The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-04-24

The groom makes the girl present
consisting Of II silken skirt or piece of
jewelry, and he Is supposed to fur
nish the wedding breakfast. After
marriage the two go into seclusion for
u honeymoon of seven days and they
then take UP their home in the house
Of tho bride. 1t is presumptuous for
them to set up their own establishment
Immediately after marriage. as the
man is supposed to work a certain time
for his wife
/ understand that there arc many
love matches In Burma, and that where
parents object the young people elope
and 80 off to themselves. There are
few marriages for money.
The marriage Is civil ceremony
snip rather than n moral contract, and
many marriages are entered into with
out any ceremony at ali. Among some
people the wedding Is kept secret for
a time. for the young couple do not
Ike to be stared at nor have stones
thrown on their house roofs, as ia
sometimes the custom. A girl does not
change her name when she marrles.
and there Is nothing about her 10 show
whether she is married or not. She
wears no marriage ring, and she still,
as az. l have said. keeps her own property.
She can net for herself In business
way and she frequently acts for her
husband. She can Sign deeds. lend or
borrow money and make any kind of
arTangement as 10 buying or selling.
With all this the women do not mix
In public affairs. They make no fuss
about their rights and the Burmese suf-
fragette is yet unborn. Such girls
as l have seen are modest and ladylike.
They are self-respecting, but not In
dependent nor forward
Womnn's Rights In burma.
The rights OF a woman after her
marriage are well protected. The wo-
men are the chief workers and money
makers. and woman can hold prop
erty distinct from her husband. She
equal right with her husband in ali
that they make together during their
married life. She has n right to her
own earnings, and II divorced she takes
into the family and half of what has
been accumulated since the wedding
AS to divorces. these are not dim
cult of obtainment on either side OF
or wife may go before the elders and
claim n separation, and 1T is seldom
refused
There are also special grounds for
divorce. II the husband is idle or lazy
the wife can claim separation. II he
is unable to support her: IL he ia
always ailing or becomes a cripple
after his marriage. she can, demand
the same is true If he ilI-treats her In
any way.
On the other hand the husband has
also plenty. of grounds for divorce. II
visits places TO which no objects. and
if she persistently disobevs him, he
may claim his freedom. The same is
also true II she gives him no boys.
Ng.e- tlaa Al tI.t al
not much more common than in tho
United States. They are hardly re-
spectacle, and tho man who enters Il
monastery TO get rid OF wife Is called
said to be always anxious TO marry
again. Indeed marriage Is considered
the best state for woman. one OF their
proverbs being as follows:
Monks are beautiful when they ara
lean, fourfooted animals when they
are fat. men when they are learned.
and women when they are married"
Easy Housekeeping.
The Burmese wife has fewer house,
keeping troubles than her American
classes she has servants and ii not.
she has but little hard work. The or
binary house is built OF wood or bam-
boo raised upon posts about eight feet
apart. X has Il veranda In front. with
steps leading TO the rooms overhead.
The floors are OF thin planking or
bamboo canes, and the roof Is OF
thatch or leaves. Tho whole is simple
to an extreme. The house has no fur
nlture in our sense OF the word. The
people sleep upon mats and rest their
little sweeping to do, and the most OF
the cooking is on fres out OF doors.
The cooking utensils usually consist
OF two or three earthen pots. In addi-
and several cocoanut ladies'. Most OF
the people use neither knives nor
forks.
The staple food OF the Burmese is
eaten with fish paste and peppers;
Nothing is drunk with the meals. and
after them only water. Blu. few OF
the Burmese eat meat, for 1t Is CON
sumo anything that has life, the chief
exception being fish. which is eaten
fresh, dried and also when rotted by
burying 1t in the sand, a favorite
dish is a FISH curry with rice. Tho
family usually sit around the rice dish.
each having a. little bowl for curry
and a larger one for rice. Every one
helps himself taking from the rico
platter as much as he can squeeze in
his hands. He conveys the food to his
mouth in his hands. AT the, close or
the meal every one Is expected TO WASH
his own dishes, and each goes TO the
water jar to rinse out his mouth. The
meals are more like picnics than any
thing else.
Education of Women.
Until the English came to Burma
read and write There are not many
who can do so now. The government
has established schools for girls IN the
large towns, but in the villages they
seldom exist. and the monks cannot
teach the girls as they do boys,
According to the laws of the Budd-
hist religion, every boy must go into
a monastery. He usually does SO az
the age of eight or nine years. and
he there learns to read and write
There are very few nunneries in tho
country and the girls have nowhere
else to go Their mothers are tsno-
rant, and therefore it is the exception
to find native girl outside the cities
who is able to read
rho British officials are trying to
remedy this, and there are now some-
thing like 10000 girls in the govern
ment schools although only one IN
every eleven girls of school age Is be-
ing educated, and only about 1000 are