Morris tribune., 1899-07-15
SOME ANTIQUE RINGS.
ODD SUBSTITUTES FOR THE GOLD
BANDS WORN BY BRIDES.

One Titled Lady Married With Curtain
King-A scarf Pin ~Whic'' Was Used in
an Emergency-An Instance i'll WhicH a
Quot Was Turned into Service.
Incidents in which the marriage SER
vice has to be temporarily suspended
while bridegroom and best man tumble
over one another and murmur strange
nothings as they vainly search for a
missing ring are by no means so UNI
common as one might imagine. This
fiasco is usually brought about through
an excess of caution.
The groom, being afraid perhaps to
trust to his own memory upon such a
momentous occasion. hands over the
precious circlet to the best man for
safe custody. The latter, who, by the
way, is no more in the habit of carry
ing loose wedding rings about than is
the groom himself, places the ring for
safety in as out of-the-Way place as he
can possibly think of in the brief time
at his disposal. Before he has had time
to properly commit the hiding place to
memory he is seized by half dozen
importunate small fry and hurried off
to attend to something else.
The consequence is that the admon-
tory stage whisper Of the officiating
minister to "have the ring ready" falls
upon him like a bolt from the blue.
Where the dickens did he put it? It
was somewhere close handy, he is sure
of that But where oh. where?-and
a cold pePspiration breaks out all over
him as he realizes that the service has
stopped, and the reproachful glances Of
the whole company are turned upon
him. the rascally culprit who has mis-
laid the ring.
It is useless to pursue the scene fur
Their Any one possessed of the slight
est fund of imagination will readily
picture to himself the frantic scene OF
furry which inevitably follows. more
especially if the contracting parties are
sufficiently well known to secure a
large and fashionable attendance at
the church. Suffice it to say that it is
a position in which not a few best men
find themselves in the course of year,
and many are the expedients by which
they endeavor to extricate themselves
from what is at the best Of times a
particularly unpleasant dilemma.
The Duchess of Hamilton is said 10
have been married at Mayfair with
curtain ring; while bridal party at
Colchester were forced to fall back up
on the ring of the church key. Even
this case, however, was capped by one
which occurred at Stratford when the
only ring obtainable was an extempore
one of kid, cut upon the spot from the
bridegroom's glove.
Some couples are particularly i'm
provident in this respect. One couple
who were at their wits end what to
do for a ring, were considerably re-
lieved by an inspiration of Bhe best
man. Calamity plucking forth a huge
horseshoe scarf pin from his tie OF
many colors, he broke off the pin, bent
the soft metal shoe round his finger;
and, with the air of an Angelo admir-
ing his chef doeuvre, handed the
brazen circlet to his pal. Another
couple got over the difficulty by using
a coin from which the center had been
removed, and which, curiously enough,
the groom was carrying in his pocket
at the time.
The most curious ring of all, how
ever, was that employed by dock lab
orer, who by some means or other, had
mislaid the more conventional article
on his way to church. Casting about
III his perplexity for a suitable object
to embelish the finger of his
charmer, his eyes suddenly fell upon
one of the Quoits with which he and |
the best man were subsequently match |
ed to play for the price of the dejeuner
at neighboring tavern.
Despite the protests of the lady and |
the guffaw Of his companions, the |
groom insisted upon going through the |
ceremony with the aid OF this ponder |
Gus plaything; and, since the only al |
tentative was to indefinitely postpone !
the event, the lady put the best face
on the matter by accepting the QUOT
and the decker.