The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-03-17
A paradise FOR WOMEN.
In Burmah They Are Practically the
e, Superior of the Men.

In Burmah They Are Practically the
u Superior Of the Men.
From the Ladies' Realm.
The Burmese are different from other
eastern women. Burmah Is a wo-
mans paradise. There Is no necessity
to have Women's Rights associations.
woman Is the equal of man. There
are no harems, and no restrictions to
love-makins. except Irritation and kiss-
ing. 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
a divorce. She is probably better off
than she was before. Indeed, the Bur-
mese 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 Bur-
mese 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 sum
shiny cOlOrs. She wears a square,
loose-fitting. overlapping white Jacket,
short in sleeves. Her frock is a piece
of red or yellow 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 a curious twist of the heel,
there is nothing immodest.
In Burmah, as in other lands, the
pride of girl Is her hair, and If 1t
reaches to the ground she has reason
to he conceited. She never wears a
bonnet. but there is always 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 showiness. AS, in
the old days, our grandmothers and
great-grandmothers used to turn a
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
consults witches about her future hus-
band, and wears charms which she be-
lieves will attract a certain youth.
Every Burmese boy is tattooed about
the limbs. He knows that no mica girl
will look at him till he has a mass of
tattoo designs, for among other things,
these signify that he must have under
gone much pain. and is therefore a
brave man. Sometimes a girl will
have a 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 prospect of her being
ION the SHELF" she will cut away the
hair above her ears, and this is a pub
lie sign that she would be infinitely
obliged If somebody would marry her.
AS soon as she can toodle she starts
smoking. 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 anything from
six inches to a foot in length, and so
thick that winsome maiden's mouth
Is stretched to the utmost. A cheroot
Is seldom out of Burmese girl S
mouth, and she puffs with the unceas-
ing regularity Of an English girl
munching chocolates. I have seen a
little Burmese boy slide up to a little
girl and look sheepishiy at her till she
offers him puff at her cheroot, Just
as London boy will do to his sister
who owns an apple. For several peo-
pie to smoke from the same cheroot in
quite the usual thing, and half dozen
girls will sit in a circle chattering and
passing the torpedo-sized cigar around
When first went to Burmah I nat
urally threw away my cheroot when
had enough. But afterward I al
ways presented 1t 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 tit-bit of stewy
meat from his dish and stick It into
your mouth with his fingers.
There Is much juvenile sweet -heart-
ing among the youngsters of Burmah.
But girl must give up such nonsense
when she reaches twelve or thirteen
years OF age, for then 1t is time for
her to be serious and give her thoughts
to possibly being soon married. The
transition stage in England from girl
to young lady is the adoption of long
skirts and the doing up" of the hair.
In Burmah 1t Is when the ears are
pierced. The ceremony is marked by
great feast to all her girl friends.
The day and the hour are fixed by a
soothsayer, and then, In the midst of
the jubilation, the girl is seized and
the needles run through the lobe of
the ear, and the more she screams the
louder all her friends chatter and the
native musicians outside get hot in
banging dOubly hard at their instru-
ments. A piece Of gold wire is usually
passed through the ear, but later on
thicker material is used until there is
quite large hole, maybe half an inch
In diameter, and in this the girl-or
young lady, as she is now-wears a
tube, either of gold studded with pre-
eious stones. or amber, or, If she is
very poor, colored glass. After the
ear-boring Burmese girl begins to
put on airs.
I-ove-making in Mandalay is very
much the same as 1t Is In Bayswater.
A young man and a young womans
by a strange coincidence. are always
meeting at friends houses, or they
happen to meet at pagoda feasts or at
pwes. or native performances, and peo-
pie begin 10 remark the coincidence
and say things; and when the maiden
10 interrogated on the point she prob
ably blushes. When 1t Is understood
the couple are to be married the young
man does love-making In the evening,
but he never sees his sweetheart. alone,
She has always three or four girl
friends with her. and SO all the nice
things he wants to say must be said
In their presence.
A Cautious Man.
"Bixby is the most cautious man about