THE OREGON I SUNDAY. .. JOURNAL,'- PORTLAND SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 8,. I90S
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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?
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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;
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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 .
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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
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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 -.
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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 -.
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