The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-08-22
~pOST-NUpTIAL
Tcrrors OF Preparation for Wedding.
Horrors Of Bridal our.

A. - NA] HASFA hSS VA A. 6AI1S ~
cure the many superstitions of the laity
in too many instances shared by the
profession, as, for instance, that an
egg is equivalent in nutritive value to
a pound OF meat; that the various mys-
teries sold in the drug stores as beef
extracts are sufficient by the lea
spoonful to sustain a famished invalid
or conyalescent for twenty-four hours,
more or less, and that milk is the one
grand, important absolute and univer-
sal food for every breathing thing; If
hygiene would only restrict itself TO
such things it would occupy us to the
very full while the world shall last
but there are many other errors almost
as widespread and more fatal in their
consequences. It is almost incompre-
hensible to the thoughtful physician
why the atrociOus vice of wedding
tours has not been utterly stamped out.
No matter how robust, how tenaci ,us
of life, how full of energy, how many
times the four hundred years which the
good DR.. Holmes insists should be the
time of preparation for the new born
infant; no matter what adjuncts to
ease, of wealth, of education, of e.
fnement, not one of them can stand
safely the dreadful physical and me7-
tai exactions of the prolonged and, too
often, deleterious excitement of the "a
gagged.
The constant strain to keep up that
somewhat unnatural front" which has
attracted and which continues to at
tract the ~betrothed, together with the
six months siege, more or less, of the
most labOriOus eXertiOn in the prep
aration of ~trousseau. the exactions, I'M
positions and fatigue Of the dressmak-
er, the same to a lesser degree, Of the
milliner, and to crown all, the dreadful
hurry and vigiis which attend the few
weeks Immediately preceding the cece-
mOny.
With the groom it is scarcely less
exacting. Whether in business Or
whether at leisure, and, like all the
strictly leisure class, driven by the
lash of necessity for amusement, MS
attention divided, his entire habit Of
life, so far as it is then formed, cont
pletely subverted. his hurried and fire.
quently frenzied attempts to regulate
1Io ool11OO III OA0SA SAOC ~
may have nothing on his hands to in
terfere; these combined produce a con-
dition of the system, both mental and
physical, of both the high contracting
parties, which peculiarly and positive
ly unfit them for the dreadful exactions
OF q honeymoon trip.
Immediately upon the conclusion Of
the ceremony the youthful couple pro-
coed with the utmost dispatch to the
train ana then begins the most tire
some episode which human beings with
all the varied ills of life are subjected
to. To the sensitive, modest young
woman the mental disquiet of appear
ing to the world in the nOt-tO-be-cOn-
cealed role of bride is in itself sufficient
but this must be supplemented by 100
discOmforts of that PrOcustean traves-
ty, the modern, much o~verdecorated
sleeping car. The overstudied indiffer- |
ence of the groom needs 40 mention |
here, as this is not intended as a hui
morous sketch. Arriving, not at the1r
destination, for their proper destina-
ton will probably be a sanitarlum, but
at the city which they have chosen to
honor with their incOgnito, they begin
life burdensome from the very strange
ness of the room, of the furniture, Of
the surroundings, and the unfamiliar
and too often indigestible, if not abso-
lutely hurtful, menus. This, however, !
does not suffice with the great majority
of them, hardly have they swallowed
an early breakfast before they are OFF
sightseeing AMI visiting every celebrl-
ty within twenty miles OF the city, too
often in inclement weather, and tool
often in the reaction brought about by
the months of strenuous endeavor
which have preceded teh trip. 1t does
not suffice that they should thus drag
themselves from pillar to post ostensi-
bly, enjoying these various sights anG
landscapes in each others society
which, as Lord kllcash says in FRA
Diavolo,' Each longs for his or her
sleep all the day." we'll meaning, mis-
guided friends who have been appraised
of their arrival, visit the newly mar
ried couple at their hotel in the after
noon and evening. The bride is expos
ed to a series of laborious mental and
physical efforts which might well
break down the strongest and most ro-
bust man. Is 1t any wonder that the
wedding trip is the first and most
powerful factor in the wretched health
for many years of young American ma
trons?-Medical Brief.