Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-12-06

drops. The eyes and the finely arched
brows are sufficient to captivate the
beholder
The women of the lower classes are
much more particular In preserving the
use of the nosepiece than are the ladies
of high '--ree. Inherited tradition
may account for this. The ugliest and
blacklist negress from Nubia is very
scrupulous in observing the require
ments of her religion.
l have seen Arab ladies in their car
riages. and even in some of the shops.
who were Indifferent to the veil and
the nosepiece. but never Nubian
washerwoman in the streets who would
allow herself to be seen without it.
Unfortunately. it does not screen ugli-
ness though it may assure the Nubian
negress that she Is not tempting one OF
the male sex.
is Mohamn1edan and this accounts for
the absence of either veil or nosepiece.
which observers sometimes mistakenly
suppose is evidence that the custom has
fallen into disuse. The real Egyptians
are the Copts. and the Coptic women
garb themselves as other women.
\
British administration in Egypt. in
one instance at least, has made a con-
cession to woman's rights similar to
that made by the Austrian government
in Bosnia. 1t is based on the same
priacip1e-that of property.
English respect for property is so pro-
found that by working it this con-
cession was obtained. 1t consisted in
the recognition of native lady named
Mabrouka as the political boss of the
village of Damallo.
Mabrouka was the heaviest taxpayer
in the district. She applied for the
post of omdeh. or village mayor She
was held in great respect. but the local
councillors feared to violate tradition
by establishing precedent of naming
a woman as omdeh.
The omdeh is really the patriarchal
ruler or governor of the district and Is
a good deal more than an ordinary VII
lage mayor. With oriental courtesy
the councillors explained that the honor
would so overwhelm them that they
would be unable to exist If they were
to make Mabrouka mayor. They also
explained the practical dlmcuitles
which lady of her quality would have
in carrying out some responsibilities of
the position, since these could only be
discharged by man.
Mabrouka met this difficulty by pro-
posing a man as subomdeh, or deputy
mayor.
The councillors again showed their
oriental nature. Not to be outdone in
politeness they made the man she sug-
sested for the subordinate position
omdeh Mabrouka, according to the
reports current in Cairo. was entirely
satisfied with this arrangement, and
through the omdeh she governs the
little community on the Nile with the
approval of the British administration
higher up.
II is not only the Mohammedan
women of the Ottoman empire whose
status may be altered by the results of
rhn W
progress.
Armenian women have had SO many
occasions to weep over husbands ana sons
and brothers massacred by the Turks that
wars horrors can have nothing new for
them in their sorrows There Is a differ
ence in the present situation. however.
since instead of being unreslstlng victims
the Armenians are reported to be organ
izing to aid the Russians. They are not
a warrior race. but they may do some
aggressive fighting, now that they have
an opportunity to ally themselves with a
powerful belligerent
The women of Syria also have known
suffering: but since the powers regulated
the Turkish control in the Holy Land. and
assured protection to the Christians. they
have felt less keenly the Turkish rule.
Palestine, with its numberless Christian
sects, has been free from massacres and
from hideous outrages perpetrated in the
name of the prophet.
The Syrian women have shown little
interest IN the neW-WOIndn MOVEMENT
possibly because they could not see that
it meant anything for them under a
Mohammedan regime. Or it may have
been that the status they maintained for
themselves in their Households was SUI
ficient to satisfy them.
Patriarchal life prevails among the
Syrians, but the woman's position is not
that of conscious inferiority. The Syrian
man is not arrogant in asserting the as
sumed rights of his sex. To a casual
observer he appears a very tractable
creature, easily managed.
There is Bedouin population which
is largely Mohammedan. and the
Bedouin women of the desert have not
yet felt any quickening influence of
woman's emancipation. The traditions
of centuries of desert life may be
broken. but hardly in the present gen.
Grafton, or as an outcome of any new
condition arising from the war.
The Bedouin woman is her husbands
servant She considers it a privilege