Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-09-01

ping the wet garments on the stones They
! do ii their washing in cold water using
cocoanut OIL soap to loosen the dirt They
! iron the "lotheT with fiat iron boxes. which
have Goals &c ~ them to keep them hot
never heating the irons on stoves as we do.
M9'7" % the women a~e tailoresses and
drCS makers. The d. beautiful embroid-
cry md are cXre!ie. t seamstIess2s They
usually st on the PrCT1d when they sew
anG where they have sewing mqchines they
! sH'tat down Cn the ground and run them
This is possible here. because the sewing
machines nf the Philippines are hand ma
chimes, which have no table connected with
them. The average sewing machine costs
So in silver or about half that amount in
gold.
If Americans establish factories In the
Philippines they will have to rely upon the
women to do the work. The men are law
and cannot be gotten II work for more
than few days at one time There are now
in the neighbOrhood Of twenty thousand en-
ployes in the tobacco factories of Manila
and the great majority of these are women
Iney are expert at making cigars and cigar
cites. and do their work more RAPIDLY and
skillfully than the men. 1t is the same In
the cotton factory, and. in fact every
where.
The women do vast emount of the farm
work They aid in planting the rice and in
harvesting it. You see them everywhere in
the fields. threshing, planting and harvest
ing; ana You seldom pass country house
without finding one or two women at work
hulilnS rice for the daily meal.
COurtShip and Marriages.
Courtsh!p and marriage is carried on here
IN much the same way as it is In the Spau-
ish countries. save that there is more free
dom and people marry at an earlier age
According to an order issued by the military
governor of the Philippines last December
boys may marry soon az they reach the
age OF fourteen and girls may be married
at Twelve. TINS is an American law issued
oy an american governor. but it is merely
copy OF the Spanish law which has been
used for generations. A Filipino girl of
twelve is often not bigger than an Ameri-
can girl of ten, and though in some cases
the girls develop more rapidly than Amer
lean girls do, they often do not Until this
order was issued all marriages had to be
soiemnlZed by the priest In order to he
wand. Now any justice of the peace or
Juuge can perform the marriage ceremony
ana all that man and woman need to do
TO become man and wife is to publicly say
that they take each other as such and sign
certificate to this effect.
The ordinary custom of contracting mar
rage Is for the parents of the bride and
groom to get together and make the ar
raneements There is less giving of money
on the part of the brides parents than in
most Spanish countries. and, in fact In
some parts of the islands il is the custom
for the young man to act as the servant
OF his father-in-law for Several wears nre-
vious to his marriage
Many marriages are love matches The
young man meets his sweetheart at a ball
or reception and after that goes to call
upon her. always being received in the
presence OF the parents or some of the old
er women of the family. The man NAV
stand outside on the street and talk to the
girl through the window. but II is MOI etil
quette for him to be alone with her in the
mouse nor TO go out with her without she
is accompanied by duenna
AFTER marriage the woman's property is
Kept separate and apart from that of the
huspand s. She has entire control of it, If
she loans 1t to him to go into business ard
ne Ia.is sne ranks as creditor of the sec
ond class, and if she dies her money goes
back to her family, he receiving only
small proportion of 1t. A man may have
children who are very rich through their
mother, and he himself be almost destitute
FRANK G. CARPENTER