Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 97, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 April 1911 — VICAR SETS RECORD [ARTICLE]

VICAR SETS RECORD

Thirty-Seven Coupies Married in 75 Minutes. Confusion Will Result Unless Great Care Is Exercised—Woman Tells Minister Not to Marry Her to "Wrong Bloke.” London. —Thirty-seven weddings in seventy-five minutes, Beventy-four people made made happy at the rate of one a minute, was the record achieved by the vicar of St. Luke’s Canning Town (“the cathedral of the East”) and his curate on a recent holiday morning. Never was there such a rush of marriages at this beautiful church in Dockland. Despite all the persuasion of the vicar, these thirty-seven copies insisted upon being married on that particular morning, after due calling of banns and payment of fees. Canon Buckley would have spread the weddings over several days, but Canning Town refused, and only one couple postponed the ceremony. How was it done? The day before the ceremony was performed most of the couples called at the vicarage and furnished the particulars required for the registry of the marriage. By 9 o’clock next morning they began to assemble in a vestry-room adjoining the church. Here they were sorted out and instructed by the curate, and at 9:45 o’clock the couples marched In twos and threes—once six couples—at a time to the altar. By 11 o’clock they were all married. Canon Buckley maintains an admirable disciple Ih on such occasions. He permits no one to lay a trail of confetti In the church which be has labored for so many years to decorate and beautify. Before now he has been known to order a bride to leave the church and abajte the little colored bits of paper from her skirt before she approached dhe altar. He allows no laughter or tißklng, and should he see a woman's head uncovered he requires her at once to cover it with her apron. In spite, therefore, of the rough character of the people who flock to these holiday weddings, order is often better preserved than at a fashionable West End wedding. Poor though they are. brides of the dock workers and shipyard men of Canning Town Insist upon a “carriage wedding," with two horses and white favors. “What," said one bride in a tone of indignation, “me walk to my wedding! 1 should think not?” And the vicar's gentle hint of economy was lost When more than one pair stand be-

fore the altar some care has to be exercised to prevent a mixture of husbands and wives. The difficulty was increased at a recent double wedding at St. Luke’s when both brides happened to have the same name, which !ed to an audible request from one that she should not be married to “the wrong bloke.” As soon as the necessary words have been spoken the couples return to the vestry and others Immediately take their places. The signing of the registers is a source of considerable trouble. Not infrequently the men are married under wrong names and return to the church some weeks afterwards with a request that the vicar shall put the matter right.