Evening star., 1911-01-22
ETIQUETTE OF C0URTSHIP
On Isle Of Iviza, Where There Are
Ten Men to One Girl.
From Chambers Journal.

rom chambers Journal.
| With regard to Iviza. the third in i'm
portance of the Balearic isles, which lie
midway between Spain and Africa, its
| complete history has never been and
never will be written. From the frag-
mentary records existent one gathers that
from earliest days occupation of the love-
1y and fertile island was hotly contested.
| Chaldeans. Egyptians. Phoenicians, Ro-
mans. Greeks, Vandals, Saracens and
| Moors fought for it's possession. Since
the Aragonese invasion of the thirteenth
century Iviza has belonged to SPAIN
! They say there are ten men for every
! woman in Iviza. and the aspect of the
roads on sunny April morning inclined
us to believe the report, for from every
direction came fine, strapping fellows
4 moving in droyes. In striking contrast
] to the expansive attire of the women, the
mems dress appeared designed to accentu-
ate their natural slimneSs.
| The trousers Of richly cOlored velvet or
| plush fitted closely to the limbs except at
! the ankles, where they spread widely,
while their further adornments were gayly
hued shirts or short full blouse jackets
felt hats were lavishly adorned with gold
cords. and in addition to one necktie for
| use 1t was customary to add a second and
| even third for show.
| Some of the women rode mules. sitting
perched high on a pile Of SheepSkinS, their
| multicolored petticoats billowing about
| their neat ankles; others were packed
closely into open carts that had cushions
| placed low on either side of their sagging
floor mating With it's flippant hues and
Staid cut the native dress was a beWilder-
| ing combination Of garishness and So
| briefly.
/ As the morning advanced moving
throng respondent in color crowded the
lot Nf,.t1
thier chaperons were parading In deco
rouS rows, their hands holding pocket
handkerchiefs heavily edged with crochet
lace, sedately crossed over their short
but voluminous green silk aprons.
1t was perhaps only to be expected that
wherever we saw bevy Of girls corre-
spending cluster of men would be at
hand. Yet We rarely saw them address
one another. The modern etiquette Of a
rustic courtship in Iviza is clearly de-
fined. \ plenitude of suitors being as
sured. 1t is the maiden who makes the
selection. The admirers of a marriage
able girl wait for her outside the church
door on Sunday and when she leaves
mass the one who has the prior claim
presents himself and walks beside her for
the first portion of the homeward jour
ney. Then at given point within
stated time limit he yields place to the
second and the second to a third until
The number is exhausted.
If any suitor seeks to transgress the
unwritten law pistols may flash and
knives are apt TO spring. In all other
matters the people OF Iviza are peaceable
and on all points moral and virtuous. 1t
must be admitted that certain of the more
frollcsome spirits keep up the custom of
salutinS the maidens of their choice with
II charge of rock salt aimed at the ankles,
and il is devoutly to be hoped that the
nnwieldy masses of petticoats serve at
least one useful purpose by shielding the
wearers from the saline missiles of loves
artillery.