Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1899-06-15
SALVATION ARMY MARRIAGES
TO Wed Below Their RaDs-
Other Restrictions.


When a young woman becor les an
officer in the Salvation Army she sur
renders, to an extent, her free choice
| in the matter of husband to the good
of the cause she has pledged herself to
serve. It take some time and trouble
and expense to become an officer in
the army. Applicants must not be less
| than II years old, and they should not
be over 33, but this is modified fire.
quently.
The cadet must serve four months in
| the training school, and may not, after
all, pass the requisite examination.
These four months are not spent in an
easy. lolling away in the barracks with
makeshift of study. There are not
alone lectures to be attended, but the
classic" is supposed to earn her living,
| that is, earn the actual cost of her food
by selling War Crys. The life is hard,
and requires great devotion to the
cause, industry and perseverance. If
at the end or before the end of her pro-
baton she retires or is retired by her
| superiors, all the time spent in the
school has been wasted. When she
graduates and is made lieutenant, she
promises to give her services to the
army for at least three years, to be
jealous in the cause and obedient to her
superiors.
| 1t is against the rules of the army
for an officer to wed her inferior in
rank There are said to be occasional
disagreements in the best regulated
families. A wife who is lieutenant
] L,
tain husband and not rebel, for wom-
en- have been schooled for so many gem
erations to the idea of obedience to the
husband. But if the case were re-
versed, and the captain-wife should be
obliged to reprimand her lieutenant
| husband in public, or worse yet, put her
soldier-husband in the guardhouse.
family trouble, separation and possibly
| divorce might follow.
Gen. Booth is a great believer in mat
rimony. For the proposed farm col
ony which he explained in his Through
Darkest England, and the Way Out of
It." the general even advocated a mat
rimonial bureau. Nevertheless, it is
conceded that the value, to the army, OF
a woman is lessened when she becomes
wife. She then adds to her duties,
already hard, those of wifehood, and
possibly motherhood.
Should a handsome young colonel
('lassie') fall in love with mere sol
der in the ranks, and the two of them
make up their minds that existence
isn't worth while unless they exist to-
gether, they carry their troubles to
the officer in command of their division,
who investigates the case. Even if
there can be nothing found against the
young man except the difference in
rank between him and his sweetheart,
the young woman has to wait or re-
sign. In any case, even when their
ranks are equal, the two young lovers
must wait a year after their engage
ment has been publicly announced.
If the young woman is fully deter
mined to marry her soldier and not to
resign her position in the army she
makes her decision known, and no
doubt goes up peg or two in the es-
timation of her superiors, who at
once set themselves about helping her
in any way in their power. This can
be done in only one way, and that is
by taking her young soldier lover in
hand, giving him plenty to do, which,
if he does well, is made the basis for
his rapid promotion. But even with
the best of good luck some years of
waiting must be passed before the two
can marry. Every, care is taken in the
Salvatin Army that its officers do not
make unwise marriages. The ordinary
soldier enjoys the privileges that are
II.
rying whomsoever he pleases.-N. \.