The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1891-07-13

Whether European Women Arc Bet
ter OFF Than Their Moham-
medan Sisters.


Not long ago an Asiatic Mohamme-
dan published. in All European quar-
terly, an article in which he attempted
to prove that the lot OF Mohammedan
women IS better than that Of the Euro
pean ASH in answer to this, an
English woman who has spent much
of her life in the East has just pub
lished an article in the Nineteenth
Century, showing the actual condition
Of the Mohammedan women She
shows that it is literally true. that a
Mohammedan woman is three times a
slave. Her father has absolute con
troll over her before she is married,
even to the power of taking her life.
II her father dies, her brother inherits
this power. When she is married, it
goes to her husband, and after his
death to her sons. While she is a
wife, she is not even protected by
public opinion; for the doings of the
harem are kept secret. Nor does the
husband hesitate to use his power. A
husband may also divorce his wife by
merely telling her that she Is divorced.
She has no power to divorce herself
from him; but some women when life
becomes uncomfortable, succeed in
provoking their husbands into
deeming feature Of the marriage law
is that a divorced wife retains all her
property, both that which her father
axl fB - . eubsoh hor hr.olnan nd koc wfxrnt,
her. Mohammedan women learn to
keep themselves yelled in the com
pany of men almost before they can
talk. The author had seer a Mollain-
medan girl only two years old, wear
ing nothing except her veil and a little
shirt reaching TO her waist, pull the
veil in front her face when a man APP
peared. Married women are not even
allowed to remain in the presence Of
men. Even when brothers live under
the same roof, which is very custom
airy in Turkey, they never meet each
others wives. The writer tells a cur
ious instance of two married ladies
with whom she was talking, suddenly
hiding under a sofa and trunk when
they heard a brother-in-law approach
ing. 1t is not only permissible for a
man to abuse his wife, he may even
desert her, if he chooses, and then
command her to return to him at his
pleasure. A Mohammedan is permit
ted to marry four wives and have as
many eoncubines as he can buy. The
women are not usually kept separ-
ate, and judging from the writer's
description, the harems must be
literal nells. A husband will one day
single out q favorite and load her with
jewels, and the next day deliver her
to the Jealous fury of rival wives, who
maltreat her in every way their mag
ination can invent. Some Moham-
medans declare that they prefer but
one wife, TO save the bother of keep
ing two. But they r as likely as not
to change their minds, especially
when their first wife begins to lose her
beauty. When the second wife
comes, the first wife, who was before
comparatively well treated, becomes a
drudge. There is no hope for any
thing better unless she can induce her
husband TO divorce her, which is gem
orally impossible.
1t would seem from the article that
English woInen sometimes become
the wives of MohamInedans, and live
to bitterly regret the step. The writer
speaks of one woman, the wife of an
accomplished Mohammedan who at
length fled from her husband to save
her daughter from the false religion.
The Mohammedan was called to ac-
count for allowing her to escape; but
the wife hid her child and changed
her name, so that it was impossible
for the husband to trace them. All
this would seem to show that the
position of the English woman, unfor-
tunate as it Is in some respects, is
vastly superior to that of her Moham-
m edan ister.-Brooklyn Citizen.
Two Daring Young Women of Milwaukee
Two young women, Hulda de Calira
and Ann Schroeder, between seven
and eight o'clock last evening, climbed
to the top of the new Pabst Brewery
chimney, the tallest building in the
city, and waved their handkerchief
to a crowd below. who had watched
them perform their dangerous and re-
markable feat. The chimney is 225
feet high, and tine entire ascent was
made on ladders on the outside of the
chimney, there being a small landing
every thirty feet, so that the ladders
are in an almost perpendicular posi-
ton. To add to the dangers of the
situation, a strong wind was blowing
at the time, but the young women,
neither of whom was over twenty
years OF age, never once lost their
nerve. The descent was made in the
same manner.--MilDaukee Despatch
an the Chicago Tribune.
A Dainty level BOX
For a jewel box in triangle shape gel
three strips of glass cut, which shall
no 2 "A ipchas Iono and Q 10 inahas