Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1913-01-10

even though the costume might leave one in
doubt; for in Burma, Siam and Java the men and
women dress so much alike that practically the
only distinguishing feature is the turban usually
worn by the men. When it comes to burden
bearing, however there can never be any doubt
to sex, regardless of costume, for the oriental
woman almost invariably carries everything upon
her head while the man, Just invariably, bears
every kind of burden swung across his shout
ders from the ends of bamboo pole.
So much has this become second nature to
them that / have seen Burnans and Javanese
tie stone or other useless weight to one end of
their shoulder pole In order to balance some
tndivisible load at the other end thus doubling
the weight of their load in order to carry it in
the customary manner. And the oriental woman
exhibits the same reluctance with reference to
carrying any kind of a burden, whether large or
small in any manner except upon her head, the
sole and solitary exception being her baby which
is usually tied upon her back We are sometimes
amazed by the size and weight Of the loads borne
upon the heads of these women of the east. but
at the same time it is not at all unusual to see
these same women carrying upon their heads
empty dishes. fragile glassware, things easily
broken and Of practically weight but habit
is SO strong with them that every object no mat
ter what it's character, must be borne upon the
head.
It is this habit of carrying heavy loads upon
their heads that gives such superbly erect and
Queenly carriage to practically all the women OF
the far east. The drawing or water seems to be
their peculiar task, and Palestine is not alone
with her Rebeccas at the well. While the yelled
women of Egypt and Syria fill their great kulehs
of Nile clay and the little brown girl wives Of
India dip their shining brass water pots in the
temple tanks or in the sacred Ganges; the merry,
graceful little girls and women of happy Burma.
favored above all the women of the east gather
in social sort of way at the village fountains
and spend long hours in the gossip SO dear to
feminine hearts before they fill their fat brown
"chatsies' with the water for their household
nestle slavery or unhappy household bondage,
as these slender. brightly clad little daughters
OF Burma balance the dripping chatties upon
their great coils OF beautiful hair and bear them
happily back to the little basket homes under the
shadowy groves Of plantains and areca palms,
which ara so generally the abode of sweet con-
tent
When an oriental bears water 1t is usually
In black Shiny grewsomelooking pigskin or
goatskin, slung across his shoulders and looking
for all the world like the corpse of some drowned
thing. These are the "sakkas" water men OF
Egypt and Turkey. who carry water for sprin-
king the roads 20 lay the dust In the vicinity OF
the bazars and to supply also the ordinary wants
of the oriental household To the same class
belong the 'bhistis" OF India. WHO form sepa-
the water Ia their Shiny goatskins every morn
ing to I'll the huge tin dshpan, which In India
serves you as bathtub.
There are also other water bearers among the
uaen OF the orient but these have nothing to DO