The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-09
CARPENTER MAY WED
 MISS FORCE TO ASTOR

| Providence, R. l., September SAL
 though he declared he had not been deh-
 nitely engaged to officiate Edwin S. Straight, carpenter of East Providence,
 who is a venerable retired minister of
 the Baptist denomination, said tonight he
 believes he will perform the wedding cere-
 mony for Col. John Jacob Astor and Miss l Madeline Force of New York Mr Straight, discussing the matter on his re-
 turn home tonight from his days work J at the carpenters bench said he was ap- preached last Tuesday by Richard B. | Comstock of Providence, a lawyer, who has sounded several ministers in Rhods | Island as to their willingness to officiate | at Colonel Astor's wedding Mr Straight I told MT Comstock, as he informed re- | porters today. that he will marry any body with license, and that he has no objection to performing the marriage cer- emony in case where one of the parties l has been divorced.
 According to the clergyman. he had | more than one conference with Attorney | Comstock regarding the matter, and while
 he is not certain he will perform the cere-
 mony. 1t is his belief that he will. He i said he had made an appointment with
 MT. Comstock to go to Newport within | a few days. but he could not say just
 what he would do there. He declined to say whether he was going to Newport tomorrow.
 I MT. Straight is 70 years old, and his beard gives him somewhat of patriarchal | appearance. Thirty years ago he was | pastor of small Baptist church and at | times since then he has supplied various I country pulpits. Recently he has devoted
 himself almost exclusively to carpenter
 ing, though he has occasionally officiated
 at marriage or funeral.
 1 In connection with the report from New
 York that Colonel Astors yacht Noma
 was being supplied for long voyage, l Mr Straight was asked as to the exten.
 of his Jurisdiction for performing a mar riagc ceremony. He said his authority
 does not extend outside of Rhode Island, but that he can officiate anywhere in 1 this state or, if necessary, on board
 vessel within the ''three-mile limit
 Tt is my custom never to set any price on my service for performing a mar
 riage." MT. Straight said. 'T am willing to take as little or as much as is freely lgiven me. I think the Rev. F. Lewis
 Brooks of Little Compton and the Rev.
 Edward A. Johnson of Newport, who are
 said to have turned down offers of 5000 each to perform the ceremony were very
 foolish.''
 Despite many reports to the contrary,
 it was learned definitely tonight that nei- lther Colonel Astor nor anybody acting for him had taken out a marriage license in Newport. Although the new Rhode Isl land marriage laws provide for five day notice before a marriage license may be lissued. if was said at Newport that under lcertain conditions Colonel Astor might he able to get a license tomorrow morning If he or somebody acting for him had previously answered certain preliminary questions which would not necessarily be a matter of record.
 | No information regarding the expect ed marriage could be obtained tonight from any representative of MT. Astor New York. September S.-Colonel John Jacob Astor, accompanied by his fiancee
 Miss Madeline Force, and her father William Force, sailed from here late .his afternoon for what it was announced lwould be week end cruise on Long Is- land sound.
 l Statements made by Colonel Astor jnst before he embarked indicated that his marriage would not take place within Ithree or four days, at the least, and set lat rest scores of rumors afloat today IThe colonel categorically denied the re- bort that the marriage had already been performed secretly in Connecticut.
 Colonel Astor also denied that he would
 make cruise to Bermuda The present lexpedition. he said, was merely a fishing "trip and the party would return to New
 York Monday. There would be no mar lriage on the yacht, the colonel said.