Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1911-01-13
DIVORCE IN ISLANDS
"c:DcCS" cSLY PASS vN HISHTs
OF CHILDREN.
When a Separation Of an Isarrote
Couple Is Inevitable, Both the Hus-
band and Wife Share Equal
ly tho Property.

5,
En'' better so out to Luzon." The man
i;om the Philippines had been listen
ius to the militant suffragist for the
last hour and a half and had Just got
III his word. up in the province Of
Eenguet there, where the little Igar.
r"tes live. they've got 1t down to q
nee point. Remarkable people those
mountain ssvages.
They've already settled a lot Of
things our Socialist friends are trying
now to get the rest Of US advanced
enough to accept. They're so progress
sive in these things that they're clear
back at the beginning again. For in
stance. they've got George Meredith's
ton-year trial marriage beat by a one
year experiment. It's very success
ful, too. And divorce-that's the sim.
plest thing in the world with them
and quite fair to the woman, too.
ut doesn't happen very often, but
when 1t does the community steps in
to see that there's fair play. The
ouknans, or chiefs, act as judges in
the matter; not to decide whether
they have a right to part-that's en-.
tirely a personal matter for them to
settle-but to see that there's a fair
division Of the children and the prop
erty. There was a divorce case on
while was up there. in funny little
village OF wooden huts. perched up
higher In the mountains than ever the
pines care to climb.
THE couple were separating on the
score OF incompatability-ye they're
progressive enough for that--and as
the land up so high Is pretty arid II
didn't take long to go into the prop
erty question. There were four chill.
dren. so that was all right. too. I
don't know what would happen II
there were three or five In such a
case; perhaps they'd resort to Solo
mon Judgment.
AT any rate, the hitch came in the
question OF the house There was
only one OF It and naturally both
needed 1t. or course, you think the
man should have given wny, but WON.
ans equality is too absolute out there
to have any nonsensical notions about
chivalry.
We'll 1t ended quite peaceabIy, at
any rate. In their honeymooning days
they had built the house together, SO
now they simply repeated the perform.
ance with equal labor. hanging &C
ond little wooden hut with q shaggy
roof over their perpendicular comote
bed. Whether they were reunited by
this reminder Of their youth and early
love Is more than I can say, though, OF
course. that's the proper sequel to the
tale.
The women have the same Inde
pendent rights Of earning money or
food as the mon and thoy 70 about Il
In the same way. You can see them
any day digging UP the sweet pota.
toes that grow In little patches all
over the mountain ridges, or wading
waist deep In the mucky rice felds
that terrace the slopes or climbing VI
the paths with a loaded wicker cage
on their backs like any man polista.
Sometimes II is father and some.
times mother who looks after the
house after the housework and the fat
naked babIes-sometimes the lean
family dogs. II all depends on which
member Of the household 10 tho tired
est-that one gets tho easy work for
awhile It's very pretty to see the
wTv baby girl is welcomed into n
family Her Igarrote parents are quite
az delighted with her az n she were a
boy-there's no disadvantage to her in
her sex: that II. az far a. her people
are concerned"