Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-10-02
A JAVANESE WEDDING.
Two Children Married and Return to Their
Parents
How the Ceremony Was Performed
Some of the Attractions mt the
Moorish Theater.


Cleanliness. 1t was the wedding day of Mon
and soewarti. two light-hearted Javanese
children Mon. the little groom, being but
nine years old, and little Soewarti, child of
eleven years. the bride. The weather was
delightful up to three o'clock in the after
noon. when IL became clouded and the rain
fell In showers. most deplorable misfor-
-u1le in the eyes of the Javanese. but which
did not prevent the continuance Of the we'd
ding service which 5000 people had gathered
20 see.
All the women mad on gala costume, and
there was a great deal OF whispering among
them and hurrying to and fro The little
groom was taken to the house of the bride
In a palanqGin carried on the shoulders Of
six men. He jumped down. and saluting
Soewarti kissed her hand in a very pretty
fashion Then both stepped into the paian-
Quin and preceded by the high priest of
Boe1a. who ROBBED in white gown
they made the tour of the village and
stopped in front of the theater. The priest
sat down in a cross-legged fashion and the
quaint little bride and groom sat in front
OF ntm: then came the parents Of the two
children. the musicians with their tom toms
ant few OF the villagers. The crowd
cios-d round the interesting group and the
welding serviee began, IL consisted in the
chanting OF weird kind OF incantation.
followed by burst of sound from the tom
toms and cheers from the people. The chill
drsn got into the paisnGuin again and were
laid ont for the wedding guests. at the con-
clusioa OF which Mr.. and Mrs. Mon were
taken u their separate homes to remain
apart until they are older
The Javeucse Village.
The Javanese village is a quiet. peaceful
place. the people are gentle and seem to be
perfectly contented. The houses are light
and open, made OF bamboo with matched
roofs. All the houses have porcheS. where
the family sits rather than indoors. Every
house has its sewing machine which is
used by the men rather than the women.
They are very busy these cool days making
long coats OF red felt. fog these little people
live on Island that knows not cold such
rs We are having. and what do the women
do? Way. they make cigarettes OF tobacco
rolled in palm leaf and tied with bit of
thread. These are sold two for five cents.
as souvenirs or To smoke. All about is
heard the cry. though not very loud, Fl
sen. n sen. buy cigarette. ony fl SEN"
do you like American l asked one of
the men.
NO. no! like MeHca. no like Chicago"
He shrugged his shoulders and for a min
ute did not reply; then he said: II like
mana. L like watermelon: in Java plenty
mana, plenty watermelon In Chicago take
heap o. mony buy watermelon; in Java
watermelon. great Dig. one sen. In Chicago,
no sell cigarette, no buy watermelon. Buy
cigarette. II sen. No sell cigarette. no buy
watermelon"
Who could withstand such an appeal?
i could not. SO | bought two of his cigar
cites l hope he got his watermelon L
asked another brtght-eyed fellow II he liked
Chicago.
"Naw. nav like Chicago, Chicago man like
chicago; Java man like Java"
In all the houses ! notice American
trunks. American sewing machines are
use-f by the Javanese. ! saw as many as a
dozen In the different houses. The Jayanese
particular kind OF machine. Judging from
the fact that they have five different kinds I
now Their wee wing is done by hand looms |
OF which there are several in the village |
Their musical instruments are most inter-
esting. being nothing but hollow copper |
bowls turned bottom up. and made OF vary
Ing degrees Of thickness to produce the dif-
fe-ent tones.
Novel Scar ecrow.
In a reed bordered pool in the center of
the village is a scarecrow. and a novel one
II Is, being a waterwheel that In turning |
strikes against two hollow reeds which give |
forth two distinct tones. AT a distance 1t |
sounds like the PARKWAY ringing of church |
bells On sale in long low structure are |
many curious things made by the Javanese.
queer hats ike round. shallow baskets, mats /
OF woven straw with queer borders and |
figures woven in feathe-ed arrows, hand |
some trays and baskets, canes of native |
wood, fancy cloth and dress goods. and |
lastly cigarettes and coffee, celebrated Java |
coffee.
one OF the two ba Dies in the village L saw |
sitting on the porch in the sun eating her |
dinner of boiled rice. which was served on a /
brass shield She was tiny thing and |
could not have been more than a year old, |
yet she wore long pendants in he- ears. |
which mad been pierced TO receive them.
The Java women are pretty and viva |
cious; they Use their hands a great deal |
making gestures when they talk Some of |
them Smsse cigarettes. but they do il so |
prett;ly they may be forgiven. 1 must not |
forget the blacksmith's forge, which occupies |
a prominent place. He-e is a familiar look
Ing %adiron with tools and fireplace. the /
bellows Is q.Ieer Arrangement, something /
like a piston.
Walking about the graveled paths. all
alone and in rather detected fashion. was
wives. who were served at the wedding
feast this afternoon.
The Moorish Theater.
The ''puller in at the Moorish theater
counted me among his patrons yesterday,
and i walked up and laid down my little
quarter ike a man, thinking, in my inno-
cence, that 1 was going to it all for 25
cents. but, bless your heart, that only ad-
mitted me to the first floor Well L took
that IN, and this is what | saw: A garden !
or trees. with plenty OF chairs and hosts Of
colored lights and lanterns; to the left to |
the right and in front of me. hundred
viStas. through myriads OF giIded archways |
that seemed to stretch for miles and miles, |
all alight and glowing with electricity.
Into one of these archways 1 turned and
presently was lost in q maze of turnings
In front of me. behind me, to the right and
10 the left. everywhere. were the endless
passages. glittering archways and fairy
lights, but no garden. 1 walked a half |
dozen steps and bu.Lped into 4 looking
glass. and found myself looking at a face
very red and very foolish. i Immediately
turned my back il and walked away
very carefully. and. feeling my way in 4
ginger'y fashion, growing holder, i ad-
vanced fearlessly, only to fall into another
mirror when L least expected IL. BY this
time IL began TO dawn upon my mudded
brain the character of the box / was in, and
i found my way out gracefully L !
could. trying to look blase and unconcerned, |
and meeting a number Of other people who
were all try ing TO look the same way with
more or less success
satan for Five Cents.
Turning TO my left. / saw a man stand
ing by who was dressed in scarlet He had
long horns. slantins eyes and black brows,
and was altogether wicked-looking fell
low This way to the cevil." said he
only cents TO see the devil; walk right
in: don't be afraid. Ii costs but a nickel to
get d sight Of the very old devil himself"
''Wel," thought /. Il don't want to see
anything much more hideous than you; but
here goes nickel. | might as well see all
there is to see" I walked into long dark |
cave. full OF people standing in line to look
at the devil through hole in the rocks. /
took my place at the end of the line. |