred and made
off across country as fast as his shak-
ing legs would carry him. The
crowd and a number of his indig
nant friends pursuing him, he took
refuge up tree, and no remon-
strances would induce him to de
scend and go through with the cere-
nony. He paid rather dearly for his
cowardice, however, for the bride
promptly Tilted him and walked to
the same church with q bolder man
few months later.
At another church in the neigh
borhood number of people who
had focked to see n popular local
couple made one were curiously dis
appointed. When it came to the
turn of the bridegroom to give ut
terance to his vows, he was found to
be tongue tied by sheer nervousness.
The longer they waited for him to
recover the worse he became, and
finally, white as ghost, he wheeled
about and ran out of the building.
AS no amount of jeers or encourage
ment Served to induce him to at
tempt the ordeal a second time, he
perforce remained in single misery.
Plenty of humorous instances have
been recorded where the intended
husband, brave enough in his WOO
ing, has found himself unable to
stand and be publicly married. One
gentleman became so unnerved at
sight of the swelling assembly and
the preparations that he slipped into
the vestry and locked himself in un-
til the registrar lost patience and
the ceremony had to be abandoned.
In another case missing bride
groom was discovered locked. in his
bedroom at home, and sheer force
had to be used by his friends before
he could be induced to walk to the
church. Asst turned out, hewas too
late. The bride felt herself justified
in declining to fulfill her part of the
contract with so difident partner.
But perhaps as unique an example
of what may be termed "altar
fright as any known was one which
caused quite a sensation in mid
land town some years ago. The cir
cumstances we're peculiar enough to
bear repetition. A young man,
standing at the altar with the future
participant OF his joys and sorrows,
suddenly tainted when asked to de-
clare his willingness to take wife
and had to be carried home in cab.
Later he essayed to enter the
lists of matrimony with more sue
cess; but, strange to say, his nerv-
BUSINESS again reached such a pitch
that he swooned at precisely the
same part of the proceedings. When
on a third occasion the same weak
ness overcame him as soon as he en-
tered the church, it became evident
that his physical courage was not
equal to the ordeal. Whether the
bride declined to look foolish for a
fourth time, or whether the cere-
mony was subsequently performed
in private, did not transpire.
Brides, it is interesting to note, do
not appear to suffer from any such
backwardness. Their nervousness
seems to be of different order, and
it is seldom or never that one hears
of a case where the lady has failed
to come up to the line' through
mere dread of publicity.-Happy
Thoughts.
The Carlyles' Maid.