Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1911-01-12
DIVORCE IN ISLANDS
-. CHLY PASS yn 6lSi4TS
OF CHILDREN.
Wen sc?arstion Of an Igarrote
Couple is "'evitable, Both the Hus-
tanG ard Wife Share Equal
l. the Property.

III yCr women want equal rights,
20 better 20 out to LuZon." The man
i"m the Philippines had been listen
i"g 70 the militant suGragist for the
.as. hour and half and had just got
IN his word. Up in the province of
Ee"guet there, where the little Igar-
""l's live. they've got II down. to a
.'e Totnt Remarkable people those
NGU1tain savages.
. FhCy've already settled lot of
things our Socialist friends are trying
ncw TO get the rest Of us advanced
en-" gh TO accept They're 50 progress
StVe N these things that they're clear
back at the beginning again. For in
stance, they've got George Merediths
tCn-%car trial marriage beat by one
year experiment. It's very succc SIS.
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 i'll
to see that there's fair play. The
buknans, or chiefs. act as judges in
the matter: not to decide whether
they have right to part-that's en-
tirely a personal matter for them to
scttle-but to see that there's n 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 pcIched up
higher In the mountains than ever the
pines care to climb.
"'Tnp pOur,Io unro ,,, a.,
score of incompatability-y 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. |
don't know what would hpppen II
ther" were three or five I'm such n
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 Is too absolute out there
to have any nonsensical notions about
chivalry
We'll. It ended quite peaceab)y, at
any rate. In their honeymoonIng days
they had built the house together, SO
now they simply repeated the perform.
anca with equal labor. hanging Il e e.
ond little wooden hut with a shagg,
roof over thoir 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 su,ne Indc.
pendent rights Of earning money or
food as the men and they 10 about II
In the same way. You can see them
any day gging up tho sweet pota.
thcs that grow In little patches all
over N" mountain ridges. or wading
wais, de'r in the mucky rice feldS
that terrace the Hopes or climbing M
the raths with Il loaded wicker cage
on their hacks IKE any man polista.
sometimes " Is father and some
tine, mother who looks after the
house after tn" housework and the fat
naked habi' s---sometImes the lean
family dogs. II all depends on which
me'r ncr Of tho household is the tired
est that one gets the easy work for
a"nil" It's very pretty to see the
WV baby girl is welcomed into n
family Her Igarrote parents are quite
ms de- 'ghted with her as if she we're
bor--'her"'s no disadvantage to her in
her sex: that il. as far as her people
are concerned"