Omaha daily bee., 1889-05-12
THE CAUDY GIRLS OF BURMAH
Their Bright Costumes and Their
Immense Ear Rings.
ALL OF THEM SMOKE CIGARS
The Burmese Women Have More
Rights Than the Men and Do
Large Share OF tho
Business.
Among the Bellies of Burmah.

Among the Bellies of Burmah.
lC0pmightcd 1859 bv Frank q. Curpenter.l
RANoooN, Burmah, March 3.-lSpecial
Correspondence Of THE BEE. THE women
of Burmah are the most advanced women OF
the east The japanese wife is addressed
as slave by her husband and she never ap-
pears TO help him entertain his guests The
Korean madame has no right to go on the
streets except after dark and the small
footed Chinese girl is the slave of ner
mothcr-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 Samese
girl, though a 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 millions
Of women in India, Egypt and Turkey, are
never seen upon the streets. The Burmese
girls are the brightest characters of the
country and their gay silks, bright eyes and
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, and he is by no
means the master of the house. The woman
holds the purse She is the business man of
the family and though at times, it is said,
THAT wife beating takes place in Burmah,
such Instances are few and far between. 1
heard Of one to-day in which man cnraged
by shrewish wife attempted to strike her.
A crowd gathered around and she taunted
him, saying, "Beat mel beat NELL" The
man raised his stick and brought it down
again ana again within an inch Of the
Att.
her.
The business OF Burmah is managed by
the women as much as is the business of
France. The city Of Rangoon has about
140,O people, and it is the center of trade
of lower Burmah. Much of the native
business is done in immense bazaars, cover
ing many acres. These bazaars are rooted
with heavy wood or iron to keep out the
sum- and some Of them cover several blocks.
Their interiors are divided up into streets,
which cut one another at right angles.
These streets are walled with cases Of goods
of all kinds, which rise from the back of
ledge five feet wide and as high as a chair
seat Upon these ledges the bazaars sellers
sit with their goods piled around and behind
them, and III these bazaars the Burmese
women compete with merchants from all
over the east. They are as sharp at a bar
gain the Parsee merchants and the tur-
cent to them, and the Burmese manufac-
lures OF all kinds are sold by them. With
out education in arithmetic and without
knowing how to read and write, they can
count profit and loss like so many lightning
calcuiators l bought some silk of one of
them to day. The price first asked was
three times what l finally gave, and the girl
who sold me made, doubt not, 25 per cent
. 44s - HAfTYPICAL BURMESE BEAUTY,
se -fnd she sat with her legs crossed Hat on the
: straw mat Of her booth with shelves of silks
behind her and with gay colored clothes on
a. the floor all around her In her mouth was
q burmese cigar at least foot long and a
full inch In thickness. She offered me
Whit when looked at her goods, but upon
my refusing she handed the cigar over to her
. down one piece of bright silk after another,
she spread them out on the mat before me
and chatted and laughed while she sold.
Girls mature here ut thirteen and fourteen,
years old. She was as straight as a post and
as plump as a partridge, and her rich Bur
mese dress was well fitted to show out her
beauties The Burmese women are clad in
two garments. One of these is a jacket of
silk or cotton which reaches to the hips, and
the other 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 a twist at the front. 1t
has the effect of tight American pullback
without the bustle, put on without under
skirts. The opening of the skirt is at the
front, but the women walk with throw
ing out of the bare heels, which prevents
the folds opening to an immodest de-
gree. The Weather ladies wear these
dresses SO long that they trail upon the
ground. The colors are those of the rainbow
and the most delicate of yellows Of pinks
and of blues are used. My fair merchant
wore,a shirt of bright green and gold. and
her silk vest was rich cream yellow. She
had several strands of pearls about her olive
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
her toes and in her hair was bunch of
bright artificial flowers She was, / Judge
five feet high. Her eyes. were large, soft
nnd brown, and above these were daiEtly-
Rrchcd but not heavy brows. She had q
wealth OF rich, glossy. black hair rolled up in
apyramidal crown on the very top of her
head. and this was fastened by silver comb
which rested on tho scalp at the base of the
pyramid. She was fair type of thousand
pretty Burmese girls, whom have seen here
during the past week, and her costume was
that OF the country. Tho
FASHIONS DO NOT CHANGE
In Burmah, and it ought not to take a Bur-
mese lady long to mako her toilet. This
tamehn is worn by all classes and in all parts
of Burman. The village girls and the
women OF Mandalay do not use the
Q strip OF cloth which is wound
tightly around the bust under the
arms. leaving the neck and the shoulders
bare in much the same way as the women of
Siam. There Is scarf which is sometimes
thrown over one shoulder, and this falling
under the other arm, is caught and is so ar
ranged that Ii can cover both shoulders IL
= the girl should desire 1t. One meets many
women, however, who do not use this scarf
. and the ordinary dress of the interior village
e bello is about as decollette as that of our
fashionable society ladies. The village girls
wear as bright colers as do the ladies of the
better classes, but their tamehns are Of cot
y ton. They are in plaid patterns, and are
- Fastened with simple knot at tho waist,
i All Burmese women wear ear plugs.
These are as costly as the purse OF the
- women can purchase, and they are like no
earrings YOU will find in America. The
lobes of their ears have holes in them, each
of which Is from half inch to an inch and
. half ia diameter, and / have seen such
holes through which mans thumb could
be thrust and not bruise the skin In some
cases women carry these big Burmese
.x CIGARS IN THEIR EARS,
lnd saw woman's ear yesterday In which
there were gold rings which would have
made good sized napkin rings. IL seems in
credible that the flesh can stretch as 1t does,
but some Of the poor women's ears are so
enlarged by this process that
the string Of flesh which hangs down in
fhe place Of the loDe Is almost as
ha he hI.vh