Omaha daily bee., 1899-03-12
A PARADISE FOR WOMEN.
In Burmah They Are Practically the
Suueriors of Men.


Supcriors of Men.
The Burmese are different from other
eastern women, says writer in the Ladies'
Realm. Burmah is a woman's paradise.
There is no necessity to have women S
rights associations. A woman is the equal
Of a man. There are no harems, and no
restrictions to love making except Irritation
and kissing, which are indecorous All the
business of Burmah is done by the women,
while the men stay at home to smoke and
mind the babies Every woman has shop
of some sort, and when her husband Is not
kind she gets divorce. She is probably
better off than she was before. Indeed, the
Burmese woman has far the best of It, Yet
when she goes to the pagoda it is always
her wish that in her next existence she will
be man. The Burmese woman is petite,
and, though at first her features seem
strange and are not attractive, you soon get
used to them. Every girl is an artist and
she dresses artistically and in bright sun
shiny colors. She wears a square, loose
fitting, overlapping white Jacket, short in
sleeves. Her frock is piece of red or yell
low or green silk tied tightly, so that she
walks with short, mincing steps. The mold
of the figure is distinctly shown, but, as
every girl walks with curious twist of the
heel there is nothing immodest
In Burmah, as in other lands, the pride
of girl is her hair. and if it reaches to
the ground she has reason to be conCeited
She never wears a bonnet, but there is al
ways rose or some other flower stuck in
the folds of her tresses. She is fond of
jewelry, necklaces, bracelets and rings but
she is never guilty of showness. AS in
the old days, our grandmothers and great
grandmothers used to turn piece of silver
over in the palm of a gypsy to hear about
some tall, fair man who would soon return
from a long voyage and make them happy
forever and ever, so the Burmese girl con-
suits witches about her future husband,
and wears charms which she believes will
attract certain youth.
Every Burmese boy Is tattOoed about the
limbs. He knows that no nice girl will look
at him till he has a mass of tattoo designs,
for, among other things, these signify that
he must have undergone much pain and is
therefore a brave man. Sometimes a girl
will have tattoo mark placed between her
eyes. This is not often, but only when she
is afraid she may lose the affections of her
beloved. Besides with this tattoo mark
every girl feels that she cannot possibly die
an old maid. But if she has not the mark
and there is a prospect of her being ION the
ears and this is public sign that she would
be infinitely obliged if somebody would
marry her.
AS soon as she can toddle she starts smok-
ing. She smokes all through life and with
her last breath will probably puff smoke.
A Burmese cheroOt is very mild in flavor,
but it makes amends in size. 1t is any
thing from six inches to foot in length and
so thick that a winsOme maiden's mouth is
stretched to the utmost. A cheroot is seldom
out of a Burmese girls mouth, and she puffs
with the unCeasing regularity of an English
girl munching chocolates. / have seen a
little Burmese boy slide up to little girl
and look sheepishly at her till she offers him
a puff at her cheroot, just as a London boy
will do to his sister who owns an apple
For several people to smoke from the same
cheroot is quite the usual thing, and half
dozen girls will sit in a circle chattering and
passing the torpedo o-sized cigar around.
When first | went to Burmah | naturally
threw away my cheroot when / had enough
But afterward | always presented it with a
bow to some non-smoking Burman, for in
Burmah to give some one else your half
smoked cigar is as great an honor as in
Persia for your host to pick a titbit of stewy