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Show V I i III OLD MAIDS SCARCE ONLY ONE FOUND IN VIRGINIA MOUNTAINS. Course of True Love Among the Moonshiners Moon-shiners Runs Constant If Not Always Al-ways Smooth Peculiar Customs. Unmarried women nro senrco In tho Vlrglnlu mountnlns. In a summer's sojourn In n mountain country of old Vlrglnln'n tourlBt mnde tho acquaintance acquaint-ance of fully 700 persons, nnd found but one "old maid," and sho wns "talkln'." To "talk." In the mountain vernacular. mennB "to pay court or to accept It." Olrls begin to "talk" at 13 oven 12, In localities far removed from tho rnllronds. Tho llttlo maid leaves off hor red qallco "sleovo apron," tho "head band" thnt hns hold bnck hor loose hair, puts her hnlr In a big knob on tho bnck of her head, and lets her dress down all ndvertlsemonts of readiness for mnrrlage. When a young man selects n girl to whom to pay court ho will brook no othor youth'B 'talkln'" to her. He may "tnlk" to sovcral girls If. ho likes, in sovernl neighborhoods, but ho glvos himself tho right to quarrel with ono If she "talks" to another thnn himself. him-self. Tho chief courting places nro tho log churches, where the elders sit on tho rough benches Inside nnd worship and tho young ones sit under the shndo of tho trees outside nnd "tnlk," and tho evening entertnlnmcnts at the homes "play parties" and "cako cuttings," cut-tings," which last, with their dancing of "Iloston" nnd "Snap," from dusk until dawn. Courtship is conducted In tho moat open lashlon. Public demonstrations of affection aro not censured. At tha play parties and cako cuttings th lovers pay no attention to nny nn else, sit with nrms nbout ench othor and exchange kisses and honeyed words. Tho engaged girl Is very open In expressing ex-pressing her ownership of a young man. Sho pins n ribbon on her hnlr and a button picture on tho ribbon, nnd lets It hang over her forehead Sho "claims" her beau over any other girl; nnd It nt n dnnco It Is his turn to swing n girl sho doesn't llko sho has been known to seize him bodily and pull him out of the dnnce. Whon .the wedding day comes, usually nftor n very short courtship, tno young couple slip off at night, and call It "running away," oven though thoy have tholr parents' consent. Real rimnwnys aro but few. Tho'usuul obstacle In tho course of truo lovo Is tho enmity of tho mother of "tho other girl." Ono mother bo-comes bo-comes bo angered becauso a young mnn quits "talkln"' to her dnughter to talk to a moro attractlvo girl thnt sho threntens to roveal tho "moonshine" "moon-shine" business of tho youth's family to tho "rovonuors," a proceeding sho knows would ruin tho fnmlly. Tho mountnln folk Beldom romnln single nfter widowing. As long ns a man Is not confined to his chnlr by old ago ho considers himself "plenty young enough to marry." Nor does ho wait vory long after tho denth of his wife to find another. If Mnrthy dies in April Dick is "talkln"' by July nnd married by September, and when Marthy's funeral is preached In October Oc-tober Loulsy, her successor, prepares tho big dinner for tho funeral guests. Lovo marriages aro tho rulo In tho mountains, but tho marrlago of convenience con-venience is not unknown, particularly In the second marriage. An aged widower wife-seeker hires a woman to keop house and do his cooking for n fow months. "I'll try her, nnd ef she Is of any uccount to work I'll marry her," ho announces to his friends, "and ef sho hain't, I won't." Rchoboth Sunday Herald. |