attired, nor did they march in to music but visited along the way as
they came straggling in. Soon the groom shuffled in, I say shuffled
because they have so recently begun to wear shoes. The bridal group
gathered before the altar and listened to the ritual. Finally the
groom took the bride's hand for one brief moment. A few more words
by the priest and the ceremony was ended. To my surprise the bride
came up and greeted me. I did not understand what I was expected to do
but I shook hands and said I hoped she would be very happy. The groom
now came up and bowing low presented his "felicitations." I returned
the bow but could not muster a word. The women straggled out on one
side of the cathedral and the men on the other. This was considered
a first class "matrimony." There was a very large reception at the
house with a grand ball in the evening; indeed, there were two or
three days of festivities.

In contrast to this was the wholesale matrimonial bureau which was
conducted every Saturday morning. I have seen as many as ten couples
married all at once. I never knew which man was married to which woman,
as the men stood grouped on one side of the priest and the women on the
other. I asked one groom, "Which is your wife?" He scanned the crowd of
brides a moment then said comfortably, "Oh, she is around somewhere."

I used to go to the cathedral on Saturdays to see the various
ceremonies. The most interesting of all the cheap baptisms at
which all the little babies born during the week were baptized for
ten cents. These pitiable little creatures, deformed and shrunken,
were too weak to wail, or, perhaps they were too stupified with
narcotics. A large candle was put into each little bird-claw, the
nurse or mother holding it in place above the passive body covered
only with a scrap of gauze but decked out with paper flowers, huge
pieces of jewelry, odd trinkets, anything they had--all dirty, mother,
child, ornaments; the onlookers still more dirty. The priest whom
I knew very well, since he lived just across the way, told me that
few of these cheap babies live long. I am sure they could not; not
one of them would weigh five pounds. They were all emaciated; death
would be a mercy. There was a little fellow next door to whom I was
very much attached. The dear little naked child would stay with me
by the day if I would have him; he was four years old but no larger
than an American baby of four months. I used to long for a rock