The times., 1899-07-02
Ways OF Being MARRIED
Queer Customs Suggested by This
Wedding Season.
How Men Take Wives in the Land
of WoOing a Bride in the Hills of
Burmnh and ON the Borders of
China - Where Grief Wins Love.

This is the season of weddings. May and
June. the months of flowers and marriages,
are the most beautiful ones of the year,
and during this season the world over
young peoples fancy lightly turns to
thoughts of love.
All marriages, however, do not take
place in church, with satin robed brides
maids. ushers, and best men, to say moth
ing of rice and wedding breakfasts.
Every nationality has its own methods
of wooing and wedding from the savages
in the wilds of Africa to the civilized peo-
pies of Europe and America. The Indians
of our own country still carry out the ira
ditious handed down to them from one gem
Grafton to another. The young warrior
to show upon which dusky squaw ne has
placed his affections. returns from the
hunt. and. selecting the finest of the tro-
phes he has gained, takes them to the
opening of the tepee in which his sweet
heart lives, and leaves them for her. If
his suit is looked upon favorably, she
comes out of the tepee and takes care of
his horse. after which she prepares meal
for her lover from some of the choicest
portions of the animals or game which he
has brought from the hunt. She watches
beside him to see that there is nothing he
wants while dining. and after he has fin
ished she prepares his pipe for him and
tells her parents of what has happened.
Their love messages are not handed them
by a uniformed servant of the Govern
ment. nor are they nclosed in daintily
tod
finds the message from her lover cut in
stones or in the bark of the trees and
some times painted in grotesque figures on
the skin that covers his tepee.
In the far North and the Land of the
Midnight Sun the maiden show that they
have become engaged by wearing in their
hair says a writer in the st. Paul Dis
patch" white ribbons while the young
men who have been accepted present their
sweethearts with furs, seal oil. candlefish
and whale blubber. They do their love-
making, however, through the young wo-
mans mother or some of the older mem
bers of her family, and at no time until
Tie ceremony takes place are they allowed
to be in each others company alone. At
ter the ceremony has been performed they
build their place of abode with blocks of
ice and enter the married state without
the aid of n wedding tour.
The young men of the Navigators ISL
ands find it very difficult to become Bene-
diets, and especially so if the girl of their
choice happens to be the daughter of
man we'll supplied with this worlds goods
and a believer in keeping what he has un-
der one roof. 1t is customary for the
brides parents, when wedding is to take
place, to provide both her and her hus-
band with household supplies. He is also
obliged to give literally of his mats. rugs
and pigs to the chiefs and head tribssmen
who attend the ceremony. In many cases,
and especially If the young man lives in an
adjoining village, he goes to the house of
the girl Of his choice. and if she is willing
they elope. Sometimes he steals his bride,
and often with the consent of her parents,
for in an event OF thatkind he keeps pos
session of all but his daughter and in most
cases is willing to stand that loss so long
as nothing else goes with the bargain.
While some of these are strange, they
do not compare with the wooing and we'd
dings of the Karens. Theirs is he sJrang-
est of all, for the wedding ceremony is al
so part of an obsequy. The Karens live
in the hills of Burmah and on the bor-
ders of China and are one of tic strang
est races OF people IN the word Their
courtships are pursued at funerals. and
their love making, betrothals. and obse-
quies are all dealt with together.
lHeH moue Oh DuT'dl Is strange. Nnen
Karen dies, he or she is uttered tenn
porarily-that is. if tiey are Df The ordi-
nary people II they were In possession
of large estates, their remains are Gre
mated. The ashes are gathered together
and placed in a small teak wood chest,
after which they are buried for a time.
The temporary graves are fenced in with
cacti, and durable twigs are placed on
them, so their site will not be forgotten,
and its tenant left undisturbed on the
great Karen festival OF updigging and re-
burial and universal wedding These feasts
are as movable and uncertain of date as
they are serious and obligatory. The
length Of the interim depends upon the
number of marriageable girls in the neigh
borhocd or village at the time of the death.
II has been known that as many as five
years have passed before one of the