The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1889-07-27
Burmese Women.

me WOultn Vi DuA hAAtOS
G. Carpenter from Rangoon, are the most
advanced women of the East. The Ja-
panese wife is addressed as slave by her
husband, and she never appears to help
him entertain his guests. The Corean
madame has no right to 60 on the streets
except after dark, and the small-footed
Chinese girl is the slave of her mother-in-
law. She has no rights that her husband
is bound to respect, and he can sell her
when he is tired of her The Siamese girl,
though step higher in The order of human
rights. has to support the family, and she
is. according to the law, the property OF
the King. The Malay woman Is secluded
in the harem of her husband, and the mil
lions of women Of India, Egypt and Turkey
are never seen upon the streets The
Burmese girls are the brightest characters
of the country, aud their gay silks, bright
eyes aud graceful figures fill every place
with color and beauty. They mix with
the men and they have equal rights in
property and social standing with their
husbands.
During the first years Of the marriage
the man must live with and help support
his mother-in law, aud he IS by no means
the master of the house. The woman
holds the purse. She is the business man
Of the family, aud thoagh at times it Is
said that wife-beating takes place in Bur
nah, such instances are few aud far be
tween.
The business Of Burmah Is managed by
the women as mGea as is'the business Of
France. The city Of Rangoon has about
10000 people aud it Is the centre Of
trade Of Lover Burnah Much Of the
native business is done in immense bazaars
covering many acres. These bazaars are
rooted with heavy wood Or iron to keep out
the sun. and some of them cover several
blocks. Their interiors are divided up into
streets, which Gus one another Al right
angles These streets are walled with cases
of goods Of Al kinds, which rise from the
back of a ledge five feet wide and as high
as chair seat. Upon these lodges the
bazaar 5 sellers sit with their goods piled
around aud behind them. aud in these ba-
zaars the Burmese women compete with
merchants from all over the East They
are as sharp at bargain as the Parsee
merchants and the turbaned Mahomctans
who have stalls adjacent to them, and the
Burmese manufactures Of all kinds are
sold by them. Without education in
arithmetic and without knowing how to
rad aud write, they can count profit and
loss like 50 many lightning caleulators. |
bought some silk Of one Of them sS-day
The price first asked was three timas what
[ finally gave, and the girl who sold me
made. doubt not, 25 per cent profit.
She was a typical Burmese beauty, and
she sat with her limbs crossed Tat on the
straw mat of her booth, with shelves Of
silks behind her and with gsly-eolored cloths
on the floor all around her In hermouth
vas Burmese cigar At least a foot long
and full inch in thickness She offered
me Whit when | looked at her goods, but
upon my refusing she handed the cigar
ever to her sister and attended to business
Pulling down one piece Of bright silk after
another. she spread them out on the mat
before me and ohatted and laughed while
she sold. Girls mature here at thirteen
and fourteen, aud this bazaar daisy was
perhaps sixteen years old.
The Burmese women are clad in two
GARMENTS. One Of these Is jacket Of silk
or cotton which reaches to the hips, and
the ether is the tamehn. This Is wide
strip Of bright silk about five feet square.
which is wrapped around the waist and
the limbs and fastened with twist at the
front. Ii has the effect Of tight Ameri-
can puEI-baek without the hustle, put on
without underskirts. The weaishierladies
wear their dresses so long that they trail
upon the ground. The coloFs are those
&C the rainbow, and the most delicate of
vellows, Of pinks and Of blues are used.
Ny fair merchant wore a skirt of bright
green and gold, and her silk vest was
rich cream yellow. She had several
strands Of pearls about her ohye-brown
neck and her ears had great buttons in
them Of clusters Of diamonds, each as
large as cuff buttons. She had bracelets
on her arms and there was a gold ring on
one Of her toes. and in her hair was
bunch Of bright artificial flowers She
was. | Judge. five feet high. Her eyes
were large, soft and brown, and above
these were dainty arehed, but not heavy
brows. She had wealth of rich, glossy
black hair rolled up in pyramidal crown
on the very top Of her head, and this was
fastened by silver comb which rested on /
the scalp at the base Of the pyramid. She /
was fair type of thousand pretty Bur
mese girls, whom / have seen here during
the past week, aud her costume was that
Of the country.
All Burmese women wear ear plugs. /
These are rs costly as the purse of the
women can purchase, and they are Ike no I
earrings YOU VIII find in America The
lobes Of their cars have holes in them,
each Of which is from half inch to an inch |
and ahalf in diamter, and have seen such /
holes through which a man S. thumb could /
be thrust and not bruise the skin. In
some eases women cary these big Burmese
cigars in their ears, and | saw a womans
ear recently in which there were gold rings
which would have made gOOd-sized napkin
rings. It seems incredible that the flesh /
can stretch as it does, but some of the
poorer women ears are 80 eiiaIStu Dy tlls I
process that the string of flesh which hangs
down in the place of the lobe Is almost as
large around as the ear itself The high /
caste lady has a hole in her ear about as
big around as her index finger, and the ear
plugs, which are about half an inch long,
are often tipped with clusters Of diamonds.
They are sometimes Of gold, and in the /
cases Of less well-;o-do people are plugs of
solid amber. The poorest women wear
plugs of glass of bright green or yellow.
The gold rings are often hoops Of gold of
about the same shape and size as an open
ended thimble.
These earrings or plugs are the Burmese
SIGN of womanhood A maiden is not
to be woman until her ears are
bored, and the ceremony Is quite as i'm
portant to her as that of the first trail dress
to the American girl. 1t takes place when
she reaches the age Of twelve or thirteen.
The family eonsults fortune teller for a
good day and hour, and big feast Is pre-
pared. All the sisters, cousins and aunts
are invited, aud these squat down on the
floor about the room while the girl, with