El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-02-11
Copyright, 1910 by Frank c. carpenter.)
grooms Of Levant

without thinking, and that TO his sor@
row. heard of such a case yesterday.
According to the laws Of Damascus. II
a man wishes to get rid or his wife ne
has only to say, Il divorce you! al
vorce youi divorce your and the wo-
man must leave. After she has gone.
however, she cannot come back as q
wife until after she has beer married
to some one else TO ger around this,
an angry husband. relenting and long
ing for the dear departed, arranges to
marry her to L friend jervisb, or TO
some half crazy man, VINO fer g sum
will go throue tie ccrem my of wed
ding and then Immediately divorce the
woman, who can then be married
again to her old husband. In the case
referred to the man had a quarrel with
his wife and angrily muttered the
words of divorce. Immediately she
had gone he repented, and thereupon
brought about her marriage with an al
legged friend, upon the understanding
that divorce was to follow the GER
emony. The friend. however. refused
to utter the words of Divorce. saying,
Il like the woman and will keep her
myself" and so it is at this writing.
Such divorces are always on the part
of the husband. AS for the women, they
have more difficulty in getting rid of
So provided the husband does not per-
form his duty to them or give them an
equal amount of attention with the 9TH
er wives Of the family. According TO
Mohammed every man had the right to
four wives but the Koran provides
that he must spend an equal time with
each of them, and in some places he is
required to give each a separate estab-
lishment.
Marriage in the Holy Land.
During my travels IN the Holy Land
I have picked up some interesting sto-
ries of marriage and divorce Every
sect has it's own customs. The Jews
can divorce easily. and after that they
can marry again. The orthodox Greeks
can only marry three times. and some
of the Christians are not allowed a d.
vorce without cause.
In all of the Jewish weddings the
girl brings dowry, the amount Of tao
dot being mentioned in the .>ur -ract of
marriage. This contract is always
signed in the presence of the rabbi,
and the wedding ceremony takes place
under q tent in the court of the syna-
cog Before marriage the bride is
shaved from her head to her feet. and
after that her hehd is always kept cest--
cred At the ceremony and after it
they have music, with drums, cymbals
ard harps, and many Of the old fash
toned customs of Bible times are pre-
served The Jews marry young, and
girl is an old maid at 20.
The Peasant Mohammedans.
The Mohammedans Of the villages
entering their tesns, AID MARI a. os at
II years are not uucon,noa. E'he man
is usually older. and it is customary
for matured men 20 lnarsy oung cIrls
and to add them to their harems the
first wives grow older. In such cases
the groom pays money to the father
of the bride. This is the reverse OF the
Jewish marriages, where the money
goes to the groom. The priee for a
Mohammeden wife ranges according to
the financial condition IF the contra ct
ing parties. The contre C-s are made
by the elder people of he family. #
there is a, father he deci1es IDon the
marriage If the father is dead the eld-
est brother may act, or il some cases
the mother.
The customs as to the right Of The
family to dictate the marriage are rig
id. The other day a peasant living near
Jerusalem had a sister who ran away
with her lover and married him. This
was after the family had objected to
the marriage of the two. The peasant
dal couple He met his brotherlnlaw
in Jerusalem and shot hi n dead on the
street. When arrested he justified the
crime and he is now imprisoned await
ing trial I am told he viii get off
with a slight pu lIsii'aent, as he has
acted within 1is rights ace, riding 20
the Koran.
Brides OF the Cities.
Among the city Mohammedans the
bridegroom makes present of dowry
sufficient to enable his bride to Uur-
chase her trousseau a nd household fur
niture. He may give her six or eight
hundred dollars, and the greater part
Of this will go to her nearest male
relative. being paid before the wedding
takes place On the other hand he
and that relative may bus the outfit
together. making items r~the various
things and their cost Often the whole
dcwry is not paid. 25 or 80 percent be-
ling left until after the wedding. This
is not demanded. exce,5t in case of di-
vorce and it is considered premium
that will insure ecoi( treatment on the
part of the husband.
The bride seldom sees the groom be-
fore the wedding. and the groom never
meets her beforY that time. The in
vestigations of both families are car
ried on by the fathers and mothers,
independent Of the real parties TO the
marriage.
How They Marry in Syria.
I asked a Mohammedan friend Of
mine last night to tell me how mar
riages were arranged here. Said he:
When a boy is old enough to have
a wife. let us say at seventeen, his par
ents begin to look about for a suitable
girl The mother goes to the harems of
her acGuaintances, and asks as to the
daughters. She also visits the girls
schools, and when she has found a
maiden whom she thinks may suit. she
invites the mother of the girl to meet
her at the bath. This is one of the chief
places of gossip and pleasure, and it is
not uncommon for ladies to meet there.
To the bath the girl comes with her
mother, and she there has her first in
terview with her prospective mother
inlaw The two talk and gossip togeth-
er, and very likely go into the hotroom
and plunges, clad in the light attire of
two Turkish towels, the fashionable
garb for the occasion. After the bath
There is more talking and the girl
is sized up mentally and physically.
Upon the return home the mother of
the groom tells her husband the result