June 1, 1909 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
The Ladies’ Page 
Marriage in Mexico. 
In the main, Mexican marriages are 
much more matter of fact than sentiment, 
On the man’s side, the affair is one which 
must have the assent of all his family, 
should he belong to the superior social 
class, and monetary or material con- 
‘Siderations enter largely into the con- 
tract. 
Many instances might be mentioned of 
two young persons who have never met 
each other, and into whose minds the idea 
of matrimony has not—as regards the 
Parties most concerned—entered, be- 
coming man and wife in Mexico in 
®ccordance with the whim of their 
Parents, 
—Marriages of Convenience.— 
It may be that the family , of the 
bridegroom looks upon his union—‘ for 
better or for worse’—with a certain young 
lady who may happen to be the daughter 
‘of a magnate as the means of avoiding 
bankruptcy; it may be that the father of 
‘the bride considers her alliance with the 
*on of a politician as an adroit measure 
' preventing the downfall of the head of 
the house; or in point of trivial circum- 
‘stances, it may be that a marriage is 
“Imply, ‘engineered’ with the object of 
Teducing the yearly expenditure in the 
domestic establishment of the father of 
the bridegroom or that of the bride. 
The motives given, and those never 
Siven, for the prearrangement of such 
alliances vary according to conditions) 
and are always in relation to the position 
°ccupied by the two families. 
—~Matters on the Mend.— 
The frequent brevity of the proceedings 
‘nthe arrangement of Mexican bridal ties 
1s, however, gradually giving way to a 
Tore liberal and conscientious behaviour 
©n the part of parents towards their sons 
dae daughters. Butit should also be 
Added that, the custom has by no means 
appeared, for cases of this nature can 
*Hll be counted by the score annually in 
‘Almost every city in the republic. 
When, without the knowledge or con- 
sent of their parents, two young person® 
become ergaged, the priest has to be 
formally requested to call on the bride’s 
father for the purpose of making known 
to him the designs of the bridegroom, A 
temporary objection at this point may 
practically upset the plans of the young 
candidates to marriage, as the opposition 
of the father means a delay of two years 
or more, 
— Courtship under Difficulties. — 
During that period an iieenonats lover 
—for such there are, despite the prosaic 
custom of the country—parades the street 
night and day, in the hope of seeing his 
sweetheart. A thunderstorm would not 
be sufficient to drive him from his retreat 
under a balcony. An enamoured swain 
has been seen talking to a pretty girl 
through an iron-barred window while a 
sub-tropical rainstorm pelted down ag 
quietly and naturally as if balmy spring 
weather had pevailed. 
But the Mexican lover enjoys the 
novelty of the affair, and far from making 
any attempt to obtain permission to cal] 
on his sweetheart at her own home, he is 
ready to undertake any task, however 
difficult, in order to speak to her alone» 
for a young lady is seldom allowed to 
receive men without at least two or three 
members of the family being present. 
—Circumyenting the Chaperone,— 
The general topics of conversation 
about extreme heat, beautiful weather, 
and the like, are in such cases strictly 
in order, and the sugg.stion is never made 
to take ‘ her’ out for a stroll or a short 
drive—that would set the house on fire. A 
moderately large bank account may enable 
the visitor to invite her family to the 
opera, but this means that all chances for 
the exchange of amorous expressions be- 
tween the lovers are lost, for it is his duty 
to offer his arm to ‘mother’ and wait 
upon her until their return from the 
theatre, aside from securing seats for 
every member of the family, sometimes 
including the servants. But yet, needless 
to say, ‘love finds out the way’ even in 
Mexico to circumvent the conventions. 
—‘ Scraps.’ 
27 
Hygiene of the Bedroom. 
Is sufficient attention paid in every 
household to the great importance of 
having bedrooms well ventilated, and of 
thoroughly airing the sheets, coverlets, 
and mattresses in the morning before 
packing them up in the form of a neatly- 
made bed? Jf two persons are 
to occupy a bedroom during 
the night, and try the experiment of 
weighing themselves when they retire and 
when they rise, they will find that their 
actual weight is at least a pound less in 
the morning. Frequently it will be 
found that there is a loss of two or more 
pounds, and the average loss throughout 
the year will be a pound of matter, which 
has gone off their bodies partly from 
their lungs and partly through the pores 
of the skin. The escaped matter is car- 
bonic acid and decayed animal matter or 
poisonous exhalation, This is diffused 
through the air in part, and, what is far 
more disquieting, part is absorbed by 
the bedclothes. Hence the necessity, as 
pointed out above, of thoroughly venti- 
lating -bedrooms, and, above all, of 
thoroughly and perfectly airing every- 
thing that goes to make up the bed. 
News and Notes. 
The three ages of a woman are her 
real-age, what her friends think it is, and 
what she says it is. 
fen cyt 
The Duchess of Sutherland is an 
expert dressmaker, and has won more 
than one prize for designing gowns, 
tote teen 
The average age of brides in Great 
Britain at present is stated to be twenty- 
six, and of bridegrooms twenty-eight. 
Taiia Taaicd 
A woman who wears a stuffed bird in 
her hat is liable to a fine of from £5 to 
£10 by a law recently passed by the 
Legislature of Arkansas. 
(Rett 3 
Turkish women do not come into 
control of their private fortunes until 
after marriage. After that they can 
dispose of one-third of it without their 
husband’s consent. 
