The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-02-14

yfpsy Mona I1llneuau wives Are StlOStlt
The JeWesses and Their DOwries-
How They Marry i'll SYRIA Di-
yorcc Which Did Not Work-VO-
mems Rights i'm Turkey-Siave Girls
and Slave Weddings-Queer Brides
and ~Brideeroonls of the Levant.
tcopyright, 1910, by Frank G. Car
penter.)
DAMASCUS.
Ho! Ye bright-eyed, fair-skinned
girls of America. Drop for the mo-
,nant YOUR hobble skirts and peach
basket hats and take a look at your
sisters of Damascus in faraway Syria!
How would YOU like to exchange your
4ifa for theirs? How would you like
10 spend your days without showing
YOUR face 10 the light of the sun?
How would you like to go about in a
oreat bag of black silk which is tied III
at the waist so that it covers your
form from the head to the ieet, eA-
cept for a short. thick veil of black
which enables YOU to feel your way
along the street? How would you
like 10 be penned up in the back OF
NOur house, or to have your 1ront
windows SO latticed that you could
see out only through holes as Dig
around as q lead pencil? y more,
how would YOU like to never talk to
any man but one of your own family,
ZIG NOlSS, 1StCi
man or boy talk to or see you
This is the condition of the gl1lS OF
this fanatical city of 1T IS
the fate Of millions Of other women IN
7>nrkcy and of the female Mohamme-
dams throughout the whole world.
Among the Yelled Women.
Within the past thirty years have
visited every Moslem country on
earth. and nave worn out my eyes
irving 10 see through the wells Whlch
hide the fair sex. In Morocco then
they peep out through a cracF as big
as YOUR finger, made by pulling he
cloth slightly apart In front OF the
face. In Kairouan the girls cover
their faces with black crepe 50 tmch
that YOU cannot tell whether they ara
negroes or whites; and III runs tIes
are so shrouded tina they have to lift
an their cloaks a few feet in order 10
pick their way through the streets IL
Zanzibar the girls wear bags when
cover them to the feet, and their only
view Of the world is through peep
holes as big as q so cent piece, Which
are hedged across with lace netting,
so that a man cannot see IN III
f,eyDt the ~headdress comes down to
the eyebrows. and Il veil extends from
there to the knees, with the
of q crack for the eyes, the crack be-
ing kept open by a gold or brass
spool which rests on the bridge Of the
nose. In constantinople the fashion
able Turks are doing away with the
Veil or usiDS thin white Salze through
which the face can be plainly seen II
is thus that the harem OF the sultan
is dressed, and thus the wives of all
the rich men.
In Damascus.
Here in Damascus the women stick
IT, wells OF lowered muslin or black
crepe, and they wrap themselves III
great balloon like cloaks Of black silk
OF calico. These bulge out above
and below where they are tied at the
waist, making each maiden look like
two huge Jumps of sausages as they
Waddle along. I see hundreds OF
them every time j go through the city.
They throng the bazaars. where they
bob back and forth as they talk with
the merchants. They may be seen
picking their way through the side
streets or sitting on the floors of the
mosques reading the Koran and watch
ing the men go through their prayers.
Many Of the yelled figures are those
of small girls. They take the veil at
eleven or twelve, and the wells are
Kept on after marriage until death.
Ana then the houses! All of the
Mp~hamnedans have homes so latticed
tIat the women cannot be seen from
me streets. In some cases the win
vows are built oven the sidewalks,
hanging out like boxes of wooden
network. This is SO in the new apart
nent houses which, are now going up,
ana also III the hutS Of the poor, al
l""u2h the latter seldom have Win
Vows except at the back. The ordi-
nary lattice is made Of canelike
H9heS or sticks, and preparing them
-, d special trade followed by many
'He ruShes are brought in to Damas-
~ ALREADY trimmed on the backs Of
u'hNe|s. which as they go fill the
streets with their loads.
Queer Divorce Laws.
u removes the MOhammedan WO-
Ian TO be strict in her conduct The
"'1P%hd mere has most of the rights,
WV ne can divorce his wife or wives