SUBMARINE MARRIAGE.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9083, 25 February 1908, Page 7

SUBMARINE MARRIAGE.

AS TO ITS VALIDITY. Forty-one applications from would-be brides or ; bridegrooms were receive’d from all parts of England as the result of an offer by the management. of the London Hippodrome of £IOO to ; the. couple who were willing to be married [under water, in the centre of the arena, which was tO'be lowered for the occasion and flooded with water. By means of ingenious mechanical contrivances’and illusions, bride and bridegroom, clergyman, and best man alike, a few moments before the weddinsr, appearjto the audience to be engulfed by " the flood of water and drowned, whereas, by ’reason largely of a series of diving-bells, as well as by water-proof clothing, those who take part in the ceremony would be virtually as dry as the spectators themselves. Lights turned on under the surface of the water would enable the audience to witness the performance of the ceremony throughout. The directors of the Hippodrome decided that the r offer should remain open for a week, when the sorting of the applications and the interviewing of applicants as to their suitability, etc would begin. It was understood <hat several prominent actresses, in addition to artistes associated with “Honeylaud,” would act as bridesmaids. Inquiries, however, went to show that it would be extremely difli- ' cult to secure the performance of any valid marriage ceremony in the circumstances. One of the bestknown marriage registrars in London declared that in view of the fact that the Hippodrome was not licensed as a place for the solemnisation of marriage, no license of any description could be issued by any registrar, and no ’such ceremony as that '[constitute a marriage. -■

At the Bishop of London’s marriage registry office, Doctors’ Commons,fit was stated that"such a ceremony could only be performed under the canons of the Church of England by the granting of a special license hy the Archbishop of Canterbury, a highly improbable proceeding in the present instance. Cases of special licenses being granted, it was added, did not occur once a year, and then only in very exceptional circumstances. The most recent occasion was Lord Loreburn’s marriage in the crypt under Wetsminster Abbey.