The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-05-05
LIFE IN 4 HAREM.
Olive Harper Writes OF the Mysteries
in the Houses of Opulent Turks.
Erou the pittSbttrg R,tIIefjn

Olive Harper Writes OF the Mysteries
| in the Houses of Opulent Turks.
From the Pittsburg Bulletin
People in general have an idea that Turk
ish women absolutely do nothing that is
useful or ornamental aside from the decor
alton of their own persons, but that is not
altogether true, as my residence of over
year in their country taught me, for they
| are really dexterous with the needle, and
| do work which is as fine as that done by the
| sisters In the converts or that of the wives
| of the fe ldal noblemen of olden times.
The favorite pastime with Turkish
women is the bath, which brings together
the wives and slaves of well-to-do Turks,
and is like picnic of school children.
These wives. most of them very young
some, indeed, not over IL or IA years old
take their lunch along, and they eat and
steam, plunge and splash, and play pranks
upon each other in the widest glee the
whole day long.
No fear of an angry husband haunts their
| minds, for they are not expected to do any
thing, and their husbands very rarely en-
ter tneir harems before 6 o'clock By this
time they are all bacS, rosy and sweet from
| their bath.
At the baths there is often an old woman
| who has the faculty of relating stories, and
she is eagerly listened to by the grown-up
children; and the stories are generally of
| the arabian Nights" order, full of genii.
beautiful ladies, and charming youths and
Jealous husbands. Many a lesson is given
as to how to outwit the most jealous of men
"a lesson they are neither slow to learn nor
practice.
The way they were watched and confined
| always made me think of the woman who
| cautioned her innocent children not to put
| blue beans in their noses while she was out
The magic lantern entertainments amuse
| these ignorant Gagged birds. Dancing girls
| singing and playing the lutte, playing with
| the babies, and occasionally Quarreling with
each other, take up some of their time; a
weekly tour of the bazars, and once in
| a while a visit to the harem of some other
Turk still leave much time on their hands
that the rare calls of their husbands. the
eating of sweetmeats or smoking of cigar
| cites cannot fill, and so they give their poor
little minds to fancy work. They very
seldom learn how to read, or perhaps books
would help them through, and they never
make their own clothes, though they do
| sometimes decorate them deliberately after
| others have made them.
They have frames made on which their
! embroidery is worked, and on velvet satin.
| or that beautiful and durable Broussa
| gauze they embroider with exquisite fine
ness and taste. The most of their embroid-
| cry is done in durable and admirably
seem TO me remarkable in women who are
SO fond of brilliant primary colors and ill
| assorted contrasts. They have no patterns.
but work out graceful and beautiful fan
tastes, and all done with the most exquisite
care and fineness, requiring patience and
| extra good eyesight.
They work in gold and silver threads to
a great extent, and they make cushions for
their divans which are stiff with the finest
| of gold and silver needlework. Their
| jackets are worked SO thickly over with
gold and silver arabasques and other pat
ters that they are almost as stiff as our
| corsets.
Their slippers are ornamented as we'll
with gold and silver embroidery over velvet
or satin, and seed pearls and fine coral and
/ turquoise beads are lavisbly used with beau
tiful effect. They also work gold borders
to their bathing wraps. This is done in
outline work in chain stitch. The little
Broussa neckties are worked in the same
manner, only that the tourah, or national
coat-of-arms, is always placed at the end,
with verse from the Koran worked in
gold thread at the bottom
They make very beautiful and durable
lace out of silk thread, which resembles no
lace ] ever saw. The mesh is thick, but
not heavy. and different flowers are
frequently made in relief upon it. |
have seen piece of this lace three yards
in length and a quarter of a yard
deep. On it ran rose branch, every leaf
bud, and flower being made separate and
laid in relief upon it, Joined firmly and yet
loose. The roses were perfect fac-similes of
roses with perhaps 100 petals Another
woman had made in this lace work a little
garden about fifteen inches square Thers
were the little trees about three inches high.
flowers of different kinds, and two of three
birds, all made of this lace and set in relief.
tiny wires being run through the stems OF
the flowers and trunks of the trees to keen
them upright.
The soft and durable Grape undershirts.
pemhazars, as they are called, all have.
around the bottom, on the bottoms of the
long, loose sleeves, and around the neck. an
edging Of the finest work | ever saw, which
renders the edge indestructible. These
garments are left unfinished when manu-
featured for each to finish according to her
own taste
The Turkish women wear no other under
garments, and the jacket sleeves only reach
the elbow, so that these flow loose below
like undersleeves. They are delicately soft
and semi-transparent.
The feridjees or outdoor wraps look, as far
as shape is concerned, about as graceful as
waterproof cloak; they are shaped like a
big loose nightgrown, with loose sleeves
and long flap hanging from the shoulders
to the heels These are usually made of
black alpaca, or farmers satin, but Won
often see them of the most brilliant-colored
silk CT satin. They are made without trim
ming, for the most part, and are simply
hemmed; but these ladies make narrow
trimmings to go around the edges of the
most exqisite daintiness IL the shape of
shells, diamond braids, and many other in
genious shapes out of the same material as
the ferid iees, and not over half an inch
wide. / remember noticing one which had
trimming made Of miniature pears and
leaves, which was extremely pretty. An
other resembled a filghtJof swallows done in
dark-bl1e satin,
We, might suppose that these women
would take pleasure in making and en-
broidesing their babies clothes as do other
women; but as babies are simply swathed
in endless rollers, like mummy, until they
are six months old, ornament is unneces-
sary. At the end OF six months boy babies
are put into pantaloons aud girls into loose
trousers, both baing ufually made of large
lowered chintz.
About the only thing ever noticed the
} Turkish women do for their little children
was to make toys for them, and they made
the most grotesqne looking dogs, lions, COWS,
rabbits, elephants, camels ami doll babies