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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (July 2, 1905)
Mm wmt IS. W. TIII'MFTl AI.nYVfJ. nrrsldent. Ihr linn T If 1 Lucy Firestone, vl e prpsldpnt and Mm Arthur ll I Kent Nnttlng, Mrs. Joseph Hammond, an. I Mrs. A A I Kilward I. vie mcmhna nf th Crntrnl Counties Woman's Suffrage association, hnve sailed from F.ngliind to Investigate and report to their as sociation on a system of government In whlrh the nioUirr Ik the head of the family and the recognized rulrr. They nrp hound for India, to Inquire Into the working of tlip system which for centuries has ticpn In existence among Hip Nnlrs, one of the highest mate nnd cwcVo.-'ve tribes of nil India, wlirrn maternity counts for everything and paternity fur practically nothing. They propose to Investigate thor oughly tills system, and. If Ita workings nrp found satlsfac tory, to urge Ita ratnhllahmpnt In F.nglnnd nnd throughout tho world, relegating man to the background and raising woman to her proper sphere In ihort, claiming for woman kind the right to rule Hint, they think, belongs to her be cause of her function In the eatntillahmrnt ol the human race. They claim equality with man already, and they nre KlnB to nnd out whether their rlalnia for superiority arp well founded, nnd to learn from the actual experience of the Nalra whether or not women are more of a success us heada of families than men. The report of the commission appointed by the Midland! county association will be awaited with Interest In Orcnt Britain, where the fathers, already under nn Iron rule, nre soon to learn whether or not even their nominal position aa heads of the family Is to be disputed. World's Most Nearly Perfect Race. The Nalrs. nmotig whom the Midlands county women will conduct their Investigations, live along the cc ast of the Indian ocean, from Cape Comorln northward to Mungalnrc, and they are the aristocrats of the tribes. They arc proud; they are strong, despising wounds, scorning weakness; and they are declared by students to be the most nearly perfect race physically In all the world graceful, agile, handsome, chival rous, brave. Honor and gallantry! Love nnd battle! These are their devices. Christian nnd Mussulman have come nnd won at many points rilling the coast from the Ghats to the ocean, but the institute of the tnatrinrchato has remnlne I unshaken. The Mussulmans have adopted the system after Intermarrying nnd recognized the Inheritance In the female line, establishing the mother and the maternal uncle as the heads o' the family. In the beginning, of course, the women belonged to the males of the tribe without distinction exocp that distinction won through the fancies of the women which were few or the feats of nrms of the mnles themselvet who fought for the favors of the women. The women selected and selected the strongest and best men nnd the result is shown by the testimony of students that the physical perfection of the race Is uncniiMhu!. The newly married man drops his own name, accepts the name of the woman he weds, turns over nil his property to tier nnd asks only support, the privilege of work ing for the support of the family and to be suitably Interred. J Girl Babies in Demand. Cliils are desired by all families. The wealthy girls never lack partners. They can choose nnd the chosen one goen to live with 1 is mother-in-law, to become a member of her family and to obey her rule. With the Nalrs freedom for women begins with marriage. I'ntil she is married a girl is lm9 ifl m fV h "iltff mim 'xC Iff. Ilk v. v .1 .'UKKsOf., ?j?3x-vi.mm Vs vm Kris ;;-.vif L tkvta & w :. &&i'c;Y-i:r Tt ?! -Jo nothing, and she marries nt the age of 12 and then becomes 1'n c. She may dismiss her husband at once, If she so chooses, but being (i married woman she Is at liberty to do as she pleases. The system of Inheritance Is an interesting one. The property descends by zigzag lines, from mother to daughter, from the uncle to the children of the eldest sister. The rule of the mother, the practical Ignoring of the father, extends from palace to hove 1. It Is the world's last survival of n system declared to have been once the general law of the world -the recognition of the mother as the. real creator of the races nnd the rightful ruler; nnd the recogni tion of the father. If recognized at all, as a mere supple mental organism. Seek to Restore Petticoat Government. This system Is the one which the K.ngllsh women ure going to study, to see how It would work when applied to civilization and if they find It working well, to urge Its ndoptlon and the replacing of woman In her high place as creator of the race which they assert she once did and should now occupy. The brothers obey unquestionably thelt elder sister and respect their younger sisters. The sons nre not obliged to remain under the roofs of their mother's home but are per mitted to set up establishments of their own, taking with them one of their sisters, who by that act becomes tho ruler of the new household. If the son marries the wife owes obe dience to her sister-in-law, and If strife arisen the husband must stand by his sister against his wife and his wife, In her turn, will give tip her husband or sacrifice him In any way to her own brother. Conjugal love Is a light thing, but brothers and sisters remain steadfast to each other The Ilrahmlns and Nalrs ndngled together nnd found In the lnutriarchate the solution of their caste problem. The lirahmins, because of their claims to high caste, could not lake Nalrr ns wives, but, as tho Nnlrs only acknowledge the mother, the Brnhmlns supplied the fathers. Indifferent to paternity, of which they nre Ignorant, the Nalrs nccepted tho arrangement which hns continued ever since Woman's Influence Strong for Peace. The effect of the matrlarchate system on the peace ot the land hns been wonderful, and It Is noticeable that In Malabar I'.ouce reigns. During the centuries that the patronymic dy nasties have been torn to pieces by wars nnd Internal dissen sions, In which brothers have slaughtered brothers and sons rebelled ngainst fathers In all parts of Indie there has been pence and plenty nnd good will among these pooples who aro ruled by their mothers. The contrast Is easy to explain; paternal right calls for 4 : ..f i terrible amnitions, creates inefiualltles. The matrian hate the law of equality, excites neither hutred nor Jealousy, tends to peace and apportions equally. The Nalr, proud and haughty warrior, cheerfully obes his mother, assisted by his uncle, and seconded by his i Mi I sister; the trio manage the common property and he who participates in it renders an account to show his right. A N'air Is never too old to be " tied to mamma's apron strings." nor is he ever ashamed of It. The committee from tho Central Counties association pos sibly will lind some startling conditions along the Malabar coast and possibly they will return to Kngland Willi the 11 "! that the game Is not worth the candle. Hut, In common wlih the Naii-H, they believe woman, by right nnd justice, by virtue of her high position ns creator of the race, is entitled to rule. C9SSS5SSeS3SSS9SSSSS9 VTTS..CV V I - i Vi ; . s n o QUEEN BLmijWffl"-1904 WMsaMMManma x2 hiJ L'i VCZii' -JditO wiiims ii n 1 1 li l in 1 n i mi i i ;rm- - yi -- r t - r Art in Hair Dressing Crowns Beauty of Women. H NK of the beauties with which nature has been most generous to woman Is the hair. If there be one point more than another In which the tastes of mankind appear to ngreo It Is that rich, luxuriant, Mowing hair Is not merely beautiful in itself, but an Important even an essential auxiliary to the highest development of the personal charms; yet how frequently It dlstlgures rather tnan adorns the per son. This one of the perfections of nature, with which she appears to delight In embellishing the si x Is too often left to the management of a frlseur who, without any reference to the form or to the physiognomical develop ment, proceeds to dress the hair, having his Imagination charged with one of his best wigs on one of the best blocks. He consequently produces a facsimile of the aforesaid coiffure, which may look well upon the round, waxen, highly colored figure In his window, but which gives a most ghastly expressl .in to a long, thin visage. I.rt a person's hulr be arranged so as to give width to the face. How often u really good fait Is made ugly by a total Inattention to lines. Sometimes the hair Is pushed In at the cheeks and squared at the foreheud, so ns to give a most extraordinary pinched shape to the face. Let the oval where It exists be ulways preserved; where It does not Hot the hair be so humored that the deficiency shall not be perceived. Nothing Is more common than to see a face which is too, large below made to look grossly large and coarse by contracting the hair on the forehead and hecks and there bringing It to an abrupt check; whereas such a face should enlarge the forehead and the cheek and let the hair full partially over, so us to shade and soften off the lower exuberance. Hair Dressing Art in Europe. The mode of wearing the hair prevalent for a long time In Fiance wus having it slightly curled on the temples and collected behind into distinct tresses by means of bands or clasps of various kinds. The distinguishing fashion of the ninth and tenth cen turies was to twist and plait the lower half of the hair so as to form two separate tresscH, which were turned upon each side of the cheek. In the next century the hair on the forehend of women disappeared entirely under the bot tom of n headdress .leculiar to the time. Karly in the fifteenth century, during the reign of Charles V., the luxurious Isabella of Havfrla introduced a remarkable style of high headdress, which was thrown aside about the Inst quarter of the century for more taste fully arranged headdresses. These, however, were ob scured by black veils a few years afterwards. In the beginning of the sixteenth century t lie worni n began to turn tip their hair. Queen Maigaret of Navarre frizzed her hair at both temples and turned it back in front Curls Win Hearts of Men. In or out of f ishlon, it is contended that curls ure pre eminently beautiful and becoming. A', weapons aimed at men's hearts no other revolvers are half so deadly. They look yotithful. modest, find caressing The cheek is brighter for the foil they are to its luster. Orace is In their fall over the temple, l'oetry Ins Idealized and em bellished the general Impression with regard to cml-. Their motion coquettes with the eye. and the perplex' d light and shadow that play In and out of the nests of curve entrap the fancy. Few faces are beautiful enough to do without them; few faces that have n profusion of theni gracefully worn are unattractive. Yet of late years fashion seems to have rejected curls. Of all the nations of antiquity wlt'i whose character we are at all acquainted, the Orei Us cultivated beauty with the greatest care, and by them bountiful and taste fully adorned hulr was held to be necessary to setting off their feutut's. Until a late period, wlun they had attained to the highest pitch of refinement, they continued to drcFS their hair in a simple manner. Iivldlng It evenly on the middle of the crown, from the fort head bac kwards, they allowed It to flow loosely on cither side ,n waving ringlets on the shoulders, at the same time turning it carefully so ns to form a semi-circle along the forehead towards the temples. The rarest beauty in tho world Is hair becomingly Joined on the neck behind. I'suully, of course, the ban deau or braid should be so brought lound from the tem ples as to conceal the roots of the hair without so Increas ing the bulk as to give that part of the head an animal ex pression. This is the point often III managed in hair dressing. Roman Style Impressively Simple. The simplest and. In the old. plain times of Home, the most common headdress was merely a rolling together of the whole hair upon the top of the head, either with or without a previous division of It Into two great locks. The hair thus dressed was held together In general by u nar iow band. This simple method of arranging the hair was particularly convenient for the wearers of garlands, and therefore was in use among the dreeks also, who Indeed never failed to reconcile the utmost elegance with the ut most plainness. Hut h t ir the most considerable change which ever occurred In the hair dressing of the Romans was Intro duced after the vIcIomis gained over tin Cierman tribes of Helgiimi and the banks of I he Khine. Not contented with borrowing the barbarous and horn like knots of these people tiny Imitated the colors of t'.eir hair also, and assumed upon the shores of the Tiber the same yellow or reddish locks which w're then so universal upon those of tin' lthlnc, the Scbeldc, and the Maese. These arts, how ever, effectual us they seem to have been. v re soon found to be troublesome and the custpm of wearing peruques, already familiar upon the stage, was f'ist Introduced Into private life out of this new rage for red hair. The wives of tho SicambrI and the Cattl were stripped of their flow ing curls, in order to supply the Insatial le market of the Human matrons. The same folly which was lately so com mon in Huris was then no less so in Hi me. The combs which the Homun wal ing maids employed in dressing the hair of their mistresses were nil adorned with tho same unwearied profusion of luxurious decora tion. The only parts of the modern friscur's apparatus of which they knew nothing are the powder puffs, etc., for much as they dealt in pomatums, they made no use of starch. They used, Indeed, gold dust nnd other contriv ances to make their hair yellow, but they knew nothing of our modern hair powder, wlih h owed its origin to a loath some disease, and first made its appearance at the court of Louis XIV. Marked Improvement in Hair. The improving taste of the present generation is per haps nowhere more conspicuous than In permitting us to preserve the natural color of the hair, and to wear our own wlxther it be black, brown, or gtay. There is also a marked Improvement in the more natural 'way in which the hair has been arranged In the last quarter of a cen tury. They are more or less allowed to retain the direc tion Intended by nature Instead of being combed upwards, and turned over a cushion a foot or two in length. These latter headdresses, cmph.il ieally culled, from the French origin, " totes," were built or plastered up only onco a month: It Is luay to Imagine what a state tiny must have been in during thn latter part of the time. All feminine I'uris appeared to be engaged in prac ticing new styles of hair dress. There are few women in I'uris who aro not engaged in learning the various styles of coiffure that may best suit their physiognomies, be sides the many hair dressers who add to the beautifying of the feminine countenance. tyljLJ 1 VkUuiwm ' ;v- I'M ) ? M 4 m