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The National Geographic Magazine 



slight, but they will always be ready to 

 unite against dirt, their common foe. 



This carpet-shaking is done on the 

 sidewalk, and the work furnishes quite a 

 pleasing sight. In fact, nearly every 

 outdoor occupation in which the Dutch 

 girls engage presents an agreeable spec- 

 tacle. These prim maids are dressed in 

 striped gingham and wear a dainty cap. 

 They look as though they were members 

 of a great army whose uniform is fixed 

 and invariable. It is true that there is 

 an option as to the kind of stripes se- 

 lected, and the shape of the cap may dif- 

 fer; so does the uniform of the various 

 branches of an army. 



In Holland we notice a fondness for 

 uniform. The postman is uniformed, of 

 course ; then, too, the policeman ; also the 

 fireman, who always carries a rope for 

 emergencies. The shop porters have a 

 distinctive dress, and so has the runner 

 for the bank ; but to the tourist the 

 strangest of all is the funeral attendant. 

 These black-dressed and silver-corded 

 men, wearing cocked hats and sometimes 

 knee breeches, walk beside the hearse, 

 follow it, and accompany each carriage 

 as footmen. After burial, these men 

 distribute notices of the demise to such 

 acquaintances of the deceased as may 

 live in the city. 



Near the other end of the vista of life 

 is marriage, and the passing of carriages 

 in small processions, each having at its 

 head one containing a lady wearing a 

 white veil, and a young man conscious 

 of the event, and driven by a coachman 

 with the usual white boutonniere, and 

 drawn by horses whose bridles were 

 decked with white ribbon, suggest a 

 wedding ceremony. In the larger cities 

 parties thus led are observed to be more 

 frequent on one day of the week than on 

 others, and a single query will reveal the 

 fact that there is one day on which sec- 

 ond and third class marriage ceremonies 

 are performed. 



It is a sensible provision to arrange as 

 many events as possible by classes. It 

 fixes a sort of limit in the important 

 matter of expenditure and discourages a 

 man with a street-car salary from trying 

 to live up to an automobile standard. 



MARRIAGE CEREMONIES 



In the case of weddings, the class does 

 not determine the grade of husband or 

 wife produced. It is solely a question 

 as to the amount of the fee required, and 

 the fee is fixed by the amount of time 

 given to the ceremony — that is, in the 

 second class the ceremony is individual, 

 while in the third a score or more are 

 married at once. 



I assisted — literally assisted — at cere- 

 monies of these two classes. The mem- 

 bers of the city council take their turns 

 at these functions. On the day ap- 

 pointed, the brides, grooms, and their 

 friends assemble in a large room in the 

 city hall. The officer takes his place 

 upon the platform, and a clerk at a table 

 picks up the papers previously executed 

 and calls out the names of the groom and 

 the bride. They stand up to acknowl- 

 edge their identity; then their witnesses 

 are called upon to rise. All the parties 

 are thus, one after another, identified. 

 Then the officer arises and, asking the 

 brides and the grooms to stand up, he 

 proceeds to discourse upon the duties of 

 the wife, the privileges of the husband, 

 and the sacredness of matrimony, clos- 

 ing with the question, "Will you give 

 your consent to the union about to be en- 

 tered upon, abide by the laws, and live 

 solely for one another?" To this there 

 is in chorus the answer, "Yes." Where- 

 upon he strikes the table with a gavel, 

 saying, "I pronounce you man and 

 wife." 



The symbolism of the gavel, so im- 

 portant in Europe on all formal occa- 

 sions, doubtless in this case points to the 

 forging of chains that bind a contract. 

 This is further strengthened by the re- 

 tention in legal terminology of the Latin 

 word for chain in certain judicial de- 

 crees affecting married couples. 



The second-class ceremonies are taken 

 up individually. Each party is ushered 

 into a room set aside for the purpose, 

 one after another, and the ritual repeated 

 for each. On the single day referred to, 

 fifty-seven couples were united. 



After the civil ceremony some go to 

 church to pass through the religious rit- 



