The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-01-27
ODD WEDDING RINGS.
Curious Substitutions That Have
Done Duty In Their Stead.

Omaha Bee.)
one of Chicago's leading clergymen,
who has presided over charges in va
rious parts of the country, was asked
recently TO relate personal experiences
IN connection with weddings and we'd
Glng rings. IN answer to a question
Dy a Chronicle reporter as to the in
huence OF the gold band. he said:
considering the smallness of its size
ana It's comparatively insignificant in
t1nslc value. 1 suppose few products
OF the goldsmith'S art exert greater in
iiuence han the plain gold wedding
ring. Setting aside altogether the wider
questions OF lifelong veal or woe, of
which 1t is strikingiy significant, it is
remarkable how large a collection of
IDEAS and incidents connected with the
wedding ring one -accumuTateS' in the
course of a lifetime spent in christen-
ing, marrying n Durying the inhab-
Itants of a populous parish"
Dld you ever have any experiences
in wedding rings where the ring could
not be found at the opportune moment,
doctor?'
Incidents in which the marriage
service has to be temporarily sus-
pended 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
uncommon as you might imagine. This
fiasco is usually brought about through
an excess of caution. The room, be-
ing afraid perhaps to trust his own
memory upon such a momentouS Occa-
sion, hands owe the precious circlet
to the best man for safe custody. The
latter-who, by the way, is no more III
the habit of carrying 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. Be
fore he has had time to properly com
nit the hiding place to memory he is
seized by half a 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 handy falls
upon him like a bolt from the blue.
Where the dickens did he put it? 1t
was somewhere close, handy; he is sure
of that. But where. oh, where? And
a cold perspiration breaks out all over
him as he realizes that the service has
stopped ard the ~reprOachful chances of
the whole company are turned upon
him, the rascally culprit who mislaid
the ring.
Il remember q case which occurred
in my church recently which ended in
a ludicrous manner AS usual, the best
man was the culprit. But, although he
and the groom turned their pockets
several times over n CROPPED along
the foot of the altar ratings on their
hands and knees in a vain attempt to
discover the missing trinket, the lady
had finally TO be welded with a ring
borrowed from an onlooker.
n sooner, however, had the party
reached the yestry. than a sudden ex-
clamation from the best man caused
all eyes to be urn upon him. Then
1T was seen that, in order to keep the
ring secure, he had carefully passed
the folds of his white silk scarf through
it. He had, in fact, ransacked his
brains and pockets to discover an ar
ticle which had all along reposed lit
orally beneath his nose in the tempo
rary capacity of a harmless, necessary
Scarf-ring.
In the above case the ceremony was
performed with the conventional ring.
Other brides, however, whom I have
united in marriage. have not always
been so fortunate. One couple in Con-
necticut, when Twas presiding over a
small parish. had to be married with a
curtain ring, While more recently, in
Indiana, l married a couple with the
ring of the church key. Even this
case was capped by one which oc-
Cured right here in Chicago this WIN
ter.
When the time came to produce the
ring, the article was nowhere to be
found. The best man was equal to the
emergency, however. took eff his glove
and cut a ring of kid from it.
L can also tell you several stories
along the same line that have heard
from other ministers. One couple in
New York state. who were at their
wits end what to do for a ring, were
considerably relieved by an inspiration
of the best man. Calamity plucking
forth q huge horseshoe scarfpin from
his tie of many colors, he broke of the
pin, bent the soft metal Shoe round his
finger, and. with the air of an Angelo
admiring his chef d'oeuvre, handed the
brazen circlet to his pal. Another cou-
pie 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 hat employed by a dock Ia
borer in Baltimore, who, by some
means or other, had mislaid the more
conventional article on his way to
church. Casting about in his %perpleX-
ity for a suitable object wherewith to
embelliSh the finger of his charmer, his
eyes suddenly fell upon one of the
quoitS with which he and the best man
were subsequently matched to play for
the price of the d~ejeuner at a neigh
boring tavern. Despite the protests of
the lady and the outlaws of his COM
panions, the groom insisted upon going
through the ceremony with the aid of
this ponderous ~plaything, and, since the
only alternative was to indefinitely
postpone the event, the lady put the
best face on the matter by accepting
the quoit-and the DECKER"