Show J 7 0 mToi ui 1 j It ii o BRUMH I Dcii 6 M 4 S n l11 EE sm r 1 Of r 1 E t t i r ° n oc N x er 1 ° a h a t p I y w t I u h sta 1 K pt JOy t I L y I r l r + r t t rt r WATa ° rr R1ER R yf fit t In lot a < a lr C Jo Srr h i4 I I ht IIIII t 11 x il r yv a I C a 41 t t I t I r 4t t tip Ira 1 = ARABArf BRIDE F I BUTROTHfil COSTUME n I HE American 4 THE Is so accustomed v Sot I ac-customed to a short romantic f roman-tic courtship 4 C J which reaches its climax Q cli-max In a large wedding wed-ding with a double ring U service she Imagines girls are wooed and won In the same way everywhere Though men are courted and girls arc won the world over there are many hIT strange and unusual customs associated IJ t as-sociated with the winning riD Even In Europe marriages IDe are made much more conventionally t3 1 f J conven-tionally than In this country 1 tj j and It Is only In most recent times that young men harm been allowed to court girls without the consent con-sent and aid of their parents But In France today among the haut monde the parents of the young man must be counseled and unless he is 25 years old he cannot marry the girl without their consent con-sent A far wiser way for him to do Is to talk e It over with the parents If the girl Is attractive and the family Is congenial the parents of the young man make overtures to the girls parents C They are soon on a friendly footing and the question nit ques-tion of marriage Is readily settled The settlement ril as to what the girls dot shall be is an Important e point at Issue b The Chinese along with the Turks believe that a girl Is far better off dead than unmarried Though they are exceedingly anxious to have their daughters daugh-ters married they believe it Is beneath their dignity dig-nity to carry on these negotiations themselves but leave this work to a professional matchmaker The gobetween visits the different homes alone where she takes note of the age education social position posi-tion and wealth of the different girls She then gives a long and accurate account of the girls family fam-ily One is selected from this number and if both parties are satisfied the affair Is handed over to the necromancer It the stars say the young people peo-ple are selected wisely the betrothal Is announced But the matchmaker has still a part to play Shortly before the marriage she brIngs the young girl the gifts the groom would send her These usually include a leg of pork a bag of money two bottles of wine and two candles But the girl Is expected to return a part of these offerings The Chinese parents do not believe is necessary for young persons to love each other so long as the augur is satisfied The young man rarely sees the girl until after they are married When the bride arrives at the home of the bridegroom ho Is thereto there-to meet Ser but when she steps out she is so relied that her features aro hidden He leads her Into the room whore the ceremony will take place Then he seats himself on a high chair to show his superiority and she prostrates herself before II him until ho lifts the veil and sees for the first time his future wifes face The Russians are another people who believe that marriage Is the only natural and rational destiny des-tiny for a woman Confident that Cupid Is a foolish fool-ish and erratic boy whose Judgment Is not always the wisest they make use of a matchmaker called I a nuicha She Is a most Important personage and when her Judgment which is excellent falls her she can call the stars diamonds hearts and clubs to her aid Hut the marriage ceremonies are even more complicated com-plicated On tho day before the wedding the bride Is conducted to her bath There her friends spend long hours combing her hair and while away the tlmo singing and talking of what her dally life will be after she Is married The ceremony Is performed with the rites of the eastern church and takes Flare eight days before the marriage The service Is divided Into three parts The first Is whore the gold > rings are exchanged Then the bride and bridegroom are crowned with crowns of silver fill sree anti lastly conies the dissolution of the crownr Though matchmakers are not employed In Japan love l matches are exceedingly rare and It Is not tin n r J 1rf I V usual for a Japanese bride to commit suicide because be-cause she Is not permitted to have the young man she would like to marry The parents settle this affair often without consulting con-sulting the young man and the girl The man usually Is given more leeway and If he does not admire the girl the parents usually hunt another ghl for him The girl once selected It is his duty to send her as many and as costly gifts as his fortune will allow The Swiss bride espe ciallv In the upper class J ± t a 1 lr r J P Mt f y < i h t 4 < > 1171 1 J4 > J tf < > h f GiEORGRN BRIDE WHO COtiT A rORTuYE es never accepts anything beyond jewelry Her parents are expected to buy her trousseau furniture furni-ture for the house and her spinning wheel The day of the wedding these things are exhibited but at the bridegrooms house Though In Switzerland no matchmaking Is done a young man must often prove to the girl he Is worthy of asking for her hand The girls always have the privilege of saying Yes or No though In some places the choice of a bridegroom restricted re-stricted to their own locality In some districts a man must lead the goats up and down the mountain moun-tain to show the girl he can work for hpr In other towns where the haying Is done it Is his part to stack up all the hay and pile It Into the barn Though she helps him In his long hours of toll he Is expected to do most of the work Still he tolls on bravely feeling that he Is being rewarded sufficiently suffi-ciently by a pleasant word a friendly smile and that If the work is well done he has a chance to win her as his wife Until recently In Egypt girls and boys were married mar-ried when they were young It was common for a girl to be married by the time she was 11 and a boy when 16 But they now wall a few years longer The parents always select the man they wish for the sonlnlnw The girl Is satisfied to know that she Is going to have now dresses had a great deal of new pretty jewelry The bride and bridegroom rarely see each other before the day of the wedding An Important part of the ceremony Is to give a bride food and a large urn which symbolize that she will have food and water There are no people so particular about selecting husbands and wives for their children as the Moors Their sons and daughters have no right to say who they will and will not marry For after the parents have chosen n word of complaint might result re-sult In death A son dare never take a wife unless his mother approves and she Is usually chosen from the young women of their own clan But when they cannot find a girl In the village who pleases them they seek one among other clans But the oung man Is supposed to be too timid to court alone the girl whom his mother chooses and so he usually takes several friends with him It is their duty to sing the girls praises In the hope of giving him courage to carryon the courtship But the format engagement must take place In the presence of the head man It Is before him that the young man hands over the sum he has agreed to give the girls father This varies according to what he can afford the beauty of the bride and their social position The bride usually buys the trousseau with the money the young man gives her father Moorish girls are exceedingly fond of pretty clothes and plenty of handsome jewelry so their trousseaux arc often wonderfully elaborate On her wedding day a professional woman from the town Is employed to dress the bride She paints her fare combs out her hair and arranges the jewels Not much before sunset does tho bridegroom bride-groom bend the box In which the bride is to be con ducted on a mule to his house Before she goes to his house she drives all about town In some parts when the bride enters her new home the bridegroom walks backwards holding a dagger In his hand and she follows him touching tho plant of the blade with the tip of her finger Where a family can afford It a girl usually Is accompanied by an old nurse who gives her good words of counsel as the lazy mule trudges along leisurely Before she leaves the girl whom she has cared for since the bride was a child she whispers Take courage you need not fear He cannot help but love you you are sweet good and kind Among primitive peoples marriage usually Is more Insistent and girls are courted in even a less romantic manner Among the Australians every girl must marry whether she will or not It Is considered wonderfully strange If a girl is 12 years old and is still unmarried This ta not because the girls or parents are romantic but the parents feel that a girl Is only worth the toll she gives The man says the Rev H C Meyer regards them more as slaves than In any other light They are a necessary commodity valuable only as long as useful to he tin own aside after they serve their purpose Worse still their masters can throw them out and divorce them at will The Kaffirs buy their wives with cows and do not pay more than they can help A woman no sooner enters her new home than she Is given some task to perform so her Jord can see If he has made a good bargain He values her less than his cows This Is Been by the fact that he permits her to do all the work except tend to his cattle and enter the kraal where they are kept I |