The Washington herald., 1908-01-19
MARRY AT LEISURE
No Longer Such Haste Make Repentance
Sequel in New York City.

New York. Jan. 1s-You may still re-
pent at leisure, but you can no longer
marry in haste in New York city. The
new marriage license bureau has fixed all
that, and two official regulators Of Cupid.
| Edward W. Hart and Stuart Harris, OF
City Clerk Scully's office sit from 10
O'Clock every weekday morning TO pass
upon the qualifications Of all those IN
Manhattan and the Bronx who wish TO
get married The other boToughs have
similar offices.
II you want to get mpried you must
go to the city hall. bringing the pros
/ pective bride with you, or following her
lead. as the case may be. Turn down the
corridor toward the east end Of the build
| ing. and If you are on the right track,
YOU viii bring up against Policeman
Jimmy He hands you a blank which
asks both of you in bold type where you
and your mother were born. how Old you
are, where you reside, what you work
at, and whether you were ever married
before, and if so. how many times; also
If you We're ever divorced.
When this blank has been filed out
you are allowed 10 pass the outer guard
and enter a small Enclosure. where you
viii probably find yourself in company
with several other couples. The blank
goes through the right-hand window in
the desk at the end Of the room, and
after the clerk has deCiphered the par
ticuiar kind Of writing you turn out IN
/ der @ nervous strain, he swears you 70
the truth of your statements. and you
pass over TO the left-hand window, where
another clerk issues you the license and
collects g.
The bureau has been open since a few
| days before the first Of this year, when
the new law went into effect. and in that
/ time about 100 licenses a day have been
| issued and the record for a single day so
/ far IS I74' The fees make a nice little
( addition to the city treasury.
| Each blank as It is handed in is gone
/ over very carefully. no slapdash or hurry
about It, and this takes time. In fact,
although the official hour Of closing IS 1
/ o'clock. the clerks are generally busy
until nearly ;. and on Saturdays. when
/ the efIiee is supposed TO close at noon,
until after ?. The couples who arrive
after Z are asked if they want TO get
/ married at once, and If they don't are
/ told 70 come back the next day. Almost
| every couple. however. declare that the
/ wedding is Set for right away. and. Of
! course. no clerk is hard-heaTted enough
TO upset wedding plans.
!
i A great number Of couples, as soon as
the license is secured, ask for an alder
man 10 marry them. When this demand
I IS made the clerk calls out: Jimmy,
( here's another one" and Jimmy. not the
cop this time but Jimmy Weldon, a semi
/ official aid 70 Cupid, comes IN TO lead the
/ bride and bridegroom TO room 4 in the
/ basement Jimmy draws up the neces-
sary papers and scuTries around for an
/ alderman. His fee is whatever the bride
/ groom cares to pay.
/ The rush for licenses since the opening
Of the bureau has been so much greater
than was anticipated that at times the
clerks were almost swamped before they
! got the routine established. Even now
/ there is too much work for two men, and
more clerks and larger quarters are prom
/ ised. Saturday. which is Jewish holiday,
/ is an especially hard day for the men in
the bureau. since, in addition To the rush
for licenses among the Hebrews, many
T Of the applicants have not been long in
/ this country and know 50 little English
/ that is difficult to make them understand
/ the nature Of an oath.
One day recently there were something
over a hundred applications for licenses
A majority Of those who applied were of
/ foreign birth or parentage. The occupa-
tions ranged from preaching 10 driving
a truck. but most OF those who applied
were day laborers. All but one couple
were white, and with this exception most
OF the brides were blushing, and all OF
the bridegrooms were bashfuI IN nearly
every instance the bride showed the
f greater presence Of mind and answered
the questions more clearly.
The bridegroom usually sl0uches against
the side Of the clerks window. but the
bride stands up straight. and If she has
an engagement ring. as she usually has,