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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1908)
THE OREGON I SUNDAY. .. JOURNAL,'- PORTLAND SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 8,. I90S , ' i 4 -4 7 ,- v . . t v 'r '.' ' V:.Wv,' . ... " ' '. .V, I T WAS in Wayne county, Michigan, in January of this tender, loving leap year. ;: . ' . Gabrielle. Lobbehuel had led to the of ficial altar tf the marriage license clerk the man of her heart, Alphonse Vanenoo. There, on the very tve of thje wedding to which he had given his shy consent, (he groom balked. "No" he told her, shaking a suddenly reluctant head. "I can't do it now. I must think over it." Gabrielle whom Wayne coutity admira tion classes as distinctly worthy of a dozen .better men than her. chosen Alfhonse de clared indignantly : "If you don't da it now you'll never get another chance." c . Bui Alphonse, still dubious, still reluc tant, went his unmarriageable way, home ward, .f And, sure enough, he hasn't had another chance. Was he foolish, or was' he wise? Should a man accept a leap-year proposal? r ... , -. ;: . -,ur i.ti.M n 1 - 1; f 1 s i 1 111 f A )SJi til W k l 11 1 za rzwz - -- III T I mpny itura offred a bonus, Uit year, to th rlr! who wouldn't deiert their poati lor marrUfO. MU Rua Kapl ituck It out until the flrit of tho yar; ro hr bonut; propod to Jts Jon, marrUd him, an hunf up her ar-p1cc for food and alt . - la tho Kaat, ot ail tho lcap-xar . romaiicea whir 190 haa urniahad, onlf on has fcA attended wt; TXT w HAT, (a the eourafeoue average of the tnar- rkigea mada on earth by those ang-ela from heaven-women, to Wltare the ohancea for tvippfne? What, If he haa a cautious eye on "his fdture bliss, and on hers, should a man do to tt-nom (he woman proposes? Alphonse, In Michigan, Is not the only nyin this year who has fled the safer, tender arms of a woman who would draw him to her yearning- bosom. In St. Lpuls, a newspaper friend of Frank B. Han--na, the rood-looking- city comptroller, framed up a Joke on him one of those hajjpy Inspirations of 'hu mor that leave a man aching to commit homicide. He took the comptroller at hit laughing word, and . published an article telling- of Mr. Kanna's professed willingness to marry the first presentable girl who hould propose to him. And he was careful to give the comptroller's age 41 yearsand to tell how pre sentable he was on his own account. The man who has been In 8L Louis knows how -many pretty -girls are tfterj; tho man who" hain't hai a Joy awaiting him. But it happened that Just then - . IM M kl a. .l.l.bkl.iJ. C T Aula .a a by the presence ot Miss Betty Eharpe, whoso mass Of 4ark hair, rounded cheeks, Cupid bow mouth, daintily retrousse nose, deep, dark eyes and adorable figure gave to St. Louis' feminine charm the brilliancy, the i grace, the provoking archness and , the seductive glamour of unrivaled Norfolk, in old Virginia. The residence on Virginia avenue, in St. Louis, held her and half a doaen of her prettiest St Louis friends when the little Joke on Comptroller Manna came to thalr attention. ' The admirable seven tbdk. honest stock of their In dividual attractions, and there was not one who could find In her conscience to say that anyof the others failed to fulfil Mr. Hanna's reasonable requirements. 'Nor "was 1 there one whom his qualifications failed, to content. They drew straws for him. Miss Sharpe won him. She Is only 21; but she Is wealthy and educated, and clever enough to write a proposal that filled the St. Louis girl a with despairing euvy. WJiftt happened? The strangest thing or the most natural tiling:, as one happens to-know or not to know the St Louis city tomptroller, CAVE UP THE QUEST He simply paid no attention to her' letter. When time passed, until every evidence seemed to prove' he was no better than a hymeneal four-flusher, tho dark eyed belle from Norfolk resumed her tour westward under the' chaperonage of her mother, for she had stopped over In St. Louts only ito visit friends on her way to California. , And theti. only then, did another friend of Mr. Han na's procured photograph of sprightly Miss Betty, of Norfolk, and fill him with regretful, vain chagrin over is ungatiant neglect. ' But she's going back-neat summer .v .. .,4 . Todatc, these are the only. men. so far as known, who have had the hardihood to -refuse the love of an ''attractive woman this year and one of them might have done no refusing at all If he had known how very attractive the woman- was. The other side is more chivalrous to contemplate. Miss Elizabeth Sohm is a woman editor the editor ' of the Sorm Lake Vldette, in Iowa. She bid for the county printing,-and the supervisors rejected her' bid. She thought because she was merely a woman. f 'WfcM the editor, needs," iha remarked In a pun - rent editorial worthy of the finest traditions of west- " ntn lournallsmV Is a maw to swear for her when things go -wrong.-- We need a good printer to do our fighting . and swearing, for us. Any one who thinks himself qualified Is at liberty to regard this as a leap year proposal." ; The editor f the Lytton Star G. A. Craig, had two qualifications: He wag a bachelor, and he had never "taken a bluff.-- .? ,-. ' "The editor .of the Star," he rejoined editorially, "can fight and swear enough for two newspapers. If- . th Atnr at the Vldette wilt &arree to darn his socks and mend 'the -gable end )of his trousera occasionally, . h is satisfied that a deal can be closed at once." - . It is hoped, throughout the length and breadth or admiring, palpitating lowa; that Miss Sohm will do ' her obvious duty. But there's .no ielllng about these -'vierratto JournallstSt- -r .-: ' - r - - . ..- '-. - it's as uncertain with aotors, Zenatcrllo, who left - Milan to sing in Oscar Hammerstein'a grand opera in New Tork, left behind him in Europe one of the most - beautiful and talented of 1 inamoratas Maria Gay, ' whose ensratcement at Covent Garden, in London, was evoking nightly rounds of .applause almost as pas sionate as the tumultuous appreciation of her beloved . ' v Tv i j3 with even a sore throat, much less au aching heart? The next steamer bore to New York the delight of Covent Garden, to end, once for -all, her doubt of Zenatello's constancy. Her Giovanni was launched upon the notes of Enzo In "La Glaconda," wien his ravished eyes recognised, in a box, the dark and handsome face of Maria Gay. The curtain was no sooner down than she was In his arms. It was a proposal brought In most huggable person from far across the sea. The Italian singer, no loss chivalrous than the American editor, lost no i.i t'-ieptlng It Alurlu, the Insistently be trothed. ! back In London now. Bhe thinks she knows the marriage will become a reality, and so does her Giovanni. And so do all the other sinters, who, like the public they delight, adore a romance. But so do not the indefatigable press agents who know, as no one else alive knows, that If there is one thing that delights the public more than a romance that ends happily with "and so they were married," it Is the romance that drags along with "and so they aren't" It does take courage to refuse a girl, for a wom an's proposal Is very different from a man's, when she means It He can be expected to be refused and come again, and his first rejection is properly only the pre lude to his second proposal. But with a woman, as typified In the futile Michi gan match. It Is usually now or never. Yet, even here, there are exceptions. Philadelphia furnished one. Shortly before the first of the year Louisa Hahn went to board with Mrs. Eleanors Widdis, the mother of her friend, Mary.. Mary had a beau, Horace Lauks. It was the real, old-fashioned love affair, because Hor ace had known Mary from the time she was the lit tlest sort of a girl In the shortest kind of short dresses end he had loved all the way through her growing up. On New Year's Day Mary was 111 with the grip. She had been sick In bed since Christmas, when ner friend Louisa met Horace for the first time, and. In her absence, entertained him in the parlor. New Year's Day Mary was well enough to have visitors, and Horace and Louisa were talking with her in her sickroom. "It's leap year, Horace," said Louisa. "Are you ready to marry me?" "I'll think about it," he responded. "I don't seem to be any one's steady company yet." Nor was he, for that ennobling stage of lovcrhood was something he had never attained in all his at tention to Mary. Mrs. Widdis reproved her boarder for frivolity after ward. "But I mean It," declared Louisa, calmly. "I like Horace, and If he'll marry me, I'm willing." Only a few hours passed when Horace returned -1 T-'-r X V i y f 7: J .A-r. 4 J C t if jat - 4 i 'T and secured permission to see Mary, in ths sick room. "I thought you would propose to me, Mary," ho told her. "I was only waiting for that" But Mary did not believe In leap year, even when the proposing was practically done for her. "I should think you would wait until. Iim well," she remarked, "before you would talk about mar riage." "Well. I'll have to take Louisa.;' he said, as he went downstairs. Take Louisa he did. and take him, most vigorously, Louisa did; for he had no sooner told her, before some visitors In the parlor, that he was willing to marry her, than she caught up a Bible that lay near and asked him to repeat: "Before God, I promise to take you as my lawful wife." Horace promised, in Just those words, amid the laughter of the party. Mrs. Widdis disapproved, very much. It was not merely frivolity this time; It was almost sacrilege. PROMISE WAS BINDING "Well." Lojulsa told her. "I can't see anything wrong about It It was a solemn promise, and I am going to keep It, and so is he. I love him. and I'm going- to marry him." A solemn promise it proved to be, within a week, for they were married by Rev. J. F. Crouch in Mount Pleasant Methodist Episcopal Church on January 7, and they are now living as happily as other newly wedded couples at 219 East Hortter street, with Hor ace's family. ' It has happened likewise In Baltimore. Miss E1 eanora Reeves exercised her leap-year privilege at a postal clerks' ball to propose to Edward L McBar ron, of "Roxbury, Mass, He accepted on the spot, and the wedding was agreed upon for the following week. The record of speed In lovemaklng and proposal sur passed the Philadelphia match, and the date for the wedding was as early. East and West, this year, the record has been maintained. Aa far as Wenatchee, in Washington, the telephone girls have the proposal habit The telephone tragedy. That one turned to un happiness because the girl proposed too late. A pretty Pittsburg- milliner proposed to John Hull, a North Shle saloonkeeper, who was a martyr to dyspepsia. Ho put a bullet through his brain within a month. f. .'.'. "If I'd married sooner," he told his fellow-clerk before he killed himself? "and if I'd got a little moio home cooking, I'd be a happier man today.", .. . -- ' She had proposed to him too late, , Apart from that marriage, which was no .Indict ment of the practice of leap-year proposals, only ono such marriage chronicled since the- beginning of 190 I has med out badly. That was the match made by Albertha Morgenroth with August William Herman lu Cleveland, four years ago. When Herman, stopped working, his brother-in-law read tha riot act and thu riot followed. The patrol wagon, which. ; tOok thu bridegroom to the county Jail, ended the ' romance there. '..' . v. :" :: Yet Mrs. Herman can have the satisfaction of know ing that Queen Wilhelmtna of Holland, who made tho proposal for her husband. Is commonly reputed to bo unhappy as unhappy as Queen Victoria -and tho Baroness Burdett-Coutta were happy,' atthonffttTbat:! of them chose their husbands the baroness a man who was young enough to be her son.. The example furnished by Queen Victoria, of Englanl Is always quoted when the question of proposals by wom en comes up. It was because of . her peculiar position rather than her wish that She waa compelled to maku marriage overtures to Prince ' Albert. ,Yet the wedde-l life that resulted proved one of; the happiest on record. A similar case was that of the Baroness Burdett Coutts, who, In what Is generally considered old ag called to her remaining life companionship a young at: I handsome man. This marriage also proved happy, so f u ss the world knows. , f i . "". There are many Instances of leap-year and other year proposals by women. Why, then,- should the unaffiancc l maiden of this year hesitate ttf reveal her sentiments t i the man of her choice? ' . i -. wp,. IT III ui '",' f ' I liy f HI to: iff w; fe&l! . T IIEKE is a land where rmrttachos ire u highly priied by women, as by men. In ' deed, it i jdcemed so necessary that they enhance ferrflnino loveliness by such tier' contract T what conwact ever held a singer ' meaoa that the women supply tho failure of xia- ture by an artificial mustache, tattooed into tha skin, and curling above the lips with all the grace of the real masculine adornment. ' ; The' Ainua aborigintl people of Japan, are peculiar in this respect- married woman ia not honored unleaa she hia developed a mustache. The men are very . hairy in fact, often resemble the . bears they hunt in the forests of the island of 'Yczo. Living in a aemi-civilized state, these people axo among the strangest tribes of the earth. n'OSlNCJ, fair lady, that after your marriage your husband told you that you must develoD a . mustache. Imagine losing all social prestige by a refusal! Hair on the face is an 111 In the eyes of most civ ilised women now Imaglrfe to yourself conditions In the country where. If It does not naturally "come," the women cut open their lips and rub Into the sores cuttlefish black or soot, which tattooes above the up per Up the representation of a mustache. This operation, performed on the Ainu women, is excruciatingly painful. The crudest form of tattooing Is employed, and after the shellbiack or soot I rub bed Into the open waunda Intense inflammation en sues. However, when the lips heal, a well-defined black mustache appears, tattooed Indelibly In the skin. This custom of the Ainus is In keeping with other barbaric customs. These strange people live on the Island of Ytso and certain parts of the Kurlle islands, of northern Japan. Into hia isolated region but few Europeans have penetrated, yet descriptions by those who have dona ao of the people are most Interesting. Kven. more coppery In color than the Americau Indians, the men are covered from bead to foot with heir thelf beards-are exceptionally long so much io, Indeed, that the? resemble monkeys. The Alnue . believe that In some remote period of history they came from a far northern country. . , "Why.'Mhey say, 1f we did not come from a. cold country should we need to have skins like a bearr It Is believed that the Alnue did migrate possibly .. southward rom the shores of Bering sea, by way, of the Aleutian Islands or alone the coasts ot Kamt- chatka and. the Kurilea. . . . :Z. ir" V. , Unlike moat f the aboriginal. trlbe-whh upre eerre traditions, the Alnue have no records of any i kind eneernln their origin. One legend, however, fa -t to the effect that thensande of yeara ago, the Yeso waa Inhabited by diminutive people, the Koro-pok-kuru, or pit dwellers, who -were exterminated by the , , more powerful Alnus. -v . .-...-,-. r-'.j.f.v; t Bravery Is the characteristic of the men. Strong and athletic, they go- armed with bows, arrows and ' knives, and with these primitive weapons have no fear in tackling the most savage bears Jn the forest . One of the most curious customs of the people i their bear festival. ' At certain tbnes of the year the hunt old bears. They preserve tne sictns and ekun which are erected on sticks outside the hunter dwellings. - .. ,,.. -- -.r ; . Young cubs are eagerly sought. Women" nui these as if they were their own children. In ) time the bears are killed at festivals, in which ti village parttclpates. Tne cub, pretty Weil grown, is teased 'until I stands on his, legs, when tue headsman of the vill or two selected warriors shoot him with an arrov . Presiding- over the cauldron In which the bear i , cooked, the foster-mother, who has nursed the btun, watchea with - great pleasure. These festivals ui . causes of great rejoicing. with no religious belief whatever, the Alnua liv.i "J complete ignorance. , They are said to bo unspenK abiy dlrty,-ad' In summer wear utue or no ciounn .,-. Many of the Alnua have Intermarried with Japune- , and those living In the proximity of Japaneso Mi lages have adopted Japanese dress and customs. In .southern Japan an Ainu is more of curlowlt than an American Indian in New York. Several yew n..umbr ' Alnue Were brought to' Toklo an i exhibited In tent at Asakusa tark, the Coney ialuu i of the kingdom. , . ' . "Come in and see the hairy" dogs from HokkaM .,'' cried the barker. And the Japanese gasped with w.n der at the eight Af the strange hairy-men and t , women with, their tattooed moustaches, - -. ,. the lore of Japan one finds aeeounte of fir " battles with the Alnue battles as terrible and hero) : aa those of Troy in Greek mythology. According to their myths, the Jspanese came fr,, Korea to the southemmoet- part of kiushlu. .the in southern of the three great Islands of the m..i. Long before Mie definite history of the country i gan, according- to legends, they drove the hairy !. f Into the northern islands, where, for Jbousumis rears, they have lived, neither progressing -uor t" - 'JShlng,'--...' .,'"' oC -5 i They have been diminishing in numbers, lew The Imperial government regards .th r'f'lM wards, and affords them protection, making no t 'however, to civilise them. .. Amaxlng. indeed, is the fhea-.'ef- hetr these people,- Until they marry, thu ' -muted to wander about aa -nature -''. i u -once she hae a husband, a woin tuut body with tattoo marks and "f " ' ' Quite often the huihanU vi : i : painful of which is the Uti.t: z a 1 A woman. Without thtno-inui k i wi' tier country, ftnd the more vruncin. . they are tlx more beautiful she 1 v l-" ' admiring' huaband. .- s -. k
