WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 297, 12 June 1912, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

1 (Conducted by " Eileen"). I TURKISH WOMEN. * THRASHED FOR CRITICISING VEIL. The Turkish women so courageously etruggling to emancipate themselves from the narrow, deadening limits of the old-world harem life find themselves at present in a most dcplorahle plight. All the hopes and aspirations which inspired them, soon after the advent of the Constitution, to direct their energies, mental and physical, to complete enfranchisement from orthodox habits and the usages of tradition, are now baffled and thwarted at every turn. Although the wiser among them, who are able to see ahead, are convinced that their present woeful disappointments and trials are only the inevitable results of the reaction of a regime that is undergoing the transitorial stages of development on a liberal basis, the majority are beginning to lose heart. The latest signs and manifestations are certainly pointing to a decisive retrogression, and are apt to discourage even the most intrepid of the Turkish women. 'Fathers incarcerate and frequently brutally ill-treat their daughters for appearing unveiled at the open window of the harem. Husbands divorce their wives who dare to expatiate on the topics of equality of woman with man. Not seldom the Elfendi gives a thorough thrashing to his spouse for merely mentioning that the Koran never enjoins that women should be veiled. Brothers denounce to the police authorities their heautiful sisters who venture to enter a European shop without being accompanied by a eunuch. Any movement of the hanonm, any word, any slight deviation in dress, which is tinged even in the smallest degree by European influence, is i rigorously condemned as opposed to tne strict morals of the Sheriat—i.e., the Moslem religious law. Such deviations, by whomsoever committed, are relentlessly punished. The punishment is often of a most barbaric nature. lam told of a brutal father who whipped his disobedient daughter to death for a few contradictory remarks upon the irrationality of a hanoum's head-gear. As the private opposition of fanatical partisans seemed to have little result in the; way of enlightening the erring daughters of Islam, the Ottoman Government itself has thought it necessary to intervene. Laws of restriction have been issued to safeguard the dignity of the Sheriat. Thus a hanoum entering a European shop without mother or sister must pay the fine of £ls for the first time. A ■ second offence in this direction is punished with severe imprisonment. ! A special law prohibits a Turkish lady f visiting any coffee-house or restaurant in Pera, the European quarter. Public gatherings of hanoums (women), which were allowed two years ago, are now so strictly supervised by the police and military authorities, that all privacy is destroyed, making free, useful deliberation an utter impossibility. The Seikh-ul-Islam, the religious head of the Ottoman Moslems, has stepped in

with his own restrictions and prohibitions, which are even more absurd than the enactments of the civil and military authorities. He directs chief attention to the dress of the hanoums. Neither the veil, nor the loose upper garment, nor even the belt of the women is now what it ought to be, he thinks. Complete degeneration, he says, is beginning to possess the Moslem fair sex, and the pernicious influence of the West is paving the way to hell. He expresses this view in his latest "Encyclical." It is probably due to this ''Encyclical" and to the bitter fanaticism of the softas (students of theological colleges) that the following nasty tricks are played upon the helpless hanoums: —Frequently they find their dress torn or cut behind from the neck downward. The dastardly perpetrators of such foul deeds remain unknown. Not seldom it happens on a steamer, or in a railway carriage, or in the open street. The despair of the hanoum on finding herself thus brutally treated in some public place can easily be imagined. I myself happened to witness a case of such brutality. The upper garment of a young Turkish lady, which showed some slight traces of European workmanship, was cut by scissors in several places. It happened in a tramcar. The poor girl was crying bitterly. She did not dare to leave the carriage until some decent covering had been brought to her by a sympathising hanoum. The other day Halideh Hanoum, the well-known authoress, ventured to lecture in an American college before a European audience. This fact raised a fierce outburst of indignation among the orthodox Moslems; the more so as she appeared unveiled. lam told now that Halideh Hanoum will be imprisoned for her unheard-of hardihood. It is evident that the worthy Turk is not yet ripe to understand and bear such liberties on the part of his fair sex, notwithstanding his Constitution and the lofty terms of fraternity and equality which are so constantly on his lips.—Daily Chronicle correspondent.

SONG OF THE SUFFRAGETTES The militant suffragettes supplies the topic of an up-to-date nursery rhyme in an English paper, and runs as follows: Sing a song of suffragettes, Stockings full of stones; Four and twenty "bobbies" — Struggles, cries and groans. When the gaol is open The girls begin to sing, Isn't it a pretty mess For Parliament and King?

GENERAL Labor-saving devices are becoming an obsession with the American woman. The very latest is the "box service" for parties. Hostesses have found for a long time that the modern staff of servants is not adequate at a largo party, and many of the more timid and retiring guests go supperless rather than push and scramble at the supper buffet. In order to prevent any of her guests going away hungry, the most up-to-date hostess has provided supper boxes, which are divided into compartment, fitted with the different eatables, and handed to each newcomer on his or her arrival. Presumably the guests then retire to small tables and unpack their boxes, like so many children at a Sunday school picnic with their paper bags. The United States Treasury employs two intelligent women clerks as "waste basket searchers." Recently one of them found a package containing 10,000dol. in bills which had accidentally been tossed into a receptacle for waste. One wonders whether the elation of the discoverer of this package fairly balanced the chagrin of the clerk who had discarded it when the latter was confronted with the "find." Mrs. Harvey Brown, who is in America, was left a fortune on condition that she married at once. Not having a husband in view, she advertised, offering £4O for anyone who would marry her, and guarantee not to molest her in any way afterwards. She and her husband parted at the church door. In Italy they have a novel way of advertising vacant apartments. In place of the card inscribed "Rooms to let," or "Apartments," which one sees in other

countries, a white olotli, about the size of a serviette, flutters from the casement notifying the passer-by that the rooms can be rented.