SELECTING A WIFE

Wairarapa Age, 2 January 1913, Page 7

SELECTING A WIFE

A Japanese gentleman named Ichiba, who is said to be an a-uUior oi' wiiiii ro;rute in his native country, but, is still better known for ai. abundance of t'hos»e eccentricities which arc hold to be the infallible indication of genius, lately losing his wife. Straightway ho set about supplying the deficiency, but in bis own curious way. Notifying all his friends and acquaintances of hi*' matrimonial intentions, he instructed them to keep their eyes open for the right sort of wife, and for their guidance he drew out a scheme of tabulated conditions which the winning,lady would have t-r fulfil. First of all "the lady must .have passed through all the various coml-tions of ide. and the vsiriouphases of 'Society from A to Z. as only by ripe experience could perfection be obtained." Or to put it more briefly ''.none but ladies, with posts need apply." Possibly the ulterior object lurking behind tins demand for a wife with a variegated career was to secure a permanent fund of materials for future literary efforts. But in addition to this tV lady must bo in a "hard-up" condition. "Except the clothes nhe mould stand n.p_ in, she should have no worldly possessions whatsoever." The reason for this provision is not so obvious. Furthermore "she must lie severed from her family entirely." There is a note of finality, of peremptorinons almost about'this injunction. Presumably Mr Tchiha has known what it is to have a. mother-in-law, and is firmly resolved not to repeat the experience. His wife was to he comely (according to Japanese criteria), ill at is to pay "she nni.st stand oft, high, in 'her shoes, and her limbs and body must he of proper plumpness," but she must be by no means solely ornamental, for "s'he must contract to keep the kitchen and bathroom absolutely spick ami span and readv for instant ttso," Xor must there be anything of the. foreign about- .her attire. "Tier style of hair-dressing must be a la mode .Taoomiiw—no foreign frills, pads, switches ortoeiH's to be permitted." Candidates rolled up in crowds, but only one of them—the forty-seventh — succeeded in getting through the entrance examination. The luckv lady was only twenty-eight years of age. according to her own reckonin."-. but she jineceeded in convincing Mr Ichiba that she had all the experience she wanted. Sh>» also mentioned that she literallv fulfilled the second oiHifioatron and proceeded to borrow half a soverejgn front him as an earnest of his intention.!?. They wero_ married, and tho marriage, was as weird as the courtship. Priests, registrars, wedding a.nd all «<''•" m : "lH reasonably have expected to (have the rio-lit of entry, wore strictly barred. When the ceremony was over Mr Tchiha appeared at the front door and : tobl those waiting outside that they I could go away home, as .he did not J propose to spoil his wedding dav by ij, rceeotion. So the guepts went, lear- [ ing the curious pair to their wedded happiness.