The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-04

women signed their names in the same
manner, but omitted the Of In Iceland
the opposite has been the custom. There
the husband assumes the wifes name
The word wedding is derived from the
wed or security which the Ang o-SaXon
| bridegroom gave at espOusas for the due
| performance Of his contract This wed
was held by trustees, and in addition to II
| the bridegroom Wore an espousal ring. As
| for the wedding ring, it was first designed
| by Prometheus, according to tradition,
| and fashioned out of adamant and iron by
! Tubal Cain, and was given by Adam to his
| son to this end, that he herewith should
| espOuse a wife.
| The wedding cake is the remains of
| custom whereby a Roman bride held in her
| LETT hand three wheat ears, and many CEN
turtles later an English bride wore a chap
| let of wheat. The bridesmaids threw
| grains of corn or small bits Of cake upon
| the heads of the newly married and the
| guests picked up the pieces and ate them
! The wedding cake did not come into gen
eral use until the last century and was
then composed of solid blocks laid togeth-
er, iced all over. so that when the outer
| crust was broken over the brides head the
cakes inside fell on the floor and were dis
| tributed among the guests. Bridal faNorS
are of Danish origin The true lover
knot was first designed by Danish hearts
and derived its designation from the Dan
ish truelofa-'I plight my troth."
The throwing of the slipper comes from
the custom of the bride of the father siV-
ing shoe to the new husband in token
of transference of power over her, me
bridegroom lightly tapping the brides
| head with it.
The best man is a survivor of the band
of friends who accompanied the sutton in
his wife-winning and kept watch for him
over the brides tribe. while the. lover
sought the opportunity to carry off his
/ The hnnGNmO0n Journey is the
hurried flight of the husband with his wife
to escape the vengeance of the pursuing
tribe. The presents given the bridesmaids
and ushers are simply relic OF the rough
bribery used by the ancient bridegroom
among his personal friends so that they
would assist in the capture of his chosen
bride when the day arrived on which he
| had determined to carry her off. In the
fifteenth century a bride-if one OF the
| aristocracy-often received twenty rings
| from her relatives and six from the bride
| groom-two when he became interested n
| her, two for the espousal and two when
| they were married.
Nemesis often pursues with apparently
! tagging steps, but sooner or later she is
almost sure to oYertake and punish the
/ man or woman who has committed any
cowardy or disgraceful act. At a large
ball in one of the prominent Southern
| cities not long ago, says the New York
Tribune the beautiful Mrs. M, visitor
from neighbOring state, was holding a
miniature court. Men eager to he present
ed to her crowded about and her hostess
was literally besieged with requests lor
an introduction
Among those who were most anxious to
meet Mrs. NJ. was a young politician
whose career promised to be most bril-
! liant one as he had already held impor-
tant offices in his own state and was just
then the leading candidate in his Con-
gress district. At his supplication Mrs.
r., the hostess, approached the beauty,
and mentioning his desire to be presented
to her she went on in that laudatory way
/ peculiar to Southerners and mentioned
his various claims to- distinction.
81 should like to know Mr.. H. said the
! former, somewhat to. Mrs. RS surprise.
II have long wished to meet him." Then
| as the young man approached she looked
at him searchinglN as.if tosconvince him
self that she had made no mistake, and
| said, amid the general hush, in clear,
| thrilling accents:
Il have long anticipated this meeting.
sir; knew it would come sooner or later.
1 am more glad THAI can say to have
this opportunity of Wiling you"-here she
| paused to give the finale of her speech
more effect-'tthat-you are a miserable
! coward, sir. and no gentleman" Then,
turning around to her astonishef au-
] Qleflce, she pIOcStOtu Win SllSiiIly ldloIh
voice that silenced the whole room and
made every word audible: Two years
ago, ladies and gentlemen | took state
room on a Mississippi steamboat plying
between Natchez and New Orleans. This
man was one of the passengers. | over
| heard his name, and became familiar with
| his appearance, although l never met
him personally. The night before we
landed we were all awakened by the aw-
full cry or 'Firer and, rushing to the
deck found that the captain had put on
all speed and was making for the shore.
But the fire was not our only danger-the
news quickly spread among the passen-
gers that there was a large consignment
of gunpowder on board and the vital
question of the minute was whether the
steamer could touch land before an eX
| plosion. The tension was terrible.
" Let the women off hrsti' shouted the
captain as the steamers bottom touched
a shoal of soft mud, presumably near the
banks, and the boats, which were all
ready were hastily lowered. Rank and
precedence We're all forgotten in that SUI
| preme second. The great hearted captain
lowered carefully down poor steerage
! passenger with three young children. Let
! the mothers and children come firstn he
again thundered, and we who were alone
gladly stood back TO give place to the
helpless. But a group Of angry, cowardly
men crowded forward, pushed back the
| frightened creatures with 0aths obtained
| possession of the boat (for it IS needless
| to say the captain was not prepared for
| such dastardly conduct and rowed fran
! tically away from the seemingly doomed
ship. Ladies and gentlemen, among those
ours was that man!
But. thank heaven. while these crea-
lures at such a moment followed the in
stincts Of their baser natures brave men
were also following theirs, and risking
their lives to save us. AS soon as the eX-
tent of the fire had been discovered, the
second officer organized a forlorn hope to
cut an opening in the hold, where the
powder was stored, and got it overheard
before it ignited. Before this poltroon
reached the shore with his comrades, a
glad shout announced that the sailors had
accomplished their purpose, and that we
were practically safe. for now there was
plenty of time to keep the fire under con-
troll. while the passengers were sent to
shore.
4 never saw this man again. but have