Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-09
TOWNS FOR MEN ONLY.
Some Of Them Are in This Country and
All Are Reckless Communities.
From London Tit-Bifs.

From London Tit-BIfs
Women outnunber men in our own coun-
try, and 1t Is common complaint in many
British towns that there are men,"
In watering places like Bournemouth and
TorQuay the number of women residents
so greatly exceeds that of men that there
Is very real ground for this complaint. Yet
within thirty miles of Torquay stands
town. complete with railway station. post,
telegraph and shops. which. though not
exclusively inhabited by men. has yet fully
ten times as many male as female residents.
This is Princetown. 400 feet above the sea
on the ridge of Dartmoor. While the town
proper has but 300 to 400 Inhabitants, or
whom rather less than half are women,
there are nearly 1000 convfcts, all men, TO
say nothing of large number of warders,
a comparatively small proportion OF whom
are married.
With the exception of one or two tempo
rary villages, built OF tin or canvas, in
which are housed navvies engaged on new
waterworks and railways. there are no
towns or villages IN these islands in which
women do not find home. Elsewhere,
however. there are several such curious
settlements.
One Is to be found in Utah, surely the
last part Of the world where one would ex-
pect to see a city without women. Its name
Is Sunnyside, and 1t is Inhabited by some
400 men who work In the new collier1es re-
are married. yet on no account are they
permitted to bring their wives into the VII
lage. This Punishment of the fair sex Is
not due to any freakishness on the part OF
employers or men. The reason is a purely
business one. There is some hitch in the
title to the 1900 acres on which the village
and mines are situated. The law Of the
state of Utah permits families squatting
rights on the claimed lands, and the COM
pany fears that IL the men were allowed to
bring their better halves to Sunnyside
claims might be established to their cabins
as permanent places of abode.
On the borders between China and Russia
In Asia. almost due south Of Lake Ba1kal.
is good-sized town known as Maimatehin,
which Is exclusively Inhabited by men. The
place has a considerable trade, and is also
a military outpost An old law forbds Chi
nese women to live in this territory. In
deed. they may not pass the great wall of
Kalkan or enter Mongolia at ALL
1.-The Prison of Ten Thousand Is the
name given by the wandering Arabs Of the
districts across Jordan to the fortress mon
astery of Mar Saba on the Dead sea. Not
many years ago there were actually 10000
monks living in this grim and mournful re-
treat, and even today there are more than
1000 left The monastery Is one .of the
oldest in the world. having been founded
some 1900 years ago by Euthymius, who
lived there in a cave dug in the rocky wall
of the Kedron ravine. The fair Empress
Eudoxia formed a romantic attachment for
this stern anchorite, and built near by
tower. which still exists. from which she
might watch him at distance. for. true
to his vows. Euthymius utterly refused ever
to see or speak to a woman.
Now the tower Is inhabited by a watch
man, who keeps constant guard against the
incursions of prowling Arabs. Twice dur
Ing the past century the place has been
raided by hordes from the desert. The
monks who live there today are the most
rigorous of any in the Greek church. They
pass their lives in everlasting penance. with
no hope Of pleasure and no cheerful Incl
dent. Many of them go mad from the hor-
ror and desolation of their surroundings.
No woman Is permitted to come within
sight of Mar Saba.
News came recently of the burning OF
Montana City. good-sized place in the
state of Montana, which once held over
5000 inhabitants For two whole days the
fire ragged, until the whole place was re-
duced to ashes. Small wonder that the con-
f1agration was unchecked, for all the inhabi-
tants left In the place were about 100 China
men, who lived by working the talings of
the once valuable mines. 1t is said that
for many years woman had not been seen
In the once prosperous town.
Another far western settlement which Is
composed exclusively of men Is Excelsior
City. situated in a wild. rugged stretch of
country on the Mexican edge of southern
California. This too, was once a mining
town and has many fine buildings, but the
ore gave out and it was deserted. Gradu-
ally 1t became a resort for escaped crimi-
mails and outlaws, who are practically all
men. There are said to be 300 OF them in
all, murderers and despera does every one
But as there is no port railway anywhere
near they are entirely Isolated and prac-
tically prisoners. They do no harm to
any one. and are. therefore. let alone.
You will not find Midi marked on the
charts. 1t is. indeed, practically unknown
to civilization, and yet 1t is on the shores
Of that highway of civilization, the Red
sea. 1t Is the home of pirates and slavers.
a regular nest of criminals. The place is
inhabited almost entirely by men; for the
sheik who holds absolute rule there only
permits very few Of his best warriors to
marry. Midi pays no tribute to the Turkish
government, and as 1t lies at the far end OF
a long. narrow, muddy harbor inaccessible
to war vessels, 1t seems probable that 1t may
pursue it's lawless career unchecked for
many vaaro IN corpa