Cupid's Tricks at Home and Abroad

F. L. Woodward, Athlete and Scientist, and Miss Bessie Brandow
Secretly Wed in America.

Miss Ruth Vidaver, in Europe Cultivating Her Voice, Is Quietly Married to P. Henri Fontaine.

ONE COUPLE SEEKS FORGIVENESS; OTHER HAS IT.

Bridegroom Had Promised His Father-in-Law to Make a Name Before Claiming His Bride.

The Rev. Mr. Vidaver’s Daughter Chose a Husband Said To Be Middle Aged and Wealthy.

NEITHER BRIDE GAVE ANY INTIMATION OF HER PURPOSE.

Explanation of Miss Brandow’s Mysterious Preference for the City During the Summer Season.

Rabbi’s Daughter Was Not Known by Her Parents to Have Had a Suitor.

WOODWARD — BRANDOW. — On August 16, BESSIE VAN WIE BRANDOW, New York city, to FRANCKE LEONARD WOODWARD, of Albany, N. Y., by the Rev. George S. Avery.

This notice, which appears in to-day’s HERALD, tells of the happy romance of two young persons who tired of waiting to overcome such slight objections to their union as family objections and business considerations. All persons having forgiveness to extend, are requested to call at the Hotel Manhattan, where Mr. and Mrs. Woodward are staying.

Mrs. Woodward lived at the home of her father, L. A. Brandow, of No. 102 West 134th street, up to three weeks ago. Mr. and Mrs. Brandow left their daughter at home when they went to the country, as she suddenly developed an astonishing fondness for the city. She said she did not need the country air, and preferred to devote her time at home to her piano and guitar.

Mr. Woodward is a young electrician, who is associated with Nicola Tesla. He has been very devoted to Miss Brandow for several years. He had asked Mr. Brandow for his daughter’s hand.

WAS TO PROVE HIS WORTH.

Mr. Brandow is not a firm believer in theoretical electricity, and told Mr. Woodward he must first produce something practical or gain a firm footing in his profession. The young man said he would wait and show what he was worth.

Business associations with a cousin in the West also kept Mr. Woodward from making a matrimonial venture. The cousin asked that he be first informed whenever his young relative contemplated immediate marriage. The promise was made in Albany, the home of the young bridegroom, and the men parted. One went West, the other direct to Miss Brandow’s home in this city.

The young folks then decided to delay no longer. “I wanted to marry at once, and Miss Brandow wanted to marry at once,” said Mr. Woodward to me last evening, “so we did marry, and made it a quiet affair. We hope to be forgiven when Mrs. Woodward’s parents arrive in the city.”

HIS COUSIN IN NEW YORK.

Mr. Woodward’s cousin reached here last night. He registered at the Windsor.

Mrs. Woodward is suffering from malarial fever contracted at Saratoga. Her condition necessitates almost constant medical attendance. When she recovers the young couple will spend a few weeks in the mountains.

Mr. Woodward was graduated from Harvard in the class of ’96. He was sent by Harvard, in the fall of 1896, to make a report on Roentgen’s work with the then new X ray. He also visited the Duke of Newcastle, and reported to Harvard the value of this scientist’s investigations. As an undergraduate at Harvard he was prominent in athletics. He was substitute pitcher for the university team in 1893. During his senior year he invented a special X ray tube that reduced the time of exposure in making a photographic negative very materially. He is now doing special research work in the improvement of patents for Nicola Tesla.

FONTAINE — VIDAVER. — In Paris, August 4, 1898, Miss RUTH VIDAVER to P. HENRI FONTAINE.

This marriage notice, published in the HERALD to-day, will surprise the friends of Miss Vidaver almost as much as the news surprised her family when they learned it several days after the ceremony. Miss Vidaver is the daughter of the Rev. Falk Vidaver, rabbi of the Seventy-second Street Synagogue, and has been in Europe for eighteen months, engaged in the cultivation of her voice, a mezzo-soprano of great range and quality.

Mrs. Fontaine while in Europe met P. Henri Fontaine, who is considerably her senior and said to be wealthy. The couple left Paris on August 4, and crossed the Channel to have the ceremony performed in London, where the bridegroom was born. Several days after the ceremony Mrs. Fontaine’s relatives were notified by cable, and that was the first intimation they had of any intention on the part of the young woman to become a wife. The Rev. Mr. Vidaver took the matter philosophically.

Mr. Vidaver was sitting on the stoop of his residence, No. 181 East Seventy-first street, trying to keep cool when I called there last evening.

“My daughter has been abroad cultivating her voice,” he said, “in anticipation of a future on the stage. I knew nothing of Mr. Fontaine, and did not know that she intended to be married. She communicated the news to us by cable on August 10.

“Naturally we were very much surprised. Mr. Fontaine is forty-five years old and is very wealthy. He is the owner of large diamond mines and cultivates sugar extensively in the East. The couple have written that they are about to start for Egypt on a wedding tour, and will not come to this country until next year. We are all very well pleased with the marriage and are satisfied from what she has written to us that she will be very happy.”