Bridegroom of 13 Spanked by Dad

March 1914

KINGSTON, Ontario. — "Well, father, permit me to introduce my bride," said Eugene Lovelace, a romantic youth of thirteen, as he presented a blushing eighteen-year-old girl, who was Miss Laura Richardson.

"Your what?" gasped the astonished parent, as he looked from one to the other.

"My bride, pop. We've come for the paternal blessing."

The bridegroom has a hazy recollection of what followed. He has a distinct remembrance of father's No. 9 shoe, still containing father's foot connecting with remarkable force somewhere amidships. He remembers getting a fleeting glimpse of a big flat hand coming in his general direction. He is in too much pain to try to recollect other incidents.

The bridegroom does not look any older than his age, and at the time of his decision to embark upon the gale-swept seas of matrimony he purchased with the bulk of his available funds the first pair of long trousers he had ever worn.

Mrs. Lovelace looks and acts much younger than most young women of eighteen do, and was won quickly by the romantic Eugene when he decided to settle down in a home of his own.