Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1891-10-30
TAE LADIES RuN THINGS.
An Interesting Picture OF Lifs In rar-csr
Bumstra.

- cpuutIy Wnere the women own the
houses and lands. where gold and silver
are common as the flowers 10 the spring.
where everybody is happy aud nobody
does wrong, is tie burden of the story
tnas W. j. Shaw brings from far-oR
Sunatra, says the San Francisco Er-
In all my years OF travel, p he said,
{, nave never found happier people
than THOSE who live IN Sumatra, in the
middle part of the island. The people
al ever Sumatra are believers in the
Mohammedan religion, but the peculiar
customs which make this articul ar peo-
pie unique aud different from all others
are confined to one community.
1t would not be correct TO term this
branch OF the Sumatra people a tribe.
for they do not live in tribal relations at
oil, although there is chief aud under
chieftaius. Those rulers, however, are
not despots, nnd if the people do not
like the way in which they manage
things they dispose of them very shortly
and put other men in their places.
Although mon are the ostensible
chieftalns, the women arc the real rul-
ers, The customs of the country for
bid the giving of a mans property to his
ehildror after his death. III man dies
the property he owns is given to his
father and mother. The woman's prop.
erty, on the contrary, is given to tho
Nniidren. Probably that is the custom
hat Is responsible for the turning over
OF the wealth of the country to the
women.
1t is the constant aim of the men to
enrich their wives. Each man has but
me wife. and each wife one husband,
aud they live perfectly moral life.
The teachings of Mohammedanism are
followed upon the question of divorce.
The husband has the right to divorce
his wife whenever he chooses but must
allow her to retain the property in her
possession. Divorces are not frequent,
though. and 1 believe that in proportion
( to the population divorces in this part
OF Sumatra are not one in sixteen COM
pared to the number III California.
The people are happy there-happy
as they can be. The children live ut
home with the mother-the boys until
they are ID or IA, and the girls until
they marry.
When the daughter gets married she
does not leave her mothers house. An ad-
dition is built-a new roof, ia they call
it-and the newly married girl makes
her home there and brings up her chill
dren. This custom, of course results
in forming quite large communities
where there are many children.
Il knew one of these communities
where there were q mother and several
daughters living with thoir children.
The original house had grown with each
marriage until it spread over large
piece of ground.
When the boys get old enough to
leave home they are taken to O COM
partment house which is set aside for
them until they wish to marry. The
girl has the right to choose whom che
will wed, privilege delegated to her in
few Mohammedan countries.
Once married, the husband. for the
vest of mis- life is his wife's lover. He
lives apart from her and visits her
homo only in the evening to chat with
her and the children. All the money
he gets he turns over to his sweetheart.
She dresses herself and the children
md shoulders oil the petty family
CARES. ia
He bothers only to earn the money
to pay for the things they eat and wear.
To get things for them to eat need
not worry him much. The portion of
Sumatra in which these strange people
live is very fertile 1t is fino country.
with beautiful mountains and streams
and magnificent scenery. All sorts of
fruits are grown, and in the higher alti.
tudes many of the grains.
10 find dresses for the family must
be difficult matter, for I never saw
such elegantly attired women as in these
communities. They IRE very beautiful,
boosting the finest and fairest complex
ions and the brightest eyes.
II have seen women there wearing
dresses of pure gold and others wearing
mined in Sumatra and natives possess
sufficient knowledge of the arts to smelt
andsform the ingots into wire. The
weaving of these handsome and costly
cloths is quite the principal occupation
of both the women and the mon.
"Never in Christian countries do wo-
wen dress as extravagantly.
Il remember that once the chief told
me he would have two pretty maidens
dress Us they would on their marriage.
The two bright-eyed girls were gone
some time, and came back wearing, one
dress of gold and the other one OF sil-
ver. They had bracelets one above an
other from the hands end above their
elbows. At their elbows they wore Pc
culiar bracelets, jointed to permit easily
moving the joint. Iu brief, their arms
We're armored with precious metal.
They had necklaces of gems and other
costly ornaments, and the cloth of-gold
and cloth-of-silver dresses were made
loosely fitting above the waist, and the
Skirts in fonnces.
They are not nm ignorant people, for
the children are taught in their homes
and many learn to rend the Koran.
They observe the proprieties, too, as is
apparent from the rule. Us to widows.
When woman's husband dies she
plants post in frontof her particular
door in the family house and hangs
flag upon it While that flag waves
she may not marry again. But when
the winds, blowing softly off the sea.
have torn it into shreds and scattered
the bits on tho ground, her term of
mourning is over, and she may accept O
second lovers proffer"