SLUMP IN MARRIAGES.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 January 1926, Page 11

SLUMP IN MARRIAGES.

AMERICA S EXI’ERI EN( E BAD TIMES PARTLY CAUSE. FIGURES FOR THE CITIES. By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received Jan. 1. 7.5 p.m. New York, Dee. 31. Figures on marriages gathered in 20 leading eitiea of the United States indicate that the institution is being hard pressed to maintain its popularity. Statistics show that marriages in the cities surveyed decreased during 1925 by compared with 1924, when the total was 250,739. The representative cities selected included New York (where there was a slight increase), and Chicago, .Sb, Louis, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New Orleans (all reporting decreases). Seattle bad a heavy increase, while Philadelphia showed a decrease from 10,514 marriages in 1924 to 14,153 this year Philadelphia’s is the heaviest proportionate decrease in the country and equalled the nation’s total loss. Phila.delphia’s decrease is attributed to the coal strike and the resultant lack of employment preventing mating, which in times of prosperity has brought couples to the city for the ceremony. Buffalo (New York), where many people are married before going on honeymoon tours to Niagara Falls, registered the continued attraction of its scenic beauties with 5246 marriages in 1925 compared with 5004 in 1924.