The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-03-18

| likes it or not, or make himself decidedly
| unpopular. The women do not make their
clothes, and in fact, do very little work
of any kind. Their education chiefly con-
sists in study of man and how to man
age him. They are eager for knowledge
| along these lines, and I 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 cour-
| tesy to the women.
The women are not unhappy; IN fact,
| they are quite the opposite. Their time
is chiefly occupied in making their toilet
| and cleaning their jawelry. Of which they
wear a great deal. 1t is a mark Of respec-
liability to wear wells, and, no matter
where woman goes. if her face Is COW
cred she is never molested- When l asked
the women Of the harem in which lived
II they would not like TO dispense with the
wearing of wells, they replied very decid-
eddy in 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 enjoys very
much her firtadons Th@women of our
harem would gather in one room and
spent hours relating tales from the Ara
bian Nights and other sources.
mo heavy meal is taken by the Mo
hammedans unfit shutdown. At this meal
as many as forty kinds of food are served.
They are the best cooks in the world. and
the dinners 1 had in that harem were very
fine. The better class would not think Of
eating until they had taken complete
ha MOh
forms extensive ablutions 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
soihng their fingers in the operation. 1
never grew expert in this line.
There was a very beautiful chapel in
our harem. There was a grill work of
marble down the centre of the room divid-
ing the men from the women No matter
how busy the Mohammedan is, he never
forgets TO pray five times every day. He
may be engaged in an interesting CONVEX
sation 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 kneels on the ground
wherever he 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 of their father, and this is in part
responsible for the increase.
II must tell you of the bathroom that
was assigned to me while I was in the
harem. The walls were of marble and
beautifully inlaid with Opaque stones. On
the floor in the centre of the room it
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 as our
shower baths sprinkle downward. The
Mohammedan. scorns such a thing as a
tub and he thinks Christians are unclean
because they use them He believes that
pure water should pour over you in order
to make you clean, and that standing in
a bathtub is a disgracefully unclean
method of bathing.
IN truth, I must say that during my
experience in a Mohammedan harem
found many things TO praise and few to /
censure."