El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-04-23

her rich Burmese dress was well fitted
to show all her beauties The women
here are clad in two garments. One OF
these is jacket Of silk, cotton OF
gauze which reaches to the hips, and
the other bright sIlken skirt which is
wrapped around the waist and falls to
the feet.
This skirt is square; il is about five
feet in width, and is fastened by a half
hitch with an opening down at the
front. The skirt is so tight that when
the girl walks rapidly she shows heI
bare legs to the knee; but by throwing
out the heels and going pigeon toej
the folds are prevented from parting
to an immodest degree. In lower Burma
many Of the skirts are now sewn to-
gether at the front on account Of the
comments which foreigners have made
upon the costume.
These dresses are Of different lengths
and the richer women often have skirts
which trail upon the ground. The col
ors are those Of the rainbow, the most
delicate hues being used. My fair mer-
chant wore a jacket of gauze, and her
skirt reached as high as the armpits
The jacket was so thin that the brown
skin could be seen through the meshes,
exposing the neck, shoulders and arms.
She had a beautiful face. Her eyes
were large, soft and brown, with eye
lids just trife oblique anJ high-arch-
ing, delicate brows. Her hair, which
was glossy black, was rolled up in a
pyramid on the crown, and fastened
there with a bright golden comb. She
wore a necklace of pearls, to which
were long pendants of amber, and a
Il 10 - --1C ro1T Low
her waist. She had seven gold brace
lets on each of her wrists, a diamond
ring on her finger and diamond plugs
in her ears. She was. I judge, about
Is years of age, but girls mature here
at 13. and she was a woman grown
Ear Plugs and WoInanhood.
All the girls here wear ear plugs.
They cannot enter society withoue
them AS maiden approaches the
age Of coming out, which is usually al
u or 10, her ears are bored, and the
ceremony is as important to her as the
first long dress is TO her American sis
ter The ceremony is formal, and it
must be done when the stars are pro
pitious. The family consults the for
tune teller for this occasion. and a
big feast is prepared All the relatives
and friends attend in their best clothes
TO witness the piercing This is done
by professional earborer, who uses
needles of pure gold for the rich and
silver ones for the poor.
When the exact moment has arrived
the girl is laid down upon a mat in the
back of the room and her relatives hold
her there while the ear-borer thrusts
the golden needle through the lobe and
twists it around into a ring This he
leaves in the ear. The ether ear is
treated likewise.
While this is going on the bands
play. and after it there is a feast. 1t
takes the ear some time to heal. When
it is quite we'll the process of enlarg-
ing the hole begin. The needle is pull
ed back and forth until the sore heals.
IL is then taken out and a little cylinder
of finely rolled gold rs pressed in. This
is gradually opened from week to week,
stretching the hole larger and larger,
the cylinder being kept in until it
grows TO the proper size. Such people.
as cannot afford gold or silver put
stems of elephant grass in their ears,