The Saint Paul globe., 1900-03-25
port the concubInes and to provide for
the future support of their children.

port the concublnes and to provide for
the future support Of their children.
There is only one reason why the mas
ter Of harem takes a number of wives.
and that is to add honor to his name. 1t
is a Mohammedan law that the man who
supports the greatest number of people
is the one to whom most honor is due.
This is the sole reason for the existence
or the harem, Notwithstanding many
ideas to the contrary The highest title
that can Be applied in India is obtained
by the head Of an extensive harem.
The majority of the women cannot
read. Ali of tham are taught to cook 1t
IS consider ed a mark of great courtesy to
guest TO have the hostess prepare q
dish q some sort fer his especial benefit.
And the guest must eat, whether he likes
II or not, or make himself decidedly un-
popular. The women do not make their
c'othes, and III fact, do very little work
OF any Kind. Their education chiefly con-
sists i'll study of man and how 80 man
age him. They are eager for knowledge
along these lines, and | must say that
they appear to profit by it, as they
seem to absolutely control the stern sex.
In every way the men show The utmost
courtesy TO the women.
The women are not unhappy; in fact
they are quite the opposite Their time
is chiefly occupied III making their toilet
and cleaning their iewelry, OF which they
wear a great deal. Ii Is a mark of re-
spectability TO wear wells, and no ma tier
where woman goes, If her face is cover
ed, she is never molestcd. When | asked
the women OF the harem in which [ lived
If they would not like to dispense with
the wearing Of wells they replied very
decidedly III the negative. They gave
as their explanation that, without the
veil, they would have no opportunity for
flirting, and they wouldn't think of such
a thing. The Mohammedan woman en-
joys very much her frtations. The wOm
en- delight III telling stories. and often
the women OF our harem would gather
in one room and spend hours relating
tales from the Arabian Nights" and
other sources.
No heavy meal is eaten by The Mo-
hammad2ns until sundown. AT this meal
as many as forty kinds of food are
served. They are the best cooks in the
: world. and the dinners l had in that
/ harem were very fine. The better class
would not think Of eating until they had
taken complete bath. Every Moham-
medan however, performs extensive alb.
lutionS before every meal Fingers are
used for eating, no knives, forks or spoons
| being found on their tables. They are
very expert in rolling their food into
little balls and Tipping them into their
mouths, scarcely soiling their fingers in
the operation L never grew expert in
this line
There was very beautiful chapel in
! our harem There was grillwork Of
marble down the center of the room
| dividing the men from the women. No
! matter how busy the Mohammedan is
| he never fQrgets to pray five minutes a
day. He may be engaged in an interest
| ing conYersat ton with YOU but he knows
! to the minute when the time for prayer
arrives, and he instantly stops talking
and goes TO the chapel or kneeIs on the
/ ground, wherever ne may be-
Sometimes four to twelve families are
under one roof and the original house Is
enlarged many times to contain the
rapidly increasing family All the sons
! when they marry bring their wives to
! the house to their father, and this is in
part responsible for the increase.
| Il must tell you of the bath room that
| was assigned to ne while / was in the
! harem The walls We're of marble, and
| beautifully inlaid with opaque stones.
! On The floor in the center of the room 1t
| looked as though a quantity of forget,
me-nots had been strewn, but it was
mosaic work, so cleverly done as to seem
! like real flowers. Standing on these
| flowers, the water would spray upward,
i as our shower baths sprinkle downward
| The Mehammedan scorns such thing as
/ tup, and he thinks Christians are un-
clean because they use them. He be.
! fieves that pure water should pour over
you in order to make you clean. and that
! standing in a bathtub Is dlsgracefully
unclean method of bathing.
In truth, ! must say that during my
! experience in a Mohammedan harem /
found many things to praise and few to
! ceusure."