Roumania's Kissing Festival

llelmagen, a Roumanian country town of twelve hundred inhabitante, holda its annual fair on the feast of St. Theodorc. On this occasion the place swarms with newly married brides from sixty oreighty villages in the district; widows who have taken fresh husbands remain at home. The young wonien in festive attire, and generally atiendedby their mothers-in-law. earry jugs of wine cnwreathed with flowers in their hands. The Rumanische Woclienschrif t sa ys they kiss everyone they meet, amd afterward present the jug to bis lips for a "nip." The individual thus regaled bestows a small gift on the fair Cybele. Not to partake of the proffered wine is regarded as an insult to the young wife and her She is, therefore, reserved towr strangers, and only kisses those w. a she thinks likely to taste of her wint-. The kissing is carried on everywliere - in the street, in the taverns and in private houses. The origin of this custom isveiledin obscurity. Some say that it dates back to the time when the Turks made frequent raids into Transylvania. and carried avvay all the young women they could lay their hands on. Such of them as contrived to escape from captivity, happening to return to Halmagen at the time of the fair, kissed their friends and relatives, and even strangers who congratulated them on their wonderful deliverance.