Evening star., 1904-03-12

denced any such observation-disclosures wher
the bride didn't happen to be a "looker."
Van Wyck Was Deliberate.
The gruff and Indifferent Mayor Var
wyck wasn't mite behind any of his prede-
cessors when his duty in the matter OF
saluting brides was in question There was
something almost startling in the delibera-
ton with which Mr.. Van Wyck set about
| the pleasant task of kissing bride whom
| he had married
| When the moment had arrived and he
! had pronounced the couple man and wife,
| Mr.. Van Wyck would pull down his cuffs
| and adjust his cravat. He would swing his
| arms a couple of times, meanwhile bestow-
ing cleaning smile at the waiting bride
out of the corners of his eyes, and you
could almost hear Mayor Van Wyck at this
stage of it saying to himself: well, /
guess I'm not going to do solitary. single
| thing to that" Then he'd push back his
| gigantic mustache, toss his arms forward
again like a prestidigitateur about to per-
form card-palming trick, grab the BRIDE
ana then 1t would happen. Oh. Robert Van
| Wyck didn't have a long line of Knicker-
| booker ancestors. addicted possibly enough
some of them-to the joyous habit of
bussing pretty girls on the Bowling Green
| of old New York. for nothing.
Once Mayor Van Wyck who was a sim
| gulariy short man, united in marriage a
| raVlshlng-looking actress, who was scarce
| iy fraction of an inch short of six feet
tall. The mayor had to look away up at
her while he was performing the ceremony.
| ana the aldermen and city hall officials
present thought that they at length had
| one on the mayor. They winked at each
| other, for they didn't see a chance in life
| Tor the mayor to kiss that bride without
making himself ridiculous, and Mr.. Van
| Wyck was very sensitive as to his short
| same. '' OH 'i'e
| When the proper moment arrived be
| stepped up TO the gracious young creature
| sammy put determnedly pulled her head
risb, u MS tip-toe height. and it was all
| ilght He w1nked slyly al the CITY officials
showing well what had been in their minds
| Grafton. Po oii TIE op-
Mayor Seth Low, while by no means an
iulscrlminate bestower of official saiutes
| upon the brides whom he united In boI,,
| iiiatfInony, nevertheless was never derelict
III his duty in this respect, although he ba Il
Gin ises y, disposition to play "choo-
| sih ses' ana, as rule, only availed himself
| Oh MS traditional privilege when the bride
| happened to be handsome
| ana now young Mayor Mcclellan. one of
one soungest mayors the town has ever had,
| comes along and completely overturns a
| precedent dating back to and behind the
| uays OF the Dutch burgomasters by refusing
10 KISS any of the brides whether thew be
| soou-ioohlhg or homely, old or young, He
| DOESN'T say whether he does this out of
| pashfulneSs or for hyglenic reasons or ont
| oi "otlVes or domestic policy, but no mat
| Ter what the underlying reason NAV be
t .here are number of rising young poll
uclans in this town who view Mr.. McClel-
| IAN s conduct in the premises with distinct
| and audible disfavor.
! THESE rising young politicians have some
| OF them, pretty fair chances to become
| mayors themselves some day or other and
| they don't like the way Mr. Mcclellan is
| acting for this reason. They fear that the
precedent he is establishing to the kissing
OF prldes by the mayor may, by the time he
| gets through with the office, become crystal
| ized into an established and well-under-
| stood fact, and they maintain that 1t is pure
selhshness on Mr.. McClellans part to thus
smear away, so far as his successors are
concerned, one of the most cherished privi-
| leges OF the mayors billet
New York's Alimony Bureau.
Not changing the subject with any grisly
| significance, that alimony bureau of New
York's city hall is an establishment worth
visiting on one of the semi-monthly pay
! days. The alimony bureau is an institution
| of precisely the character it's name implies
New York makes itself the custodian of a
| considerable portion of the alimony decreed
| to wives obtaining divorces from their
| husbands in New York courts, and pays the
| money out TO the benefciaries on stated
| days of each month.
| The husbands from whom alimony is due
| send their checks or their cash along to the
| aIfmony bureau, and the alimony bureau
paymaSters duly serve out the cash to the
| grass widows who apply at the windows on
| the stated days. 1t may be stated too, that
| the beneficiaries of the alimony are never
| mixed in their dates, but are right at the
| windows of the alimony bureau for the
| money as soon as the plant is opened up,
| that is, If they are able to walk, and when
| they're not they send somebody with a
| power of attorney to collect the money for
| them.
IT is a ipS oil
reau, but it was found necessary to estab-
| lish 1t for the reason that scores and hun
| dreds of women found it difficult if not i'm
possible to collect the almony due them
| from their divorced husbands without the
| city taking hand in the business. Now all
| of the chaps who are due to pay alimony
| are duly tabled and registered as soon as
| the DEGREES against them are granted and
| they are notified when the payments are
| due. If they don't come to the 'front.' with
| the money on the minute they rounded
up, and, if they have no good excuse for
| not paying the money into the bureau to be
| handed over to their divorced wives, they
| are arrested and taken to court to explain.
How It Affected Husbands.
When the alimony bureau was first estab-
| lished, several years ago, it was the custom
to have the men bring the money down to
| the bureau the safe day that their
| divorced wives called for it, But this
! bands would run across the wives in the
| offices of the bureau and 'rough-house"
scenes were unavoidable.
Chaps who hated to separate themselves
from their cash in so hopeless cause as
the paying of alimony would see their
wives and then their rage would overcome
them, and the big fat cops stationed at the
bureau would have to intervene. Some
| times, however, reconciliations would be
! effected through these meetings of the
vorced ones at the alimony bureau.
| The separated ones, upon seeing each
otLer would rush into each Others arms,
and then the porter would have to dis
| gustedly SINK away to the basement to get
| a mop to swap up the tears.
The old cops used to say that the willy
| ex-husbands preferred to make it up with
| their wives than to pay the alimony but
| this was probably base injustice. Any
| how the reconciliation thus effected didn't
| balance the scenes of riot that ensued when
| ex-hubanGs came face to face with former
| wives, and now it is arranged, stated
| so that The wives call Tor the money on
| days exclusively set aside for that purpose.
c. L. c.
Gorgeous Sunshades for Brides.