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Show About the Wedding Veil. A brutal wit, who probably never married a June bride, once said that marriage began in illusion and ended in disillusion. He might have said it began with point lace and ended in the divorce court. Cynics aside, the wedding veil is a thing of beauty and the most becoming article of apparel ever donned by a girl. Just as in the dark all cats are gray, so beneath a veil all women are beautiful. The filmy folds of white give one tantalizing glimpses of 'the face beneath. be-neath. Is she beautiful? Who can tell? Yes. she is in all probability concealing a wondrous loveliness of face from the vulgar eyes of the crowd. Consequently, Consequent-ly, she is probably as modest as she is beautiful. If she would only raise that tantalizing veil we should see what we" should see! The veil is said to be the symbol of maidenhood and a declaration of a bride's proper subjugation to her lord and master But everywhere, symbol or no symbol, it is made as becoming as possible, and the average bride of today likes to wfear it partly because it is the custom, but chiefly because it is pretty and distinctive. There are many interesting customs connected with the wearing of the veil. In Arabia a bride must keep her face entirely covered for four days. When : sne goes to ner new nome sne is gen- orally enveloped from head to foot in j a cashmere shawl, red, white or wellow. On her hetd she wears a small paste- i board crown, which is also hidden be- neath the shawl. She goes through the; service and the feast concealed from j view in this way. It Is not until the! groom gives her some money, which is ' called the price of uncovering the face. ! that she allows the shawl to be re- j moved, says a Philadelphia exchange, j In Persia it usually happens that a j man takes his bride to the altar with- out ever having seen her face. Natur- I ally, he has great curiosity to see what j she is like, and the guests are particularly particu-larly eager to see how he will take it when sh unveils. It must he a very trying moment even for an Arab's nerves. The cas-- is the same with the Bedouins. On the weddinsr day the bride is led to the groom's tent by her girl friends, while the merrymaking goes on outside. After the ceremony the bride remains in the tent, while the husband joins the merrymakers for r time. Then. he is allowed to co in pud lift her vol. If he is satisfied. w;th what he sees he announces it by shrill cries of .delight. This triumphant shouting after the lifting of the vil is .one of the principal features of a Bed-' ouin wedding. Among the Zulus the veil takes the form of a fringe of beads hanging over th face. The briday party conducts the bride to the house of the groom, keeping her concealed among them. They then stand in front of hr while she sings a song, after which th"y brenk away so that he can see th? singer. In Assyria the veiling custom is very strict, especially among the tribe known as the Yzeedees. There the bride not only wears a heavy veil, but she. is shut no for three days before the m.irriage. After a day of rejoicing the . bride is led forth in holiday attire and taken to the house of the groom, still closely veiled. On entering, she goes straight to the darkest corner of the house and stays there for three more days, to be seen by no one. not even her husband. While she is thus concealed the rejoicing is kept up outside. At the e-vpiration of the term the husband is allowed to go and find her. In Morocco" they have a curious Cus tom. At the feast before the marriage the bride and bridegroom sit together on a kind of throne, the bride having her eyes closed and sitting like a statue amid the surrounding revelry. On the following day, after the marriage, mar-riage, she is conducted after dark to her new home, wearing- a thick veil. The sister or aunts who lead her, not satisfied with the fact that her eyes are closed beneath the heavy veil, take it in turns to walk behind her and hold her head straight, lest she should look this way or that. |