Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1911-01-09
DIVORCE In ISLANDS
"tGDcES" cMLY PASS vn EISRTS
OF CHILDREN.
When = Separation Of an Iaarrote
Couple Is Inevitable, Both the Hus-
band and Wife Share Equal
ly the Property.

III you women want equal rights.
Yn' better go out to Luzon." The man
from the Philippines had been listen
iag to the militant sufrragist for the
lat hour and half and had Just got
In his word. up in the province OF
Eenguet there. where the little Igar-
rotcs live. they've got 1t down to
L., point. Remarkable people those
mountain savages.
They've already settled lot of
things our Socialist friends are trying
now to get the rest Of us advanced
eno' gh to accept. They're so progres.
stve in these things that they're clear
back at the beginning again. For In.
stance. they've got George Meredith's
tCn-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.
1T doesn't happen very often, but
when 1t does the community steps in
to see that there's fair play. The
the matter; not to decide whether
they have a right to part-that's en-
tirely 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-yes, they're
progressive enough for that-and as
the land up 80 high Is pretty arid II
didn't take long to go into the prop
erty question. There were four chill.
dren. 80 that was all right. too. |
don't know what would happen If
there were three or five I'm such q
case; perhaps they'd resort to a Solo.
mon Judgment.
AT any rate. the hitch came in the
question OF the house. There was
only one Of 1t and naturally both
needed II. or course, you think the
man should have given way. but WON.
ans equality IL too absolute out there
to have any nonsensical notions about
cbivalry
We'll. 1t ended quite peaceably, 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 4 sc.
ond little wooden hut with a shaggy
roof over their perpendicular comote
bed. Whether they were reunited by
this reminder OF their youth and early
love Is more than can say. though. OF
course. that's the proper sequel to the
tale.
The women have the same indie.
pendent rights Of earning money or
food az the men and they go about It
in the same way. You can see them
any day gging up the sweet pota.
toes that grow In little patches all
over the mountain ridges. or wading
waist deep in the mucky rice fields
that terrace the slopes or climbing up
the paths With loaded wicker cage
on their backs like any man polista.
Sometimes It is father and some.
times mother who looks after the
house after the housework and the fat.
naked babics--sometimes the lean
family dogs. II all depends on which
member OF the household is the tired.
est-that one gets the easy work for
awhile. It's very pretty to see the
way baby girl Is welcomed into a
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 as her people
are concerned"