El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-02-11
FRANK G. CARPENTERS LETTER.


the parents OF the bride. If agreeable
the dowry is fixed and the betrothal
is made Neither the marriage nor the
betrothal can be consummated without
the consent of the girl This consent
Is got in connection with the man.
or Mohammedan priest, who appears
| at the door Of the harem of the brides
| mother. The girl is behind the door,
and she is asked If she will consent to
the match She has to answer Il will"
three separate times, after which the
amount of the dowry may be paid over
in the presence of witnesses.
Queer Wedding Ceremonies.
In all oriental countries the wedding
ceremonies are very important. The
| marriage is always an occasion Of pro-
traeted festivities and not to be in
vited is a grave offense. One of the
proverbs here is, HE who does not In
wife me to his marriage will not have
me at his funeral" Among the Mo-
hammedans the wedding ceremonies
often last a week, during which there
is feasting on the part of both fami-
lies. The dinners are given before the
wedding, and at the time of the cere-
mony large amounts of money are
thrown to the beggars. The wedding
feasts usually begin Monday, Tues
day the bride is taken to the bath and
there is a feast there, the bridegroom
paying the expenses OF the bathing
and eating.
Wednesday the Dridegrooms lady
friends go to the house of the bride,
where they have a concert and dinner.
At this time the finger nails and toe
nails of the bride are stained red with
henna and they begin to deck her out
for the wedding. Thursday the bride
is taken to the groom's house in
great procession, and there the two
eat candy exchanging mouthfuls or
bites, the idea being that nothing but
sweetness is hereafter to pass from
the lips of one to the other. The bride
groom has not seen the bride until
the presence of the bride, kneeling on
her bridal veil as he does SO.
Mohammedans of Palestine.
Among thu Mohammedans Of Pales-
tine, so says my guide Shammus. the
wedding usually takes place at the
mosque the wedding sermon is given,
bride when she is on the way thither,
although she is so yelled that he can
not see her. She is dressed all in
white and is carried under canopy
on the shoulders of four men At the
mosque the wedding sermon is given.
and at the end of this the bride goes
II
steps over the threshold she bends
down and passes under two crossed
swords upheld by his friends. This
means that if she is not true to her
husband he will kill her. She is taken
first to the wOmen's apartment or
harem. over the door of which has been
placed a pieGe of leavened dough with
a green leaf lying upon it. She presses
the palm of her hand on the leaf, and
A.
the home into which she has come will
flourish In some cases the bride
breaks a piece of leavened bread and
gives TO. the Young people to eat.
After she has entered her own apart
ment in the grooms house, there is
feast, the guests sitting on the floor
and eating course after course of meats
and vegetables. interspersed with can
dies and sirups In some cases the
groom has to make the bride speak be-
fore the dinner will be served, and it
is a virtue with her TO keep silent just
as long as she can.
Wcmen's Rights in Syria.
1t is the general idea among Chris
tians that Mohammedan wives have
no rights which their husbands are
bound TO respect : 1 am told this is
not so, and that the women here not
infrequently ruin their husbands The
cost of living has increased greatly
within recent years, and il is only
rich MOhammedan who can own sew
eral wives. Public sentiment as to
the rights of women has rsien. and the
man who abuses his wives is not con-
sidered respectable. No man dares
address a strange woman on the streets
Of any Turkish city. and in the best
regulated houses the husband does not
enter the woman's apartments when
he knows he is not wanted, although
he has the legal right to go there, at
any time.
The Mohammedan wife has the entire
right and control of her own property
and If she brings the moSey into the
family she does not hesitate to say so.
She has about as much power in the
courts as our women have She can
sue and be sued and can even enter a
suit against her husband in regard to
her own property. She can make a
will and leave her property as she
pleases and she can force him to pay
the dowry agreed upon When she
n7arries he has to buy the wedding
gown and if he divorces her she gets
back her trousseau.
Slave Marriages.
1t is said that wor~ca are still bought
and sold in the Turkish possessions
in the black girls who were brought
across the Sahara from Central Africa
and shipped through Tripoli into Syria
and other parts of Turkey. Before the
English took hold of Egypt this traffic
was carried on through the Nile val
ley and it was winked at by the Off
Gals. 1t is said to be still in vogue in
Morocco, and slaves are brought in
from parts of the Caucasus to Con-
stantinople.
According to the law of the Koran
marriages with slaves are Illegal. The !
wives Of the sultan are largely slaves /
who are brought in from Georgia and
Circassia, a plump. bright-eyed. red
headed, white-skinned girl being worth /
as much as a half dozen white horses. /
I am told that Circassian girls are 7
glad to be sold out of the hardships !
which they are sure to find in their /
own country They are bought Young /