"This is her wedding ring, isn't it beautiful? I am wearing it until she arrives…."
The naughty fiancee arrived two days before she was expected, and came near upsetting everything. Hubby-to-be saw her first, dodged, jumped into his car and raced up to the other girl's home to get the wedding ring and break the dinner engagement for that evening. Then he rushed downtown and greeted his bride-to-be in his lawyer's office. They are living in Reno, happily married. Mr. Lake received a telegram of congratulation from his first wife. Mrs. Lake II. is a charming woman. I think she has heard all about the episode, but she is a diplomat and probably thinks that one way to matrimonial bliss is skilled ignorance.
Happiness and contentment and…. love…. or what we think it is! And yet, what would the world be without that inheritance.
The Six Months' Residence Law of Nevada, was not made primarily to accommodate matrimonial misfits, but to secure settlers by offering them early citizenship and votes, the State being only sparingly populated. Prior to Reno, Sioux Falls, Dakota, used to be the haven for those seeking relief from the "tie that binds." When Dakota placed the ban on the divorce colony, someone discovered the Nevada divorce law, and those who found that Cupid was no longer at the helm of their matrimonial ship, turned Reno-ward. However, be it known that the citizens of Nevada knew all about this easy relief law from the undesirable bond way back in 1851, as the following quotation from a very amusing chapter of Nevada's history will illustrate. The book I speak of is called "Reminiscences of William M. Stewart" and was written by a Senator. Of course he was a Senator! Judges and Senators are as thick in Nevada as Colonels in Kentucky. Most every man worth while has been, is, or is going to be a Senator or a Judge. However, that book is a good one and I found the following most interesting and amusing. Says William M. Stewart:
"If you want to preserve good health, keep your head cool and your feet warm!"
"While working our claim I awoke one morning and saw a covered wagon with two oxen which had been unyoked and were grazing on the grass near a spring in a ravine below me. I soon discovered that a line had been drawn from the wagon to a clump of rocks, upon which were hung several articles of feminine apparel to dry. Women were so scarce in California at that time that this was sufficient to arouse the whole camp. The "Boys" as we were called, were scattered along the Coyote digging for a distance of about four miles, and when anything unusual happened the words, 'Oh, Joe!' would be passed along the whole line.
"When I saw the feminine raiment, I raised the usual alarm, "Oh, Joe!" and this called the attention of the miners on Buckeye Hill, where I was, to the clothes-line which had attracted my notice. They gathered round on the hill, nearly surrounding the covered wagon and its contents. The rush of the boys in the immediate vicinity to see the wonderful sight attracted those farther away, and in less than ten minutes two or three thousand young men were watching the wagon, clothes-lines, and fascinating lingerie. In alarm the man that belonged to the woman inside stuck his head out of a small tent beside the wagon. I assured him that no harm was intended, but that we were very anxious to see the lady who was the owner of the clothes. This aroused her curiosity sufficiently to induce her to pull the curtain of the tent aside so that her face could be discovered but not fully seen.
"I then proposed that we make a donation to the first lady that had honored our camp with a visit. I took from my camp a buckskin bag, used for the purpose of carrying gold, and invited the boys to contribute. They came forward with great eagerness and poured out of their sacks gold dust amounting to between two and three thousand dollars. I then proceeded to appoint a committee to wait on the lady and present it. The motion was unanimously carried and one of the gentlemen on the committee suggested myself as chairman. I took the sack of gold and went within about thirty feet of the tent and made as good a speech as I could to induce the lady to come out, assuring her that all the men about her were gentlemen, that they had seen no ladies for so many months and that the presence of one reminded them of their mothers and sweethearts at home. I told her that the bag of gold was hers on the condition that she come out to claim it. Her husband urged her to be brave, but when she finally ventured about half way the cheers were so vociferous that she got frightened and ran back. She repeated this performance several times and I kept moving slowly back far enough to get her away from the little tent so the boys could get a good view of her. I suppose half an hour was occupied with her running back and forth while the boys looked in admiration. When I finally gave her the bag with all the good wishes of the camp, she grabbed it and ran into the tent like a rabbit.
"The next morning the wagon and the owner of the inspiring apparel were gone and we never heard of them in after life. It was no doubt well that they hastened their departure, for in those days it was a very usual occurrence for the young wife coming to that country to be persuaded to forsake her husband on their arrival in the new camp. The immigrants of 1850 included thousands of newly married young people whose wedding journey included all the hardships and privations of crossing the plains. Those hardships made the men look rather rough and scrubby, and they were all miserably poor. The women were young, and after they had an opportunity to wash their faces, looked more attractive: particularly to the miners who had been deprived of female society for several months and had accumulated some money and good will. The miner would propose marriage, and if a divorce could be obtained extreme cruelty was usually given as the reason for the divorce. The intended bridegroom was always a ready witness to swear to a case of extreme cruelty.
"In the fall of 1851 I went to Nevada City to bring supplies for the men engaged in construction of the Grizzly Ditch. I bought several mule-loads and was having them packed very early one morning, but before I could get away I was summoned as a juror in Judge Barber's court. This was before I made myself exempt from jury duty by becoming a member of the bar. I saw the judge and tried very hard to beg off; but he told me there were ten divorce cases on hand and he wanted to dispose of them that day.