The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-07-21
HUSBANDS WHO MAY NEVER
SEE THEIR WIVES FACES
African Tribes Have Curious Matri-
moniaI Customs.


Among certain African tribes huN.
bands are not permitted to look upon
their wives. They live In huts apart.
and only during the night are they al
lowed to visit their brides This GUS
tom, which prevails in the neighbour
hood of Timbuctoo, is equaled in sin
gularity by that in vogue at Futa.
where wives never permit their hus-
bands to see them unveiled until three
years have elapsed since their mar
riage.
In Sparta, as is we'll known the hus-
band was only able to seek the society
Of his wife by stealth and under cover
OF darkness, as seems to be the case
among the Turkomans of the present
day, on whom, sometimes for the
space of two years after marriage. a.
similar taboo is laid. Circassian wo-
men, although they do not carry prud-
cry to this eXtravagant excess, always
live on the coolest terms with their
husbands until they have become
mothers.
Among civilized peoples such codes
do not, of course, exist, although &c
centricity has been known to afford
analogous, if solitary examples, as in
the case of the wife of Viennese doc
tor who, having on the eve Of the day
originally fixed for her marriage, been
stricken with smallpox, which COM
pletely destroyed her good looks, be-
came bride only on condition that
she might ever by day wear q thick
veil. This stipulation, however, she
herself afterwards reSc1nded.
A curious marriage was a few wears
since celebrated in the Russian prov
ince of Simbirsk. The bride, who by
withdrawing herself entirely from the
world had obtained a reputation for
great sanctity bestowed her hand upon
an aNfi
had never previously seen each other
nor did they when the priest had made
them one; for after the ceremony, in
which they took part blindfolded, they
separated never to meet again.
Almost as singular was the wedding
that took place in the sos IN church
in northern district of London at
which the bride wore a silk handker-
chief wrapped loosely round her face
To save her parents from ruin she had
consented to marry rich man, whom
she regarded with aversion, on the
stipulation that he should never behold
her when she had become his wife
After the ceremony she returned to her
parents house, which, however, her
husband, through the good offices of
friends, persuaded her to abandon for
his own.
A widow, whose husband had had
the misfortune to be blind, was sought
in second marriage by we'll to- do
citizen of Leeds. She, however, re-
jected his address, anG, on his de-
handing reason, averred that she
could on no account permit him to ex-
ercise a privilege that nad not been
enjoyed by her first choice, viz, that
of looking upon her face. Her lover
fell in with her humor, and so obsti-
nate did she prove when his wife that
more than three months elapsed ere
he could induce her to remove the
thick veil under which since her we'd
ding she had hidden her features.
Towards the close Of the eighteenth
century there appeared at Brunn, in
Bohemia, an imposter, named Maria
Zoller, who, giving herself out to be
inspired, invariably wore veil when
among her folloWers-of whom she
had MANIFEST, as she pretended, the
divine effulgence that streamed from
her countenance should strike them
dead. A number believed in her pre-
tensions, among others rich old
farmer, who went so far in his folly
as to ask her hand in marriage.
10th to forego a wealthy husband,
and at the same time unwilling to con-