The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-08-19

tions, one of which is devoted to sanitation, another to cooking, third to outftting the men and talk ing care of their clothing, and a fourth to the raising of funds for the army. They hold an annual en- campment near Helsingfors, which is attended by women from all parts of the republic. At the last meeting there were some girls from Lapland who walked several hundred miles to the nearest railroad station and paid their own fares to get there.
 women's Clubs.
 The Films have other women's clubs of various kinds. Indeed the people are more like us than any of the others of Europe. They are alive Intellectually, educationslly, socially and CivicalIy. They have many young peoples societies which have their own buildings. There are choral societies and dancing clubs, and home research organizations de- voted to the welfare of the commit nity The buildings for the young | peoples societies are made by the
 workment and others of the com munity without charge for their Ia | bor. and there Is considerable town spirit as well as national spirit. Both 1 sexes engage in sports of all kinds and this has been so from time lm- memorial.
 How They Marry In Finland. l have been interested in the local customs of marriage. The legal age | for the groom is IS and that of the bride 15, but if 6 man takes so young l a girl he must demonstrate that he | needs a wife to help carry on his 1 farm. The banns are always pulp | lished and the wedding takes place l at the brides house. The groom is eX- l pected to give presents to hls father- 1 In -lnW gives each bridesmaid a pair of stockings as costly as he can afford. | When the family is well-to do the wedding feast lasts for two days l some of the guests bringing food with them. If the families are poor l they spend as much and sometimes more than they can. afford. If the l young couple takes up new land, they l often first cut down enough trees to build a bath house, and they may live in the bath house for the hrst year, while building their dwelling house.
 All weddings are before minister, l civil marriages being unknown until the new republic was formed. some | times a couple will advertise in the | papers that they are married, and such an announcement is considered | as binding. Theoretically no one l can marry until he or she can read and write, and no one Is supposed to l be admitted to church communion unless he can pass the same test. 1 Some marriages are made by go-be- tweens, to whom both the bride and groom give fee.
 ''Treat 'Em Rough"
 According to the general opinion the Finnish man is head of the family
 and the folklore has many stories for the treatment and training of the wife. The Kalevala, or national poem, which as I have said, has the same metre as Longfellows Hia- watha and gave that poet the rhythm for his Indian verses, deals with the marriage of the hero to the Beau teous Daughter of the Rainbow, | chronicling many of the customs. In this the groom is given instructions | as to how he should correct his wife | after marriage. The advice corre- l spends to that of the soldier who said: l Treat 'em rough; they like It." It | suggests that no corporal punish
 ment should be used until after the | third year. and for the first three years the treatment should be as fol- lows:
 For a whole year thus instruct her, | Thus by word of mouth advise her, With thine eyes the next year teach And the third year teach by stamp.
 The poem goes on to say if this does not bring the wife to time, the husband should spend the fourth
 year whipping her lightly with
 reeds. and if that does not suffice, he should cut a birch rod in the
 thicket and thus bring her to time. The poem warns him to be careful In
 what place to switch her, and just
 where to lay on the blows. I quote:
 DO not beat her in, the meadow, Do not whip her in the cCrhfleld,
 Lest the noise should reach the vil-
 lage,
 And to other homes the quarrel
 Neighbors' wives should hear the
 crying,
 And the uproar in the forest.
 Always strike her on the shoulders,
 On her soft cheeks do not strike her,
 On her eyes forbear to strike her, On her ears forbear tC touch her;
 Lumps will rise upon the temples,
 And her eyes with blue be bordered,
 And the brother-in-law perceive.
 And the village ploughmen see it
 And will laugh the village women"
 This advice is followed by a story
 from one of the guests, telling how
 he brought his wife to order. He re-
 lates how he gave her the best of food including butter, home brewed
 ale, and wheat from foreign coun-
 tries, but that nothing would i'm
 prove her temper:
 | For one day the room she entered,
 And she grasped my hair and tore 1t,
 And her face was quite distorted, And her eyes were wildly rolling, Always scolding In her fury,
 To her hearts contentment scolding,
 Heaping foul abuse upon me,
 l Roaring at me as a sluggard.
 Then I took another method,
 Sought another way to tame her,
 So I peeled myself a birch shoot, 1 Then she came and called me birdiet And when juniper l gathered
 Then she stopped and called me dar-
 When I lifted rods of willow,
 On my neck she fell embracing"
 I am surprised at the low standard
 of living among the poorer classes here. Miss Furnhjelm tells me that
 before the war, TO per cent of the citizens of Helsingfors lived in apartments of one room and kitchen. Many families of seven or eight people had no more accommo-
 datfons, and even then they might take A bachelor or so to board To- day the standard of comfort for the working man seems to be two rooms and A kitchen, and the government
 has loans for poor people, which are
 restricted to homes of that nature. If they have more than two rooms
 and a Kitchen, they are living lux
 uriously and do not deserve the as
 eistance of the government. There
 ara many one-room houses scattered
 over the farming districts, although
 there Is usually a bath house ad- Joining. ea
 The people live simply. The. food
 of the peasants is largely rye bread
 and fish. The fish are eaten drleu'