The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1903-01-14

.omes the engagement ring and bless
" interval Of fond hopes and happy
!, s,e,ms, and then the happy day il
s,ed-the auspicious day thatis never
~ ~ be forgotten-a day that brings
s.nnipess IL or misery and begins a new
lfs Then comes the license, the
.s,mit of tie law which says you may
ante, into bonds. The state approves
as,d the law allows it, and it will
.ost you only dollar and quarter.
rheap, isn't it? And yet it may be
rerv dear. Then comes the minister,
and the happy pair stand up before
him and make solemn vows and listen
~ prayer aud benediction, and
they are one. In moment the trust
;Dp maid has lost her name and her
f,ee will, and is tied fast, too, so it is
al right all round, 1 reckon, but some
how / always feel more concern about
,be woman than the man. She IS a
helpless sort Of 3 creature and takes
The most risk, for she risks her all.
| was ruminating over this, for
there was marriage going on at our
rood friend Sam Jones' house, and
their pretty daughter, Laura, was
changing her name and her home on
this the last day of the year and going
of to live with a man she hasn't t
known very long; but I have diagnosed
him from his face and features and am
| satisfied with her choice. He is a
big.hearted gentleman: or else the
signs fail. I wanted to be present
and give them my blessing, but was
not we'll enough to go-I've got the
elephantiosis from my toes to my
knees, and can hardly meander across
the room, but am always interested
] in the marriages of our young people.
/ It's the most serious business in this
life, and if the peril of it was known
beforehand many Of the young people
would hesitate to make the change.
The chains of matrimony and bonds of
marriage are the right words. When
men make partnership they cant get
aloUg we'll if they are unlike in dis
position, or in moral principle or in
business ways, but they can dissolve
and separate at pleasure and try anoth-
er man. A man and his wife ought
to be alike in almost everything. In
some things folks like their opposites
their counterparts. A man with
blue eyes goes distracted over q pretty
|girl with hazel eyes-I did, and I'm
distracted yet when I look into them,
though I've been doing that for fifty
-four years. But in mental and emo
1tional qualities and in tastes and habits
land politics and religion they should
Iclass together.
1 lnever made any mistake about my
choice Of q partS Ell for the dance Of a
llllfe' but I've thought Of it thousand
times that if Mrs. Arp had known I
Flowed Goldfish and got up by dsybreak
|eVery morning, she never would have
'had me. 1t was nip and tuck to get
sher, anyhow, and that would have
oeen the feather to break the oamel's
}|o9aek. Pack. Well, I'm mortal glad she
Idldn't know it, though I am free to
||saythat if had known she slept until
1the second ringing Of the first bell for
breakfast and was fond Of raw oysters,
II would have had dampening effect
upon my ardor for a few minutes, only
4 lev. But have seen some mighty
EsieVer people eat oysters raw and sleep
'late in the morning. But still q man
Iano his wife can harmonize and
compromise /, good many Of these
Esalnss, | and it is beautiful illustra-
flon n Of this to see Mrs. Arp cooking
fooash for me and fixing it all up so
luce with eggs and cream, and it is a
If0uehlng evidence Of my undying de.
FOton to her to see me wandering
lTO0ut the house lonely and forlorn
af'efy morning for an hour or two, and
ltofOldding even the cat to walk heavily
'nile she sleeps. That goldfish busi-
! |aess comes to me honestly from my
Ita'let,s avn side, and my mother put up
|"i,n 1t like o good, considerate wife,
aad i, We children grew up with an IDEA
tnas 1t was good. I've heard Of
young couple who goe married and
|,sns |, OF to Augusta on q tour, and the
&%e,lef stuck his fork into o goldfish
j, ',all and took bite. He ohoked it
|uo'n like hero, and when his belov-
h s,:' asked him what was the matter, re-
Ra 'sned: Don't say anything about it,
i, an0y' but as sure as you are born
'usle Is something dead in the bread"
vel, we can make comnrom;aaa