The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-09-22
OF Interest to Women
BY wlnon. Evan. Reeves.

i !
! woman missed reading in The Gate
/ City, the account of Miss Mary How
ellis marriage to Mr.. Oscar Strome in
Yokohama, II you did miss it you
had better hunt up the paper for it
was as interesting as. it could be and
1 was written by woman society edi-
/ tor In Yokohama. AS the article said
the young woman from Keokuk had
! the first wedding in home In the
evening ever held in Yokohama. 1t is
the custom in Japan to have we'd
| dings in the day time and In the
/ church. This bride was an Ameri-
can girl and she said she was going
to have an American wedding and
right there in Yokohama they had a
| demonstration of the fact that Amer1-
can girls are In the habit of having
what they wish and particularly on
their wedding day.
/ Mr.. Strome, who is an Englishman
and an Episcopalean. asked the rec
tor of the church there to read the
service and he said: Il can't, 1t is
| not the CUSTOM" Then Mr.. Strome
asked the bishop of Japan, who is a
personal friend, to read the service
and he said: ct isn't the custom. but
will because of my personal friend
ship" Accordingly he came from
Toxic. On his arrival he was met by
the Yokohama rector who had good
deal to say and threatened to make
trouble for the bishop. Finally the
two churchmen came together on the
/ idea of letting this American bride
have an evening wedding and the
| bishop would officiate, but it must be
in the church So the message was
taken to the bride who only said: II
am going to have a home wedding In
the evening, and we will get along If
need be, without the aid of the bishop
i of Japan" The third time being the
charm, they appealed to an English
missionary who married them at the
home Of Mr.. and Mrs. Ellsworth, in
the evening. In japan it is the civil
service which legalizes the marriage
and not the ceremony by minister.
Miss Howell and Mr.. Strome were
married three times, once at the Eng
lish embassy because Mr.. Strome is
an English subject; once at the
American embassy because Miss
Howell Is an American and then of
4 course, they both wished the christian
service A man, Mr. Strome's partner,
had to take oath that the bride was
an American citizen. Now, according
to the law, she is no longer an
American, her citizenship having
been merged with that of her hus-
band and she is an English subject.
i They spent several weeks at the
Fujoya hotel at well known sum-
mer resort in Japan, but recently
they have gone to housekeeping. Now
in japan you know, native spreads
a mat, sets up screen and his
house is furnished. The Stromes are
H. f,yv, Ia
J and from her memory the bride Is
having to remember how Ligh and
how long and how wide a sideboard
should be and the dimensions of a
dressing table and chairs and all the
rest of it. Mrs. Howell has sent her
daughter, from their home in Keokuk.
some Of the china and the furniture
that she particularly liked and these
pieces of furniture will no doubt,
help the Japanese cabinet makers In
their efforts.
Speaking OF the difficulties attend
ant upon being married in a foreign
land recalls the other Keokuk girl
who planned to be married in Europe,
but who met difficulties unsurmount-
able and came back to New York to
be married. This young woman's
father represented the United States
government at a foreign court and
the family were living there temper
arily. When the groom made applica-
ton for the license, he answered in
Vulnerable questions and was asked
to present the certificate Of his bith,
and that was document he didn't
have and perhaps couldn't get even
If he came back to Iowa for it, be-
cause in this state, birth registration
is not required by law and so they
could not be married until the family
returned to America.
One day at the Parent Teachers as
sociation (Which lived for one year
and which was legislated out of exist
ence by a body having no power to
leg1slate) the topic of how much
home work should be required of chill
dren was under discussion. One wom-
an had good deal of sympathy for
children who hate to do certain
homely tasks and she said she her
self loathed to wash dishes and that
while she was at it she tried to think
of other things and kept her mind as
far away from the dishpan as she
could. Whereupon Miss Sertha Craig
than whom no one is better on "the
come back" in discussion, said:
when I was a little girl / took
music lessons. loathed to practice,
but 1 loved to read and SO I set my
book upon the piano and read as
practiced You all know, l am not
pianist" Her point was very well
taken and the absent-minded dish
washer saw the point.
Iowa has been the pioneer state in
inaugurating a number OF profess
sions for women, notable among them
being the county nurse of which we
wrote in former article, and now
the first woman county agent appears
In Black Hawk county. The title Of
her office might signify almost any
: thing, but her province is to teach
housewives economy. efficiency and
happiness and contentment in their
work. This county agent is Miss Tura