Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-07-31
RIIIed Her HUSbQld 10 Another;
Mystery o. 0 NOIQls HG0It

- E9IND the announcement Of the
H forthcoming marriage of George
Eismann, a young farmer of Ja-
naica, L. l., to Miss Lizzie
Schmidt. of the same place, lies prob
lem that for centuries has baft1ed stu
dents Of human nature who have sought
to solve the mysterious influences that
dominate .woman's heart
The person who arranged the marriage,
who made the match" as the neighbors
Of the prospective bride and bridegroom
say, is dead. She was Mr.. Esmann' s
wife and on her deathbed she babe her
husband promise that after she had been
laid at rest he would adopt as her success
or in his affections the woman friend
whom next to her husband, she loved
more than any one else.
Mrs, Eismann was dying, and knew It..
She had made all her preparations for
leaving the world. She had seen her
shroud made ready. She had settled her
affairs-settied all but one question, and
that was one, apparently, that had been
preying upon her mind for some time. In
her illness she. had sent for her friend,
Miss Schmidt, to nurse her. The. young
woman had been her companion in all her
waking hours when her husband was not
at her bedside. 1t was, to Miss Schmidt
she conflded the last secret Of her heart.
A very brief time before she died she said
to- her:
when go my husband will marry. I
cannot bear to think of his being the hus-
band of a strange woman. / want him to
be the mate Of woman l know. 1 love
him, dearly, and 1 hope the woman he
marries will care for him as we'll as l
would have done II / had lived. 1t is my
dying wish that you, my dearest and best
friend, shall take my place."
Miss Schmidt gazed at her friend and
patient in establishment.
do you want me to marry him?' she
asked. ct had never thought of such a
thing" ..a. -
81 want you and no one else to be my
successor" the dying womsR replied. "If
imagined for a moment t1at a stranger
would take my place I wotild not die in
peace. 1. want you. to premise me that
you will marry. him. 1 know that he can
love you. for any one that 1 can love
he can love- -.
Miss Schmidt said no more at the time.
but the dying woman evidently knew that
she had won her consent to the marriage.
She sent for her husband. He went to
her bedside and she expressed to him the
same sentiments that she had uttered to
her nurse. Eismann promised as she
wished. He said there was only one. con-
dition attached to his promise, and that
was that the wedding would take place
provided the proposed bride acquiesced.
Mrs Eismann said she felt certain Miss
Schmidt would consent to marry her hus-
band after her death, and she added that
she felt happy. She died some two months
ago. rt.
Consequently, George Eismann and Liz
zie Schmidt are now preparing their we'd
ding plans. and everybody in Jamaica is
talking about the forthcoming event and
the odd request on the part Of dying
woman that led up to 1t. Both the pro-
spective bride and bridegroom admit that
their coming marriage is the direct result
of the promise exacted from each by Mrs.
Eismann as she lay on her deathbed. Els
mann admits that he loves the young wo-
man whom he is about to make his wife,
but regards It as highly improbable that
their wedding would ever have come about
hau not his late wife insisted upon it be-
fore she died. .t
Those who know the late Mrs. Eismann
in Jamaica say that she was always no
ted for her apparent unselhshness and
that was perhaps the reason why she
could bring herself to choose for her hus-
baud the wife who should be her sue
cessor Women neighbors of hers who
knew her quite intimately, and who yes
terday discussed the coming marriage of
her husband, told me that her strange re-
quest of both her husband and her friend
could be explained only on the ground OF
unselfshness and an unconquerable regard
for her husbands welfare.
Perhaps the statement will be made
that Mrs. Eismann did not really love her