Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-03-28
The Invasion of
Picture Bri des
BY Frederic J. Haskin


ment, the women of Euope are quietly |
settling one of the gravest after-war |
difficulties by enigrating 20 this coun- |
try. where there is a surplus supply OF |
husbands. These women have a great |
advantage over former generations OF |
war made spinsters. They have at their |
disposal the art Of photography.
Thus, 1t happens that genuine ro-
nance has recently been revived In
New York by the advent of hundreds
of pictures brides from the most man
exhausted countries. The japanese
have long used the picture bride sys-
tern, but now half a dozen races nave
followed suit. Every ship brings in
dozen or so. and the other day Greek
steamship arrived with three hundred
in its steerage. much to the confusion
of the migration authorities and to the
| great fatigue of several priests and
parsons, who have been kept constant
i " busy tying the marriage knot.
Most of the brides are from Greece,
| Syria. Turkey, zecho-Slovakia, ana
| Italy and are fair specimens of prole-
| tarian pulchritude. They do not seem
| to be the slightest bit downcast at the
/ thought of marrying men they have
/ never seen before. although they are
4 naturally curious at the sort OF prizes
/ they are destined 10 draw
The waiting picture grooms are equal
/ ~ curious as TO their fate. Thus. when
| this particular Greek ship was held
up in the harbor for a long interval.
owing 10 a case of smallpox on board
+, the harbor police launch had TO be re-
Questioned to keep the impatient swairis
| from mobbing the boat They circled
/ around IL in rented motor-boats. and
| doriea. eagerly searching the faces Of
| the damsels on the lower deck, and COM
| pairing them with thumb marked Pho
| tographs Some Of them. having locat-
ed their prospective brides, sent them
| fruit. candy and even wearing appeareI
in baskets. which the ladies lifted with
a piece Of light rope.
As soon as tho girls stepped of the
boat. there was a wild rush among the
assembled bridgegrooms. few seconds
OF hasty Identification and introduction,
and then a storm Of rapturous en-
braces. An onlooker would have sup
posed the couples had known each
other for years. In few cases, there
was a childhood betrothal in the back
ground, but for the most part an ex-
change Of photographs and letter or
tygo was the only basis of the relation
ship.
Most Satisfied
To most or US, choosing q mate BY
photograph would seem even more
hazardous than most methods, but n
all this crowd of picture brides and
grooms there were only a few cases
of disappointment One very pretty
English girl who had left an Italian
villa, where she was employed as q
governess. 10 marry a man from our
far West decided that she couldn't go
through with the arrangement when
she saw her prospective mate.
I feel that I should marry you since
you've paid for my passage over here
but l simply can't" she told him. You
look very nice and kind" she added
: gently. but l am sure we wouldn't get
} along. Your letters sounded different
somehow thought-wen. l guess I'd
better cable my people for pasSa e
money hack home"
2 Another girl who was not disposed e
accept kindly the husband fate had
awarded her. was not so polite. She
vas a large and buxom Syrian lass
with a pair OF fine brown e-es thai
sparkled with excitement ea shs
trlked.
4 will not marry you" she declared
contemptuously. as she took in tbs
grotesque appearance Of thSNsmall, ben
+. and somewhat elderly Syrian gentle
man. who claimed her as his property
You are not the same as your pictr,
mo hair. perhaps no teeth-and 70,
dare to think you marry me-"
At this point. member of one of the
E. several social service organizations
which offer protecting arm TO the pic
: ture brides at Ellis Island. hurried TO ths
n scene. and tried to straighten out tht
1 difficulties The man explained he had
1 fine house. a fine automobile, wa.
a wealthy. He would treat her we'll, III
said, and she would not have TO work
e But the girl remained obdurate. so tn,
/ social worker sent her to an immi
d grant home. Here a Syrian society be
e came iotercsted in her case. and she sooI
: had most of its membership list as can
l. didates for her hand. Among these. sht
c found one to her liking. who paid tn,
II picture suitor back his passage money
= and the incident ended happily
3 In the great majority of cases. how
o ever, the course of picture love run
/ smooth The girls have no fault 4
ind with their swains. and the me-
are usually more than pleased becaus
the girl turns out TO be better LOOKING
than her photograph, which is a chea
/ and badly posed likeness. occasionally
e a man feels that he was led TO expsc
l. a great deal more than he got. but h
/ is apt to take il philosophically hk
1t one Armenian, who upon beholding hi
p bride, exclaimed. "Ah. well. why vast
Is the passage moMey. All wives are tn
il. same in five years"
le Suits Europeans.
re The fact is that picture marriages ar
e probably as safe and quite as romanti
ly as any other kind The peasant sgil
1T of Europe is accustomed to the ide
ye of marrying a man she does not know
to because over there the parent-ar
n marriage is the conventional thing. \
N self-respecting girl would think
Id marrying the youth of her own choic
- unless by some stroke Of good fortur
"a he also happened TO be the choice of hs
parents She has been taught ths
marriage must be governed by econom
- considerations The man must be we
- established in his trade or profession
se and the girl must have her dot ar
trousseau.
II The lack of dots and trousseaux sim
N the war is another reason for the rus
oo of picture brides to this country, whe
OF n brid need have no property at a
On except a feather mattress. Even a pi
sh ture bride is expected to have this pc
ouisite. Hence. a huge unwieldy, luml
in -. .+v.oss Y-oIIad and tied with a ME