The Delta independent., 1893-12-06
MARRIAGE IN THE ORIENT.
Wives In Turkey, In Persia and In Thibet-
Plurality Of Sp0uaes.

Plurality OF spouses.
In Persia it is an almost invariablc
custom to choose wife from among
ones relations, such as cousins in c
near or remote degree, and only among
acquaintances when failure has oc-
Cured in following the old habit. The
Hebrews especially sanctioned 4 plu-
| rality of wives according to the law of
Moses, and that shows how thought
full they were of the future of their
race-so mucE SO that sterility in
wife was considered sufficient reason
for contracting another marriage.
The lot. of Turk who has to bear
the whins and caprices of his numer-
Gus wives is anything but an enviable
one, says the Pail Mall Budget. The
harem is not, as many persons suppose
it is, n building wherein all Turks
wives live together. Each legitimate
wife of a pasha has a separate dwell
ing, her own cook. her own coachmen
in n word, her own separate house
hold. True it is that all the dwellings
arc inclosed within one surrounding
wall, and frequently they are beneath
one roof, as is the case in our modern
sats, but nevertheless the isolation is
complete among the wives.
The etiquette among Turkish ladies
IS somewhat complicated and the sys-
:em is hierarchical. the favorite cxer-
cising an undisputed authority owe
the others. In the sultan's harem the
supreme authority is vested in his
mother, who takes the title of sultana
valide, and she alone is entitled to go
to and fro in the harem unveiled. 1t
is only when she goes ont that she
wears the yashmak. At the present
time the veil used by Turkish ladies
is no longer what il was. Its trans
parcncy admits of a pretty face being
easily outlined. When the yashInals
is very thick one may conclude that
the face IL hides is not very seductive.
In spite OF the progress of civilization
and the consequent transformation of
habits and customs in many countries
the position OF woman in Turkey has
only slightly changed il is only in cx-
ceptional cases that those belonging
to the higher classes are unacco;n-
panied out of doors by eunuchs.
These are the cadines, who have
adopted and follow the Paris and Lon
don fashions, and il has even been
whispered that there are mysterious
designations in the shops of the grand
bazar at Constantinoplc, where some
ladies spend good deal of theiT time
on the plea that they have numerous
purchases TO make.
In Thibet they reverse the order of
things, for in that country il is not un-
usual to see a woman married to plu-
rality of husbands, sometimes two or
oh har
altogcthcr-a slight prcdominaacc O.
males over females But even here
the proportion of girls who are adIaira-
bly, fitted to be wives and mothers is
nnGuly large in proportion to those
who enter the conjugal state. The
cagsc is probably two-fold: First. our
girls concentrate an undue share of
their energy on the cultivation of fac
ultics which, however valuable, do not
increase their fitness to be wives and
mothers: and secondly, the march of
modern improvement makes bachci or
life so delightful that young men are
reluctant to exchange 1t for matrimony.
\ tax on bachClorhood would probably
he unconstitutional, and it would not
be feasible to close clubs and other re-
sorts of celibatcs by statute.
The practical lesson which statistics
teach is that young women should not
look forward to matrimony as the cx-
elusive road to happiness. but that
they should boldly look the situation
in the face. and should prepare to en-
gage in the battle of life on the same
footing as their brothers. with the pur-
pose of remaining single unless the
ideal of their aspirations should hap
pen to make them an offer. Girls
should be educated TO regard marriage
Us boys do--a good thing il it comes in
the right way, with the right man bear
ing orange blossoms in his hand: but
not the one end and aim of existence, n
failure to obtain which involves mis-
cry and dcsiccation. With the dcvel-
opmcnt of civilization the range of
pursuits in which girls can compete
with men is constantly widening. 1t
is probably rs casy nt the present time
in this city for girl to get remuncra-
tive employment as. for q boy. And
while the scale of pay of shop girls is
too low-which will probably continue
to be the case SO long as they persist
in calling themselves "salcsladies"---
women in some other callincs are pref
ty fairly paid. A trained nurse COM
mands ninety dollars a month and her
board, and the doctors say that there
are not half enough of them. If every
girl could bc sure of earning even fifty
dollars u month she could snap her fin
gers at the decline in the marriage
49, Penny Note.
by some misadventure a note for one
penny, stamped with the promise to
pay" OF the Bank of England, got into
circulation in 1878 and for many years