The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-09-22
bly, continue so until new generation formed
of our children arises

THE WIFE AND THE oDALIsQUE.
Slaves in Egyptian and Turkish harems
are rarely jealous of each other when one
rises TO be a lady, nor will the fortunate
one treat the other with anything like
pride.
y have seen, - writes western visitor,
"a lady, the wife of a rich pasha, rise
from her seat in a saloon and kiss the
hand Of a slave standing near without
any surprise being manifested by the by
ISLANDERS. When slave the other had
been the superior Of this lady, and now
that chance had raised her to a high emf
hence she could not act otherwise This
continued friendship between slaves,
which will survive the most separate for
tunes, is, I think, one of their most beau
tiful traits of character. l never saw
slave who was jealous of the
higher fortunes Of a comrade, or unwill-
ing to render her homage if the other
had accepted it; they view such chances
as matter of course and will kiss the
hem of the dress of an ancient inferior
who has been suddenly raised to a high
position as Joyfully as that of Turkish
girl. This kind of feeling will, however.
disappear if by an unfortunate hazard
both are elevated 10 the same position In
harem, and it would be unnatural were
1t not so, for it would be impossible for
five or SIX wives with only one husband
between them to exist without eXpe-
riencing any sentiment of jealousy"
OF the real position of those wives the
Christian world is very ignorant Firstof
all, there is a great difference between
the legitimate wife and the odal-
lsques. few yeas ago, when a
man was 20, his father would
go TO the slave market and
send home few slaves, from whom his
son would be expected to choose wife.
This once over and the contract of the
fortunate one written, the father would
consider his duty done, and leave the rest
to the bridegroom himself, who would in
his turn, buy a couple or two of
slaves, ostensibly for his wife, but
| really for himself During the life
Of the father these would still be
considered as slaves-thaJ is. supposing
the son lives with him in the same house,
for the father. considering himself bound
to protect the wife he had procured,
would never permit the slaves to attain
another rank. But at the fathers death
his wives would retire to their children's
homes, and the sons wife would then be
| Installed as lady of the house, while the
others would receive the title of odalisques
and each possess her own suite of
| apartments, her own slaves, her own
table, and when her children are older,
| perhaps her own carriage. The harem
would thus be divided into lodgings
/ where each lady would lead as separate a
life as if she lived in different home,
but over which the chief lady would still
| possess the privilege OF reigning supreme
| The real position of these odaisques is
difficult TO explain clearly. They rank
much lower than their children, but much
higher than their slaves.
NEGROES NO LONGER PUBLICLY SOLD.
The English have been careful to NEEDLE
as little as possible with this intricate sys-
tenn of domestic slavery. They know that
the opinion of the whole upper class
would be aroused against them if they
did more than announce the letter of the
| law. 1t Will be century before complete
reform can be accomplished. How is it
! possible for a people which considers
women as naturally slave to believe
| that it is wrong to traffic in slave girls!
| Ali Pasha doubtless has many imitators
| on the sly. AS for the sale of black
| beauties in the baZaars, that public scan
DIAL has been almost abolished. A few
| years ago IL was common spectacle. The
poor creatures were exhibited like prize
cattle. But England was able to control
| this and to put it down. The terrible ex-
| posures made by Gordon in 1879 of the
cruelties practiced in the slave caravans
| aroused all Europe, and compelled the
dealers to be more circumspect.
Still, no year passes without the entry
ofgreat mum bers of ebony-skinned slave
| girls into the harems of Cairo and Alex
! andria. Once within the Enclosure of the
mysterious harem they are secure from
European eyes. No English authority
dare set his foot upon the sacred
| threshold Cairo would be in insurrec-
ton in half an hour if such an outrage
were reported. Even the khedive has a
chief eunuch at the door of his harem,
and when a European visitor makes an
official call it is this functionary who
takes the card in and returns to say that
her highness is very appreciative of the
honor of the visit" When a European
doctor is admitted, and the case is rare.
to see a sick woman in the harem, he finds
her covered with a black sheet, SO that
only her eyes and mouth are
visible. Many of the beauties die be-
cause the doctor is not allowed to dag
nose their symptoms. When a visitor
calls on an Egyptian parsonage rich
enough to have several wives he does not
enter the inner apartments He is
shown into a little wood box of draw
ing room, generally isolate from the main
structure, where coffee is served. But no
woman enters there; nor is he ever in
vited to go beyond the mysterious lattice.
Thousands of Egyptians secretly sympa-
thize with efforts live that of Ali Pasha,
defy the authority of the invader and to
get back to the good old times And the
Turks, who wish to keep their grip on
Egypt and who hate the western inva-
1prS aONoura cra them and iOI1sh than,