The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-06-23

Arabs, but the women do not veil their
faces. and 1t Is possible to see just how
they look The most of the women
have what we would call brunette Il
compilations. although there is no sign
of the mulatto about them. They have
black hair. beautiful eyes. and not In
frequently prominent Hebrew noses.
Some OF them are pretty. but more are
not: and with their outlandish cos
tunes the homely ones are about the
ugllest OF their sex.
Some of these women when they go
out on the street wrap themselves up
In cloths. but tho clothes never reach
SO low as to hide their brooches. They
have on high gold caps, anu The
cloths are often fastened to these
Marriage Among the Jews.
Tho Jewesses marry young. A good
fat girl is often welded at twelve. andE
she becomes a mother at fourteen or
fifteen. Marriages are usually pre-
| coded by a contract, and there is often
a forfeit put up as against divorce.
| II the man does not carry out his
| contract he has to pay damages. and
/ in the case OF divorce he uaaally gives
back half the property which his wife
| brought him. A divorced wife always
/ gets an allowance.
| If his wife has no children the
Tunisian Jew has the right to add
! second Wife to hiY family. and dead
| mans brother is expected to marry his
| sister-in-law. even II he is married
already. | am told that marriages
| sometimes occur between uncles and
nieces, and that, as far as possible.
| families combine to keep the fortunes
| In their own clan.
These Jewish marriages are usually
made by the rabbits, and at the house
Of the bride Here the rabbi covers the
| young couple With a veil and directs
tho groom how to put the ring upon
the brides finger.
About week before the wedding the
public festivities begin, and from that
time on the gba has to go through a
lot of cerensaAAss without power of
hindrance The older women OF the
family take hold of her. They first put
her in n BATH where her body is COW
erred with an ointment which, when dry.
is pulled off. leaving the skin perfect
| ~ clean and as soft as when she was
born. Her hair is then anointed with
Il let black pomatum. which gives 1t q
gloss. her eyelids are blackened and
her eyebrows are marked out and
4 Joined by a thick line of red paint. AT
the same time her finger-nails are
4 covered with henna. and even her toe
Z nails are made red.
Il After the marriage the women be-
comes to a large extent the servant
!. of her husband. II she Is poor she
cooks the meals. and. no matter how
we'll off her husband Is, she Is ex
pected to make his bed and wait upon
kim She always eats at the second
table, for in the ordinary Jewish
household OF Tunls there are always
two meals, the first of which is for
J the men. n
!. Jewish Cemeteries.
The Jews here are very particular
) as TO their religious observances.
, Their shops are shut upon Saturday
and their wives do not cook or sweep
on that day, They are uffectionato
with one another. and a Jewish funeral
With its accompanying mourning Is "A
n sight to be seen. The Jewish ceme-
teries are nothing like ours They
t have no tall monuments. Tho vaults
are dug out so that their tops rest even
/ With the surface cf the earth, and
they are covered with marble slabs
of the same size and height. so that the
: whole cemetery appears to be one
!, great marble floor.
Upon each slab are carved Hebrew
4 characters giving tho names and ages
OF those who lie below, and. when the
. women go out to mourn they sit down
:, on the slabs over their dead and hob
up and down as they vail out their
. grief. I visited one Of the largest OF
! these cemeteries this afternoon, It's
llcuC Setliieu To De lWlIn
8 white tents, and as l got closer I could
see that each OF these tents was IA
Q jewish woman shrouded In white.
4 mourning her dead. 53
. There was n chapel at one end OF
e the graveyard, from which came
: great noise. entered ana found that
Q q funeral was being celebrated In
r one room was a coffin standing Mp-
: right against the wall, and. beside It,.
/ on the stone floor, covered by a silk
: sheet of bright red. lay the corpse OF
r Il man. About him were number OF
Jewish men In Arab clothing. weeping
J, softly; while In the next room were
. 1.-THE hired mourners. who are brought
. In FOR such occasions at so much per
a wall. These mourners We're Jewish wo-5
! linen, ranging in age from a fat maid OF
: lefghteen to a weiglity old lady OF sixty
! or more, They numbered fifteen. and Z
Z venture they would pull down the
! scales at n ton una a half They. sat
4 on the marble floor with their feet
: under them. and swung back and FORTH,
: tobhing their heads to tho grounds. sas
: they fairly howled out chorus for
. which TIE tat old lady kept time. AS
Z the n,ournGrs saw me making o note,
Q the waiting subsided for moment.
r but as ono ;of tho bereaved family came
g An 1t burst out louder than ever. Such
& mourners arc colEmon to all Oriental
a countries, ard they wall here Tor the
t Arabs as we'll as the Jews. @ N
y (copyright, 800, by Frank g. S.aspsn-
tsr, L,