RAJAH WEDS ACTRESS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 20 September 1909, Page 1

RAJAH WEDS ACTRESS.

WHITE ISSIDB TAKES PAIiT IN PICTUEESQUE CEKEJMONV. BETROTHAL ON TOUK. tjuito a sC!i?at;O".i Ims !>-.*e:i v -r-st- ■ lv India by the marriage of Miss i-[ sic Forreste, a well-known Australian uetrcss, to tlie Maharajah of Tickan, who belongs to an old Rajput famiiv of Bengal. The ceremony took jilact at Lucknow, and Was carried out in accordance vrilli Hindu rites. It will bo remembered that only recently the enormously rich feudatory sovereign, the Maharajah of Kanurthalu, married a beauiful Spanish dai'e •;• Anita Deigadb, of Malaga, Ihe evert giving rise to considerable comment. Miss Elsie Porrcste's real name is Elsie Caroline Thompson, and her father, according to "Era," is Mr James Thompson. of Fern-street, Randwiek, Sydney. Originally a member of a Sydney amateur organisation, she made her first professional i;-.|)p:ii'i\i:cc as tl'.e child fn iir l\ ■:>■:■: trey's production of "A Message from Mars." After touring with this company, Miss Forrcste joiiicil Lee's Entertainers, a visiting American vmuleviile company, find with Arthur Kelson presented a rcinnrkab ly clever song and dance turn. Tours in India and South Africa Ilml to Mis:Forrcste building up considerable popularity in those countries. ami her last Australian appearance wnr, under Mr Williamson's manajrcsv.en'. when Mr Collier produced "Tlio Dictator." It was while touring in T;> dia that slip won the heart of the Maharajah of Tikar, with the result that she is now liis consort. At tlie marriage ceremony in Lucknow the young actress, who was dressed in Eastern costume, wore ;; beautiful pale blue sari bcspanglcil with gold, and a veil fell from the back of her head over her shoulder;. Her arms. save, for gold banglus, were bare to the elbows. She did not apiioar (o bo nurvous. but smiled pleasantly, and nodded to (liosc jiron:her. During the \raicr ceremony, she was asked questions, and responded' in Urdu, tho language of her husband's •people. Three separate times slip took a little water in her harri. and after each quest inn put the v.'ai." to her lips. Ti-.ou she wKsln-d 11:-■» :-■ Ihands, and, dij>p;ng hrv Hiijtvs ! :n-.' a bowl, touched her eyes, her forehead, her ears, her waist, and then threw a little water over her body. Sort si 1 . 1 held a spoon filloil wit'; biiring oil -jtood over :: pit mnl liirc 1 -/ aro on to tl'.e sandahvnnd then'!; 1 . r J"n:' fire iblnzed up, and she fed il wifh more oil. Some reading of HiivlScripture followed, and it was then <"en that Sita Dcvi, the new name the convert had recived, wr.s lonkinj' faint, from the intense heat. T'io . ceremony took over an hour. Tlie Raja and the new Raja, with their ■jnests, adjourned the dining hall, where t-wcnt.vfivo 7>eople ]>.irtook of ; a sumptuous wedding dinner in tree i Oriental style. — "Weekly Dispatch."