The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-09-08
WHERE WOMEN SMOKE.
Not Dainty Little Cigarettes, But Giant
Cigars.
From the Nineteenth Century.

|
Not Dainty Little Cigarettes, But Giant
Cigars.
From the Nineteenth Century
Burmah is the paradise of women. From
the wicked queen of Theebaw, who muir
dered seventy relations in a single day be-
cause they were in the way. to the pretty
girls who coquettishly hold stalls In the
bazar, in order TO maintain their in
dependence, Burmah is the land Of women
par excellence. Women and priests-who
is 1t said they were the two curses of
humanity Well, there they are. and no.
body seems much the worse for them.
In the bazars are women selling women's
things. Little tiny clogs and slippers of
Cinderella-like dimensions aud daintiness Of
the colors of the rainbow, gold embroidered,
silver embroidered, pearl embroidered, high
heeled, pointed-toed. or Paris fashions you
see nothing out here, and yet what strange
and wonderous effects All Burmah is q
lesson in color, feast for the artist, q mass
of barbaric splendor, costly iutricecY Of
carving, dazzling yellows, brilliant pink,
rose madder, cerulean blue. burnt umber-a
palette full of tints
Verify paradise Of open-air feasts, Of fun
and frolic, OF dancing and singing children
is Burmah, the home Of the brightest,
merriest, most good tempered and good
hearted Of children, who lounge in the sun -,
profting by climate and soil that makes
severe labor unnecessary. Flat faces have
they, high cheek bones, Marrow, long, in
telligent eyes, hair plentiful and shay
plated in long piRtail by both men and
women, brushed up fashiOnably on the top
or the head. and by the women decorated
with flowers.
The feminine dress of all Glasses consists of
a plain, loose white jacket, reaching to
halOuy tho uuafet Glaa "a Ia
again and a tight petticoat Of silk elasped
| round their hips with pin aud managed
when they walk with inimitable grace
| From the back depends another piece, which
| trails little on the grouRd and resembles a
| scanty drawing room train. These pieces
| of silk are of the daintiest aud most artistic
| hues, generally Of pale peach color shot with
pink or yellow pale gold. The yellow elk
| of Burmah is strong, rich in color and very
durable and cheap. Add to this q scarf OF
| silk, of some contrasting color, and you have
the Burmese costume complete, simple,
pretty and nice to look at.
Flowers seem TO be their ideal and they
themselves are as like flowers as possible
Better class houses have no walls, only Slid
| ing green shutters, which when open, as they
are at night. disclose vista of plants and
flowers such that you seem verify to live In
a garden. Out Of doors the vegetation is
green, rank and luxuFiant, while a moist
warmth, insidious and deadly TO the health
Of the Europeans in the long run, gently
fans your cheeks. Courtesy, degeneratiDg
among royalty to slavish grovellng, is the
rule in Burmah. The king was formerly
approached by bis coureiers only crawling
on the stomach, aud servants wriggle and
| crawl still.
Rich people wear diamonds in their hair
and disposed all over their persons so that
they literally blaze with jewels. The femi-
y,fS
Ii was in the shape of pair of stiff wings
ending in a kind of tail. SO that the lady
could not possibly sit down, but as she was
intended to crawl in the royal presence, this
did not matter much. On the head was
worn some kind of high headgear resem-
bling a helmet stuck as full OF diamonds as
Christmas pudding Of plums The wings
seem TO have been made OF wire covered
with gold foil, and the appearance of the
court beauties must have been quaint and
ungalnly, to say the least of it.
The Burmese almost realize the ideal of
the Romans, for they are always en- fete
perambulatlng the streets adorned with
flowers and surrounded by twinkling lights
and colored lanterns. Then the pwes or
dances, occupy good deal of time. Girls
are brought UP from their earliest infancy
to exercise themselves in all manner of
queer contorEions. Their muscl es are so
plant they can bend themselves into any
positions they please, can turn their elbows
inside out aud look as II they had no joints.
Even little children may be seen practice
ing steps and attitudes to the calm approval
of their mothers, seated idly In the door
way. The independence Of Burmese women
is remarkable. They manage their own af-
fairs, hold stalls In the bazaar with which no
one interferes. marry when they choose and
divorce their husbands as soon as they
please. No jealous wells cover their faces,
no melancholy purdah seclusion prevents
them from mixing with the male sex.
They fiIrt, dance and laugh with as many
admirers as they choose. aud, last Of all =,
they snoks-not dainty little cigarettes on
the sly, taking Whit while they read
naughty French novel, as their European
sisters do-no, but cigars. Cigars longer
than men use In Europe. cigars a foot long
and two inches in circumference, their price
about penny, and they smoke them all
day long. There, ladies, unemancipated
creatures. though you call yourselves civ
ilized, what do you think Of thatl