The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-10-18
THE WOOING OFT.
Various Ways In Various Countries
of Doing the Self-same Thing.

of Doing the Self-same Thing.
The wooing OF in many countries at
this end of the nineteenth century va
ries not a whit from the customs and
ceremonies in vogue when the world
was very young. For example, now, as
centuries ago, a bonfire plays an i'm
portant part at every wedding cele-
brated in Persia, the marriage cere-
mony being read before one.
The planting of a fir tree is one of
the ceremonies. attending Swedish
wedding, which usually lasts several
days A peasant bride is adorned with
her friends trinkets, bracelets, neck
laces and rings, which they hang upon
her head, neck, arms, bodice and even
upon her nose. Then a silver ring is
placed in one shoe for good luck.
In Norway the bride does not wear
a wedding veil, but a big headdress,
which towers high above her brow.
In Bulgaria all newly married women
are obliged to remain dumb for a
month after marriage, except when ad-
dressed by their husbands. When it
is desirable to remove this restriction
permanently, the husband presents her
with a gift, and then she can chatter
to her hearts content.
If a girl marrieS in Russia without
to prison and deprived of her share of
the family property.
In Lithuania, a province of Russia, it
is customary that the brides ears
should be boxed before the marriage
ceremony. No matter how tender
hearted the mother may be, she makes
it point to administer a hearty smack
to her daughter in the presence of wit
nesses, and a note is made of the fact.
The mothers intention is a kind one
as the reason for it is to protect the
bride should her marriage prove an un-
happy one. In that case she will sue
for divorce, and her plea will be that
she was forced into the marriage
against her will. and on that score the
verdict of the judge will be in her
favor.
OF all the marriage rites of which one
ever heard, those of Burmah bear away
the palm for conciseness and sweet
simplicity. Here it is upon the dusky
lady that the pleasing duties OF court
ship devolve. She sees youth whom
she deems calculated to make her hap
by, and forthwith offers him a stick of
candy. If he accepts her proposal he
promptly eats the token of affection,
and they are thereby made man and
wife. There is no further ceremony
and no witnesses are necessary. In the
act of eating alone this most primitive
marriage rite consists. But if, on the
contrary, the youth is not willing, he
assures her that that particular kind
of candy is not TO his taste, and the
maiden must seek elsewhere for one
more appreciative of her candy and her
affections.
In Hungary, in certain rural districts,
a very curious custom prevails, which
is very popular among the maidens who
are not possessed of a dowry. On the
morning of her wedding it is the GUS
tom of the bride to wash the hands and
faces of the assembled guests, who in
return throw into the basin used for
these ablutions a certain sum of money.
which the dowerless bride appropriates
TO her own use.
The simplest and perhaps the .nost
impressive marriage ceremony is that
in use among the Cherokee Indians.
The couple join hands over a running
stream, which is symbolic of the desire
that their lives shall thereafter flow Oh
in the same channel.
An old marriage custom obtains in
the island of Himla, opposite the island
of Rhodes. The Greeks, by whom it is
peopled, earn their living by the sponge
fisheries. No girl is allowed to marry
until she has brought up a certain num-
Der of Sponges, which must be taken
from a certain depth. In some of the
other Greek islands, it is the men who
must dive for the sponges. If there are
several suitorS for the hand of maiden
the father bestows her on the man who
can bring up the largest number of
sponges.
When marriage takes place in China
the wedding party enter the temple and
light a quantity of fireworks, including
a number of crackers. This is supposed
to wake the great joss" from his