Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-12-09

wife's kinfolks, ceremony emblematic of
the victory won over them ere he car
ried off his spouse. Among the Slavs it
was formerly the practice for the groom
to give the bride kick as a sign of her
inferiority, while in Servia and Bulgaria
today it is customary for the groom to tap
the bride lightly with his own shoe as
gentle hint that he possesses the right to
tap her more forcibly if he chooses to OK
crcise his privilege. The shoe is an en-
blem of authority and is prominent in the
wedding ceremonies of many nations. In
some parts of Spain the brides slipper is
carried before her. In Hungary the father
of the bride formally pulls off her shoe
and gives it TO her husband as renuncia-
ton of his authority over her, the same
idea doubtless originating the practice
now so common of throwing an old shoe
after the bride as she leaves her fathers
house.
Among the Indians iDhabitinG the west
eTn shore of Nancouver's island there is q
curious custom known as demanding the
bride. The suitor Is escorted by a great
number of his friends in some 30 or 10
canoes. Nobody speaks for about ten min
utcs, for these children of nature are
very reserved indeed. At last the visitors
arc requested TO say where they come
from and what is their object in coming.
Thereupon some man gets up in his canoe
the very top of his voice, and a very loud
voice it is. His business is to laud the
would be husband in every possible way,
and this he does by giving his name, his
title and history, stating also the number
OF his friends and connections, hoping
thereby to obtain considerable reduction
in the purchase money. Then Ey way of
u first bid the canoe is padded TO the
shore and number OF blankets thrown
out.
'.This very small offer is received with
derision and roars of laughter from the
brides friends. They are not going 20 let
her go quite so cheap Us that He must
offer Il great deal moro. The answer given |
is more or less equivalent to our slang ex-
preston, Get along with you Then |
arises an orator from the shore, who |
speaks up right gallantly for the bride, |
praising her virtues and describing her in /
the most glowing terms, with many a |
flowery epithet, until the original offer is |
considerably increased. A ii this UratOry |
and bartering occupy a good many hours, |
until at last the bride is handed over, with |
nothing on her but her undergarment, so
greedy are her relatives. The first present |
she herself receives is "A blanket"
The karens Of Burma have their mar
riages at funeral feasts. When a man of
the village dies, the body is buried tempo
rarily until arrangements can lie made for
a number of marriages; then the late 10
mented is dsinterred, laid out in state
and a general marriage feast held in his
honor, sometimes as many as 200 couples
being united at the funeral of distin
guished chief in a wholesale ceremony, !
paralleIed only by that held in Paris in
1851, when 600 couples were united on
the same day, the girls all being lowered
by the municipality.
In China overtures to the marriage are
begun by the go between or Inatchmak-
er, who presents to the members OF the
brides family an account of the bride
COON and copy of his ''eignt characters
the symbols denoting his birth and the
supposed turning points in his life. If
the overtures be favorably received, there
is an exchange of cards, the brides eight
characters beng sent to the bridegroom
family, together with such personal details
as may be interesting or likely TO promote
the match The counting is all done by
proxy, and the bridegroom does not see
the bride until he has Withdrawn the veil
from her face after the ceremony.