German Army Marriage

No Gorman offlcer can marry withont the consent of hi9 oolouel, according to Ponltuey Bigelow in "The Borde. of Czar aud Kaiser," and this consent can be obtained only after a carèiol inquiry into all the circunistancos surrounding the proposorl allianci!. First, is the young lady suifable for associationwith thewivesof tho other offloers? Second, will the bridegroom be able to uve respeotably and briüg up his family? Thirrl, art' his nieans, or thoso of üis wife, investid in proper seourities, so thíit ha ia not liable to be expoliad by reasoa of bankruptcy? The extraordiuary social advantages erijoyod by tha Gorman offieer and the pecnuiary responsibiliry growing naturally from such advantages reake his small pr.y, whicia araounts or.ly to about $1 a day in caseof a íirsr lieutenant, appear even smaller than it is. An American lady who had been Bpeuding a winter in Dresden told Mr. Bigelow that al! the bachelors of the garrisoü were furnished with a list of marnageable womou. each name ornaniented with the property she ruight be expected to inherit. This no doubt was a tnistake on her part, but it is a very common oue Germán offleers stationed in desi rabie towns are very apt to get iuto dubt and have to choose between leaving the army in disgrace or marrying a rich girl. Mr. Bigelow adds: "From my own experience in Germany the officers would appear to have married for love and to be happy in consequence, " and yet "the number of thos9 who get into debt and fail to secure a rich wife is considerable, althougli it makea no particular ripple in the surface. Such men simply disappear and turn up sooner or later in America, whero they take employment as coachmen, waiters, teachers or iustructors in riding schools. The change of life ia very violent and is adopted only as preferable to suicide. "