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ALL FUS AND FEATHERS

Wedding Ceremonies Which Are Almost Grostesque Because of Their Flummery.

The Somple, Quiet Wedding Seems to Be Considered Very Largely a Thing to Be Ashamed of.

Mrs. Peattie writes of the Marriage Rites Which Are like a Brass Band and a Circus.

The folloing dispatch appeared in the papers last week:

"Edward Howard son of ex-County Recorder Howard, and Miss Etta Garceau, one of the most beautiful young ladies of South Bend, were to have been married this morning in St. Patrick's church. At the appointed hour the church was filled with prominent society people, when the priest appeared and announced that no wedding would occur. It develops that the bride and groom-elect left the city last night and were marrie at some place out of town. It is believed they wree married by a squire at Niles, Mich. The act of the yong couples created a great sensation. They were to have been at home May 1 at Pittsburg, Kas."

Now, that strikes me as being one of the most interesting newspaper paragraphs I have read for many a week of yesterdays. Of course, the "prominent society people: must have been annoyed. They must accused the beautiful Miles Garceau of inconsideration, lil-breeding, selfishness and several other bad qualities. No doubt a great many personas thought it unbecoming; the priest was probably much pained at such intermperance of action and-the young men laugh to themselves and sypathized. For, as a general prpositionm it may be said that all men would like to run away to be married. Man has never entirely got over the love of capturing his bridge. Moreover, man never because addicted to the wedding of civiliation. He may submit to it. But he does not like it. It not only nother and mortifies him, but it actually offends something fine in his nature. He does not like to have the weeks which precede marriage given to a great extent to the overseeing of flummeries. Only a very few men ahve I known who desired any display at their weddings. These were all young men who were making an excusable but not very picturesque effor to rise in society, and to develop business. They each appeared to think that business would be assisted and social standing more or less assured by a large public wedding, at which there should be many people, many flowers, a variety of classical music, endless millinery, and, incidentally, a wedding ceremony.

There myst be a bit of the nature of the squaw left in the civilized women, that she should so run to the decoration of herself at an hour when one would suppose that it would be natural for her to be consumed with thoughts which left material display far in the background. I shall never forget one personal experience in my life. I knew a lovely woman, with a fine and well-trained mind. She came. in course of time, to select from many lovers a man of much firmness of character, who was nobly and devotedly attahed to her. Their love was the lofty type, and I passed between them during their courship. Now, I fully expected the wedding to be the climax of all this, and looked to see this ceremony ideally conducated. But what was my amazement to see this woman suddenly drop all her dignity, all her beautrifl love-making and become a flurried, nervous creature, flying from milliner to dressmaker, rejecting twenty sumples for a gown to telegraph for more