This Thrill Elopement Tickled England
How Two Kids
Raced Off to
Gretna Green
-and Weren't
Pursued
HAD INSPIRATION
Rich Young Heeler Mappin, British
Collegian Who Propo*ed the Gretna
Cireen Elepment to Hi* Sweetheart,
Olive Ridjcel, for “the biggest thrill of
cur live*.”
u
I
LONDON.
PL our v..! -n't a rral honeymoon, it
was certainly the be.-t imi/niipii
of one tliat ever happened.”
In tins jaunty sentence England's
most astonishing baby bride com
pressed into se\cntecn words the
•tory of her elopement and marriage—
X marriage which portended distressing
results, finally dissipated in a freshet
•f laughter.
It was all a question of craving ro
mance, of two glamor-hungry young
sters who were disappointed when they
found that fate just wouldn't throw
•bstaclcs in their path. What’s a ro
mance, they asked, without hurdles to
“Let’s elope to Gretna Grern like
lover3 of old and be purged,” was
*e upshot of a hurried conference.
-’They'll, chase us in motors, just as
In Queen Anne's time they used to
•baas elopers in chaises.” But there
Jras a surprise finish-which neither had
foreseen. Nobody pursued them, lliu,
robbing them of their pre-arranged
thrill. But another thrill was unex
pectedly lurking around the corner.
This was the start of the story: Hee
ler Mappin. a wealthy college youth
Itnd son of the distinguished Major
‘Grenta Green has provided a haven I nr
fleeing lovers for generations.
Mappin, had a fraternity
brother named Brainwell Rids
del. The boys became ro
chummy that Hector was in
vited to spend the holidays at
Downham Grange, the mag
nificent country place of
1> rain well's parents.
There Hctitur met, for the first lime,
Dramwell’s sister, the petite anti
piquant OlAc, heiress to the Hidsdcl
fortune. Instantly a warm attraction
sprang up between the guest and hi>
golden little hostess. Mere were th*
ingredients of a match that the mo l
carping would not be justified in
sneering at; tor were not both boy
and girl rich—and was she not beau
tiful and he handsome'?.
Certainly there was no criticism of
this budding lore afTair on the part of
Mr. and Mrs. Kidsdel, who — being
modern, intelligent parents — never
murmured a word about “the ad\inabil
ity of a long engagement,” or “marry
in ha.-tc and repent at leisure,” or any
of those tedious and often fallacious
adages with which our grandparents
were stulTcd. No, they nodded approv
ing heads and wisely, a? they thought,
sat hack and awaited logical develop
ments.
The Mappin family, too, hearing
from Hector’s ecstatic letters that he
had met the girl of his dreams, was
quite acquiescent. They knew of the
Kidsdels; of their wealth, social conse
quence ami refinement — knew, also,
that the son and daughter were bril
liant as well as nicely bred. So they,
too. sat back and waited.
At first surprised at such broad
mindedness in the eider generation,
Oljve and Hector found that their
rROSAlC SEQUEL
I he Impulsive ^ oung Mapping Just After Their "Sealing'* by the
Registrar of Brentwood, Essex, England. The Bride U Shown (Without
Mat) Hurriedly Leaving the House by the Maiden Gate (at Extreme Right,)
While (Above) Are Seen the Bridegroom and Mr*. Mappin** Sitter.
every wish was complied with. If
they, after the fashion of lovers from
time immemorial, felt a hankering to
sneak away from crowded parties and
sit iri the moonlight, there was no one
to say them nay.
Or, if a dual gavety beckoned them
to polished dance floors ami cozy tete
a-tete corners in rainbow-lighted res
taurants, well, that was up to them.
Casual patrons of the Hotel Spietidide
observed the good looking couple sup
ping and trotting, and in the liigh
povvdered roadster which Olive's indul
gent parents bought her, she and Hee
tor spun over miles of rustic moonlit
roadway.
Everything they did was considered
correct. This went on for live months.
Then came the dawn of a great idea.
They would put one over on every
body—elope.
The scene shifts to Gretna (jreen.
most famous of English quick-wedding
villages. Situated on the border of
Scotland, it has provided a haven for
fleeing lovers for generation:. And.
in spile of agitation for its supines ion,
it lias thrived. In 1928, for instance, no
less than two hundred and fifty wed
dings were solemnized there. That i:-,
if you can u.so such a pompous word
for the simple ceremony performed hy
the village blacksmith, horny-handed,
gnarled old Richard Itennison. The
local name for this ceremony is, not
appropriately, “forging the bonds of
love." Olive and Hector had heard of
this and thought it such a pretty idea.
In spite of Gretna Green’s tolerance
and encouragement of speedy nuptials,
there aie certain restrictions. One is
that the pair applying for a license
must have resided in the community
for twenty-one days, with the banns
proclaimed on three successive Sun
days. Al. o each party must have at
tained the age of twenty-one. Olive’s
age plus Hector’s age would have
amounted to just thirty-eight, each
being nineteen.
Ju;-t how they got around these
There Is No Programme for Success—Rosenwald
JULIUS ROSLNWALD, great mer
chant, great citizen and philan
thropist, began his business ca
reer at the age of eleven by earning
five cents an hoar pumping a church
organ. Todav his fortune is estimated
*t from 5300,000,000 to $400,000,000,
«rid Sears-Roebuck Company, of which
he was the actual head for years, does
a business of $300,000,000 annually.
'i ct Julius Rosemsald preaches chance
as an important ingredient in the
formula for success.
A chance conversation in a whole
sale clothing establishment laid the
foundation of his business career. As
a clerk for his uncles, who operated a
clothing store in New York, he heard
a wholesaler describing the profits to
he made in the business of supplying
Summer clothing tor men. “If in New
The'ABC’s of General Knowledge
The Ten Greatest Prize-Fights
Tiumey'
D*m|wej
2,100.005 i
Based on Their Gale Receipts
Source: Madisou Square Garden Corporation
Chart hy FREUNG FOSTER
Of These Ten Leading Championship Bat
tles, Dempsey Wou Four, Tunney Three,
Wills Two and Firpo One.
I 1,800,000
ITunney
Demptry
s' Mi
\ Dfmpwv
| Cirpwlifr
mm
. yjngtr
1. lunncy
2. Tunary
3. Dcmptey
4. Demptry
5. Pemp*cy
6. Tunnry
7. Kill.
*. Dcmpwy
•>. Firpo
10. Will.
_
I)fmp#ry
Deniptey
Carpenlitr
Sharkey
Firpo
Heeney
Firpo
Willard
Willard
Weinert
PI«.o
Chiraao
Philadelphia
Jerary City
New York City'
New York Cilv
New York Cilv
Jeney City
Toledo
Jertey City
Now York Cilv
I 1.100,000
Dempeer Hem pee v
Sharkey Kirpa
Tiutoey
Hemet
mat
-P««6 . .
1. Sept. 1027
2. Sept. 1926
3. July 1921
4. July! 1927
5. Sept.
6. July
7. Sept.
8. July
9. July
10. July
1923
1928
1921
1919
1923
1925
Rrcrint*
1,895,73.1
1.626,580
1,083,329
1,082,590
691,011
462,850
452,522
434,269
100,000
p55355?
Will*
Demptef
5?5? w'uuh f Will.
*±£* Weiu-rt
JULIUS ROSENWALD
York, why not a similar line in Chi
cago'.”’ thought the twenty-three-year
old clerk. He established himself in a
loft in the l’arwell Building, Chicago.
As the only maker ol' warm weather
clothing ii. Chicago, he sold goods to
Richard W. Sears, then operating a
small, mail order house.
This basis of his fortunes Mr. Roscn
wald thus described as the grasping
of an opportunity opened before him:
“I have never supposed that any
quality I possess had more than a
minor part in what I have achieved
as a merchant. Seeing an opportu
nity is not creating it. It is not a
manifestation of genius, in my case
it was purely through accident.
“The United States is filled with
men who could get rich if they had
the chance. General Grant was a
leather merchant. The Civil War
turned him into a hero and made
him President of the United States.
No one would ever have known it
had he been deprived of an oppor
tunity to fight. And that is my
argument.
“Every situation in life hat a man,
often a multitude of them, capable
of meeting and filling it. My philoso
phy in the present instance stops at
that point, but there are not enough
situations to go round.”
Julius Rosenwald every year dis
tributes millions to charity, but he does
not believe in distributing the cheapest
thing in the world—advice,
“The commonest and shabbiest
thing in the world—advice. The nor
mal man does not require it. His
intellect is sufficient. What he
wants is an opening. He may saeU
it or he may find it. It may meet
him face, to face when he is think
ing of something else. Many men
who draw pay envelopes every week,
and who live and die in comparative
poverty, ere millionaires in every
thing save money. Chance had not
come knocking at their door. There
is no programme. Had I had one and
followed it I would still be in the
clothing business.”
As Julius Rosenwald had found op
portunity in tho conversation with the
wholesale clothier, so he found inspira
tion for further success in his talks
with Richard Sears. Visualizing the
profits in the mail order business, he
made an offer to Sears that he and
his brother-in-law should buy partner
ships. For $35,000 they bought a half
interest in the firm. Twenty year*
later that interest was worth $150,
000,000.
To attain success in merchandising,
Mr. Rosenwald subscribes but to one
policy. And he says that it goes,
whether for a small country store or
a giant mail order concern. He once
said:
“1 try to feel that I am always
celling merchandiaa to mytalf. If
the firm of Seara-Roebuck had a
counter I would atand on both tidei
of that counter.”
Julius Rosenwald was born in Spring
field, 111., in 1862, in a house close to
the old home of Abraham Lincoln,
llefore he was ten he had taken little
excursions in tho sea of business.
Although his father was proprietor of
a clothing business young Rosenwald
peddled pictures and chromos from
door to door. Today he is more in
terested in his benefactions to charitv
and to the service of his fellow citizens
than he is in making more money.
“It is a crime,” he once said, “to pile
up money after one has accumulated
a sufficiency. Piled up millions s>e
not a proof of success.. They are proof
of an acquisitiveness that he lias be
come a vice.”
Copyright, 1829, International f taiura fieruce. Ine. G«*at Bntaio Eight* Betemd.
IMPETUOUS
Mr». Hector Mnppin, British Heiress
end Formerly Mitt Olive Ridldel, Who
Ren Awey to Gretna Green with Her
Fiance, Hoping They Would Be
Pursued at in the ‘‘food, old days."
troublesome restrictions lias not been
divulged by them, hut married they
"rre. A wire to the worried parents
of bride and bridegroom relieved all
family tension, for the Slapping ami
the Kidsdels, although they had sensed
matrimonial impulses, had been wor
ried lest “those careless children’’ had
met with a motor accident.
Olive and Hector, secretly a bit an
noyed that they had not been hotly
pursued as in the good old days, re
turned home all smiles. The Kidsdels
and tile Mapping were vastly reassured.
“Hut how did you manage it?” Hector
was asked. ‘‘Oh, I spent a three-week
holiday in Scotland years ago,” chirped
up the bridegroom. “So that was
that Just then the telephone tinkled.
Gretna Crren speaking. What war
that, please? Not really married, aftet
all? Good heaven*l And Mrs. Ridsde.
went into a *woon.
“But the license co*t me a guinea,*'
insisted Hector, aa if the price of a
document h9d anything to do with it*
validity. A local clergyman waa has
lily called in for consultation by ths
agitated parents of Olive. “The chil
dren” were not in the least agitated.
They beamed at one another. “Then,
do you mean to tell us,” they chorused,
“that wo weren’t really married?”
They were assured that they really
hadn't been.
“But this is too wonderful,” es
claitned Olive, throwing herself into
Hector's arms and sighing contentedly.
“We have had a more marvelous ro
mance, darling, than any we ever
dreamed of.” And replied Hector:
“Dearest, if you are not cxaatly a
scarlet woman—and we’ll aee a lawyer
about that—you have been one at least
faintly tinged with pink.”
Now Olive and Hector have beer
honest-to-goodness married and are
just an adoring couple with benefit o'
clergy. But they will doubtless always
treasure the memory of the time whet
naughty Gretna Green provided the
biggest thrill of their lamb-like lives.
By QAkEMUim-GirlMitet
LAND-LADY
1 (On theRiverb&nk) «—
“In from th« *e« with tho homing ihipt."
/A’ from the sea
With the hominy ships
Come rny men.
My door is always open to the fleet.
1 am hostess to the liners and the
tramps.
A o day goes by hut ,«u me
Welcoming ashore
Some rolling stone
Just hailing home from Shanghai.
I hare comfoficd their sorrow',
I have listened to their love,
I have marvelled at their tutes
Of remote and mystic lands.
Till my heart has been enthralled
And has followed in their wahe
Down to Panama, to Fro, to Hawaii.
T^VT one lias a lien on my love,
f"y For him my heart is bigger
than his ocean.
Today lie sailed away
And l watched him from the pier
White his ship shrank small
And he was hidden from my view.
He is gone.
Already I am breathless in my
waiting.
When he comes to me again
Wdl he come as eagerly?
Shall I wait for his boat in vain?
Anyway I shall standon the pier.
I f his love is the. some, / shall greet
him.
If my hopes must die
They can die less painfully
If war where the next boat docks.