Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-02-24
RENO HAS A RIVAL
IN ALEXANDRIA, VA.
LandIadies Make Road TO Di-
vorce Easy for Washing
ton Folks.


within sight Of the dome Of the
Capitol NJ Washington, near enough
almost 10 be- called impudeut is the
town of Alexandria, on the Virginia
shore of the Potomac. and therein IS al
/ legged to operate divorce colony sec
oud only in hagraucy 70 that Of world
/ famous Reno.
( On the sworn statement of a woman
/ householder dwelling IN that historic
hamlet, according 10 records recently
made public, hundreds of divorces have
been granted.
A years residence In Virginia being
necessary 20 secure n divorce. reyeia-
lions made recently have shown that
parties IN pursuit of martial disruption
paid their rent for ono fun year 70 a
flandady and then received a receipt for
same. which they then produced -
evidence Of their years residence 81
the state Of Virginia. IN the meantime
they whiicd away tho wearisOme hours
that ordinarily would have to be spent
in Alexandria in some Ilvelier city.
perhaps In Washington. just across
tho Potomac.
Fcrty-two days is the minimum time
limit in which divorce may he Sc
cured. according to statements made
by Iandladies.
One landlady termed this little Re-
no Of the East" q "veritable haven ~
refuge for Washington people" And
she had little more % say.
you know" she said not without
some evidence Of local pride. "Alexan-
dria' Is getting 10 be the dumping
ground for Washington divorce seek
ers and 7 have lots Of them stay At my
house. That isNthy don't really stay
hero in fart. They pay me the rent
Of the year. and they send themselves
an occasional letter through the reg
ular mail, and then when their cases
come Up they produce these letters and
the receipts which I gave them as
evidence Of the fart that they have
Lived here one year. It's all very sim
pie"
Tho native costumes were exquis~
ltely beautiful and graceful. When the
Innissions ries came they brought with
them and from stodgy. Unsympsthet-
ic inland parishioners all over he
world were sent, clothing for the ns-
tives. HideOus. high-necked. long
sleeved Mother Hubbard night dress
es predominated. Why the tender
hearted givers thought the South Sea
Islanders wanted only night clothing,
- no one can guess. Perhaps they had
heard that the climate wes soporifc-
The visitors from civilization made
as much fuss about Viewing we'll
rounded, polished. darllskinned aTrra
n and legs as people IN your countrs
Y sometimes raise about foreshortenst
u bathing suits, and so the narival
adopted these hideous garments a.
badges of progress. and now we SCI
ie them swathed IN ugly Mother Hub
bards instead Of being exQu1siteiy clai
in flowers and grasses.
"A great deal has been said sboJI
the hula It has been represented az
Is. national dance. No decent woman +
d. Tahiti would consider dancing Ii!
he vulgar dance which has been eagert.
lv grabbed az the basis Of some OF on
fz modern performances. Indeed. "a
most Objectionable dances which hav
of been shown in the bathrooms or ID
a world have originated from the per
as lformances Of savages. In which ii
= most abandoned Of them take par'
n The shimny undoubtedly had Il
- origin among the Congo negroes.
ne -sA64tl A-sss@5 lila A-Lfo 4
= interesting custom. They enjoy NOV
-. ing about-have the wanderlust Per
= haps-sO a whole village pulls z
F9 stakes, and either overland or II ca
- noes they go visiting. When they In
Il a place they ike. they rest themselvs
Oh in. the guest house, for in every VI
y lage in the Afa-quesas is q place sc
oo aside for the entertainment OF guest
'nl They announce their arrival b
ns music. and the chief Of the viilag
NO appears to see what It 5 al abou
.te In his heart he very well knows. n
Visitors assure him that they sr
ire only resting, It is not their inter
he ton TO eat or drink. but he know
we and they know that he knows ths
He they are going TO get a square mea
ng Then after much ceremony the feaS;
Sc. ing IS on.
ng When you go 70 the South Sea Z
nj lands for the first two weeks you al
WI tremendously unhappy and want :
As get away, but after that the spell {
nd the islands is on you and Il takes
as great effort to tear yourself ava
tx from them