CURIOUS COURTSHIPS

NZ Truth, Issue 890, 16 December 1922, Page 3

CURIOUS COURTSHIPS

The Ways. They Hook 'Em

Cash and Cunning

The man or woman who would find a new way to the altar, must display an extraordinary ingenuity. There is \ scarcely any imaginable condition under which lives have not been linked for.ffood or ill. Not long ago, for example, we were I reading how Charles Kruger wooed j and won his wife m .mid-air. at - St. Louis. Kruger was a clever trapeze performer, one of whpse- most sehsa- -j tional performances, was to catch, with his hands a lady- -who- dived" through" the air from^a great height m a sensational and desperate "leap for lif el" He had only -met; the fair, acrobat at rehearsals, and .had spoken no word of love to her until one night; a,S. -he caught her m the downward flight and held her . swinging . m the air,, he. proposed to her, and before' the cheers had died away, they were engaged. Even more singular was the, wooing of Miss Grace - Walmer, a charming American ' girl. , , Some" years ago, "Beno, the Living Corpse," was low-: ered into a grave 'at Munclei IndiaJha, there to remain for eight 'days >. for a wager of 500 dollars, without food or drink, his only link with .the upper world beinff a ■ metal tube through which a supply ' of ; air -was conveyed to "him. '-/"'•' Hundreds of people flocked daily to Beno's grave, to peer curiously down . ■ the *tube and to converse with the buried man, and among them was pretty Miss Waymer, to whose coming Beno began to look eagerly forward. So charmed was .-'• he by her" musical voice and her>sympathy that, [on the fifth day >of his. interment, he I asked her to be his wife. When the eighth day brought release, he left THE GRAVE' FOR THE ALTAR. ■Among odd ways of -securing a wife,, that of the- cook of an 7 Australian coasting vessel deserves record. The cook had bought a dollar ticket m Tattersall's Sweep for the Caulfield Cup, and had jokingly said to 'the stewardess of the boat,. "l'll give you half of whatever I win!" little dreaming that he was thoughtlessly giving away a small fortune. When the vessel reached Townsville a few days later, a wire was awaiting him to say, that he had won the first prlze^-the nice little sum of 35,000 dollars. However, the cook was an honorable, If canny, man. He immediately sought the stewardess, and told her of his good fortune, saying: "I have to.jjive you 17,600 dollars. What do you say to taking me 1 and the lot?" \ This reasonable offer was promptly accepted, and the lucky couple .were made one when the vessel returned to Brisbane. When Hosuijoshi, a pretty maid of Japan, wanted a husband' the other day, she did not let concealment feed on her damask cheek. She boldly pro-> claimed her ambition m the local newspapers thus: "I am a beautiful woman, with cloud-like hair, flowery face, willowlike waist, and crescent eyebrows. I have enough property to walkthrough life hand-in-hand gazing at flowers m the day and the moon at night. If there is a gentleman* who 'is clever, learned, handsome, and of good taste, I will join him for life, and SHARE v THE PLEASURE of being burled m the same grave." Less sentimental was -. the matrimonial method "bf Signor, Taslno, a wealthy and , eccentric old gentleman of Naples, who had one weakness, a passion for- macaroni. As he was unable to find a• • cook sufficiently skilled m preparing this delicacy to his taste, he decided to offer his hand and fortune to the lady who, m a competition, should prove herself the cleverest artist m macaroni. ' The novel contest, with such a substantial prize for the winner, attracted no fewer than 120 fair competitors, the most successful of -whom the signor led m triumph to tho altar a few days later. When the fancy of Miss Elizabeth Magic. of Washington, turned io thoughts of the altar, she boldly advertised herself for sale- to the highest bidder, while publishing such a catalogue of her charms as might well draw a bid even from an anchorite.