"THERE'S MANY A SLIP."

Evening Star, Issue 12722, 27 January 1906, Page 9

"THERE'S MANY A SLIP."

SCENE AT A CHURCH.

A WEDDING- FRUSTRATED. .

One would have to search in the realms , of fiction for the description of such ! a' scene as that which actually took place at St. Mary’s Church of England, Queen's- ; bj;ry street. North Melbourne, in the "early ’ hours of Friday, January '6. It was in; connection with a marriage for which all arrangements had been made. The pres pective bride was a young woman of twentytwo, residing with her parents at North Melbourne, and the bridegroom was a Slat ’ school teacher, of thirty-four, carrying d:' his profession only a few miles away, hji l tween Melbourne and Geelong. For soni, reason or another—probably the disparit; in years, the fact that the parties were c different religions, or that the bride hacertain expectations —■ the marriage wustrongly objected to by the relatives of tlrt young woman, who made every effort t, prevent it. The objections were dull noted by the bridegroom, and he made In;plans accordingly. Evidently anticipating trouble, he made arrangements for the attendance of a constable, and Constable Cur 1 ran duly presented himself. The marriage was fixed to take place between 6 and 7 ,a.m., at the house of a friend of the bridegroom. It was close on seven o’clock when a stylish turn-out, containing the bride and bridegroom, two bridesmaids, and the lad\ who was to give the bride away, drove iq to the church. The rector {the* Rev. H. S Bogbie), hi surplice and gown, was hi waiting at the' entrance to the vestry, and so-hi. ■dismay was caused amongst the marriage party when it was seen that he was engagei in earnest conversation with a sister of tin. bride. The woman, a strong-minded person of about thirty-five summers, warmly protested against the ceremony being proceeded with, and as the party was about to enter the church she clung to the bride, beseeching her to think well on the step she was about to take. “For God’s salm. stop!” she cried in piercing tones, which brought Constable Curran to tho spot. Tin constable was appealed to by the ministoi to prevent such a scene, and the* bridegroom made matters worse by trying to drag idintended from the clutches of her sister. Finding that lie was unable to roster order, the constable in turn appealed to theclergyman, who said: “ I can’t criebravthe marriage unless the lady- comes in of her own free will.” Whilst the scone was being enacted at the vestry door a crowd gathered in tlio street, amongst them being a number of drivers, who manifested a lively interest in the proceedings. Arguments were still proceeding hotly at the door when the sister of the bride, by a strategic movement, pushed her towards the gate and spirited her away, whilst the minister, evidently glad to be relieved from an intensely trying situation, made a move towards the manse.

The consternation of the bridegroom on

finding that, be Ijad been foiled yyas remarkable 16 behold'. Riising his'bands in ah ' attitude pf despair, lie'dried : u I am ruined !” and fell helpless and unconscious on the ground. 'Assistance was rendered to him, arid he soonrecovered, only ’to find, however, that there/wasno appearance of-'

his bride, tuid that the cmlpokeia were treating the whole" affair’ in a most' flippant way. One of the drivers was heard to,call out in facetious tones: “I say, Jack, if my wife had only; treated me like that what a happy chap I’d be,” at which there wan a roar of laiighter.