The Iola register., 1891-07-17
WOMAN'S REAL KINGDOM.
A Story That 10 Has Been Discovered
the Middle of Sumatra.

A Story That it Has Been Discovered In
the Middle of Sumatra.
If Mr.. W. j. Shaw tells the whole
truth and nothing but the truth, then
the United States does not deserve the
title of "Woman's Kingdom, or "Wom.
ans Paradise" or any of the other sim
liar names which have been bestowed
upon it Mr.. Shaw has discovered q
place where women hold a position in
comparison with which their status in
the United States is one of shame and
servitude. Mr.. Shaw was one of the
forty-niners in San Francisco He came
here from New York, and was a lawyer,
a state senator and man of importance
and public worth in the early days, un-
til he left the country to spend years
and years in travel in out-of.the-way
places. This woman's most paradisical
paradise is in Sumatra, in the interior
of the island.
"The women there own all the
wealth." he says, land it is the con-
slant aim of the men to enrich their
wives. They have law by which
mans property cannot be inherited by
his children, but must go to his parents,
while that belonging to his wife de-
scends to the offspring; and, of course,
they get around that law by putting all
their wealth into the hands of the
women.
Each man has but one wife and each
wife one husband, and they live per-
fectly moral lives They are Moham-
medans although they are homogeneous,
both in theory and in fact. A man may
divorce his wife if he chooses, but he
must allow her to retain the property
in her possession Divorces are not
frequent not nearly as frequent in pro-
portion to population as they are in
California.
"a man does not live in the same
house with his wife. He has his home
apart and visits her only in the evening.
like lover calling on his mistress.
When the children grow up the boys
are taken away from their mothers
home as soon as they are old enough,
but the girls stay with her until they
marry. When that event takes place
an addition is built on to the mothers
and the newly-married
daughter makes that her home. Where
there are many daughters the original
house grows and grows as they are
married off, until it becomes almost a
village.
when a woman's husband dies she |
plants post in front of her particular |
door in the family mansion and hangs
a flag on it. As long as that flag waves
she may not marry again. But when |
the wind has torn it into shreds and |
scattered the bits on the ground, her |
term of mourning is considered to be
over and she can accept second lovers
advances. What is wanted in Sumatra |
more than anything else is a material
Tor flags that will be more susceptible
70 the action of the elements than any
hing they have now.
The women are very beautiful, hav-
ng good figures, exceedingly fine COM
olexions and bright eyes And they
iress most elegantly and extravagant-
y. They have both silver and gold
mines in the island, and these people
lave sufficient knowledge of the arts to
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wire, which they then weave into cloth
or dresses
while was there / saw two pretty,
'rlght-eyed maidens, dressed Just as
hey would be on their wedding days,
which were to come of soon. One
yore dress of this cloth of gold and
he other of the cloth of silver, and
hey were just the most resplendent
lamsels you ever saw. Their arms
we're covered with bracelets from their
lands to far above the elbow, and their
lecks with necklaces of gems and gold
"Oh, American women are supposed
o be treated better than women any,
Vhere else, and to have asort of heaven
ere in comparison with their sisters
lsewhere, but they simply aren't in it {
t all beside the women over in the I,
aiddle OF Sulnatra- IN. Y. Sun. Il