The Tupelo journal., 1903-01-23
LOVE AND MARRIAGE.
Bill Arp Writes of the Bonds of
Matrimony.
Says There Should Be Give and Take,
but Some Things Chmno BE COM
promised - Concerning Ia
Months and Their Names.
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Months and Their Names.
Married and gone. 1t is the same
old story. Love and courtship. Then
IN the engagement ring and n
blessed interval of fond hopes and
happy dreams, and then the happy
day is fixed-the suspicious day that
is never to be forgotten-a day that
brings happiness or misery and be-
gins a new life. Then m the Ii
cense, the permit of the law which
says you may marry, you may enter
into bonds. The state approves it
and the law allows it, and it Will
cost you only a dollar and a quar-
ter. Cheap, isn't it? And yet it may
be very dear. Then comes the minis
ter, and the happy pair stand up be-
fore him to a prayer and a benedic-
ton, and they are one. In a moment
the trusting maid has lost her name
and her free will, and is tied fast to
a man. Well, he is tied fast, too, 50
it is all right all round, l reckon,
but somehow l always feel more
concern about the woman than the
man. She is a helpless sort of a
creature and takes the most risk, for
she risks her all.
/ was Eliminating over this, for
there was a marriage going on at our
good friend Sam Jones' house, and
their pretty daughter, Laura, was
changing her name and her home or
this the last day of the year and 60
ing off to live with a man she hasn't
known very long; but | have dag
nosed him from his ACE and fea-
lures and am satisfied with her
choice. He is a big-hearted gentle
man, or else the signs fail. / wanted
to be present and give them my
blessing, but was not well enough to
go-I've got the elephantiosis from
my toes to my knees, and can hard
ly meander across the room, but L
am always interested in the mar
riages of our young people. 1t is
the most serious business in this life,
and if the peril of it was known be-
forehand many of. the young people
would hesitate to make the change.
The chains of matrimony and the
bonds of marriage are the right
words. When men make a partner
ship they can't, get along well if they
are unlike in disposition, or in moral
principle OF in business ways, but
they can dissolve and separate at
pleasure and try another man. A
man and his wife ought to be alike in
almost everything. In some things
folks like their opposites-thcir
counterparts. A mar with blue eyes
| goes distracted over a pretty girl
with hazel eyes-I did, and I'm dis-
tracted yet when l look into them,
though I've been doing that for 81
years. But in mental and emotional
| qualities and in tastes and habits ana
politics and religion they should class
together.
l never made any mistake about
my choice of a partner for the dance
of a life, but I've thought of it a
thousand times that if Mrs. Arp had
known l loved Goldfish and got up by
daybreak every morning, she never
would have had me. 1t was nip and
would have been the feather to
break the camel's back. Well, I'm
mortal glad she didn't know it,
though 1 am free to say that if l had
known she slept until the second
ringing of the first bell for break
fast and was fond of raw oysters, it
would have had a dampening effect
upon my ardor for a few minutes.
only a few. But / have seen some
mighty clever people eat oysters raw
and sleep late in the morning. But
still a man. and his wife can harmon
ize and compromise a good many of
these things, and it is a beautiful IL
l%ustration of this to see Mrs. Arp
cooking Goldfish for me and fixing it
all up so nice with eggs and cream,
and it is a touching evidence of my
undying devotion to her to see me
wandering about the house lonely
and forlorn every morning for ar
hour or two, and f%orbidding even the
cat to walk heavily while she sleeps.
That Goldfish business comes to me
honestly from my fathers side, and
my mother put up with it like 4
| good, considerable wife, and we chill
dren grew up with an idea that it
was good. I've heard of a young
couple who got married and went
off to Augusta on a tour, and the
Teller stuck his fork into a Goldfish
ball and took a bite. He choked it
down like a hero, and when his be-
| loved asked him what was the mat
ter, replied: "Don't say anything
about it, Mandy, but as sure as you
are born there is something dead in
the bread"
Well, we can make compromises
about all such things as habits and
tastes, but there are some things
that won't compromise worth a cent.
If a girl has been brought up to
49, ~Nol IaoI - oor~ -