The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1880-07-02
THE UNHAPPIEST OF WOMEN.
An Italian GentIeman's Experience I'm
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AN italian GentIeman's Experience I'm
Montenegro.
The life of Montenegrin women NAV
be epitomized In two wordsworth and
suffering. In some countries women
work as much as men-in others more;
but on the Black Mountain they alone do
the work of both men and beasts of bur-
den. The variety and intensity of their
suHerings battle description. [ do not
hesitate to affirm that nowhere else does
the female sex live In such wretched
condition.
Outbursts of wild Joy, noise of gun
shots, clashing of glasses, and songs and
dances accompany the birth of boy in
Montenegro; gloom and disappointment
hang over the house if a girl comes to
increase the number of the warriors
children. Should you congratulate him
on the birth of daughter, he is sure to
cut short your intended compliment by
saying, 81 beg pardon, sir, It's a girl, "
and sometimes "'tis q snake" The
poor little thing grows up ignored and
despised until her bodily strength be-
comes In some way source of revenue
to the family. The boys monopolize all
the affections of both mother and father.
The former frequently suffers the tor
lures of Niobe, but for fear of her hus-
band dares not show her daughter any
tenderness. The little waits of the Mon
tenegrin family can hardly walk about
the house before they are initiated into
household work, and sent up the noun
tains to gather dry wood. Return they
must in the evening, bending under loads
that few men would care to carry, or they
get a sound fiogging and no supper. The
flower of their youth prematurely fades
because nature has no time to shape and
develop their forms. Excessive labor
stamps their faces with precocious age
and repulsive manliness. The body of
the woman of the Black Mountains is
ll-shapen and most ungraceful. She is
wanting in that elasticity which is the
soul of all form. Her carriage is heavy,
her step long, and her shoulders are
buckle backed, like the shoulders of all
who pass Their lives In journeying up and
down mountainous roads with loads not
in keeping with their physical strength.
She walks with her head inclined on her
breast, as though she was crushed by
the feeling of her own AFFECTION. No
wonder, therefore, that she looks on the
erect figure of her father, brothers and
husband as on superior beings, in whose
presence she ought to tremble and keep
silent. No wonder that those superior
beings, In turn, never miss an oppor-
tunity to assert their superiority and to
rivet the chains by which they keep her
! as submissive as a. slave
! Outside of household duties the woman
Of Montenegro has no opportunity to
develop her mental faculties. It is only
Of late years that little girls have been
permitted to attend such schools as the
country affords. The improvement,
however, cannot be very great for long
time, as the necessities Of everyday life
absorb all their time, and the customs of
| the country confine the female sex
within the narrow and brutalizing sphere
Of the lowest manual labor. Long will
| they be doomed to climb rocks and leap
from ravine to ravine to carry home the
needed fuel and provisions. These
women strange as it may seem, pride
themselves on the hardships they endure.
One day, while going to Nicsic by the
O4AO A4OuAOoeA1A paul, L AnCO IL nlIIhDSI VI
them carrying up the baggage of a party
of English tourists. One was seated on
a rock, weeping bitterly. On being
questioned concerning the cause of her
grief, she replied that she had been in
suited by one of the party He had told
her that she would never be able to carry
her share of baggage to the top Of the
mountain.
The novelist in search Of plots and in
trigues would lose his time by visiting
the Black Mountain. Aside from patriot
ism and self-denial, there is no romance
in the life of Montenegro women. The
rude mountaineers have no gallantry.
They shrink from the simplest civilities
to women. A compliment, even to the
girl he loved, would subject Montene-
grin to ridicule. Young girls travelling
alone in the heart of the region are safer
than those under escort. Woe to the
man, however, who dare address her an
improper word. She would have a pro-
tector in every passer-by, and on reach
ing the village, a score of young men
would vie with each other for the honor
Of washing out the offense with the blood
of the offender.
Morality Of Good Living.