The Sunday Oregonian., May 10, 1908, Magazine Section, Page 8, Image 54

THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, MAT 10, 1903.
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a h i i r i i II tin nil ra
WJLIHITED NUMBER OF UGANDA BRIDES FOR. SALE AT THIS BARGAIN PRICE
8
BT FRANK G. CARPENTER..
DO you want a cheap wife?
You can get one" here In Uganda
for J3 ,-per." The actual price
is 13.33, and there are thousands
now on the market for Just that
much and no more. The rate has
been fixed by the Lukiko, or the
native royal council, which governs
this country under the King, and the man
who bids higher will bo fined. At the
same time the parents who demand more
are liable to a fine equal to the price of
their daughter. So you see every one has
a fair show. I have met crowds of these
three-dollar maidens since I came into
Uganda, and I am old there are at least
100.000 now ready for marriage. Accord
ing to the new laws, a girl should be at
least 17 before she is wedded, and as
there are 2.000,000 souls in Uganda, a fresh
crop comes on every year.
How the Girl's 'Look.
But before I go further, let me tell you
how these Uganda girls look. The coun
try swarms With them, and I have taken
snapshots of a dozen while walking over
the hills. They represent girls of aU ages
from little tots of eight, as naked as the
day they were born, save for a cord about
the waist as big as my thumb, to full
K row n, well-developed maidens of 16.
clad In bark garments of a briok-dust hue.
All have beautiful forms. The average
young woman is straighter : than the
Venus do Medici, and she carries herself
like a queen. She Is an African queen,
however, and that allied to the beet ne
gro type. Take for instance one whom I
ized up today. I never go traveling
without a tapellne In my pocket, and I
can give you her measurements. She was
Just five feet one inch In height. 33
Inches across the 'chest under the arms
and 36 including the bark cloth which
covered her bust. I did not take the line
around her waist, but tt was longer by
far than that of our average woman of
the same age, coming perhaps from the
extraordinary amount of bananas upon
which these people feed. This girl was
of a rich mahogany brown and her. skin
shone as If it were oiled. She was clad
In bark cloth from arm pits to ankles
and her garment consisted of a bark
blanket, wrapped tightly about her body
under the arms and tied by a cord at the
waist. This cord was of bark, and, the.
extra folds of the blanket were gathered
Into it so that they fell over In front.
The girl's neck and shoulders were as
smooth as though cut out by a sculptor,
and she had beautiful arms. She had 32
teeth and they were oound, firm and as
white as ivory. I cannot describe her hair,
for her scalp was shaved close to the skin
and she had evidently Just left the barber.
The shaving made her little brown ears
especially prominent. Other maidens
whom I have seen have hair decidedly
woolly, and I doubt not this girl's is the
same when grown out. Through my guide,
Kplfras. or Sassafras, as I call him, I
discovered her age. She is Just 17, and,
I understand, is about to be married.
Love In V'canda. '
The girl told us that her prospective
husband was Just 20. She simpered a
little In talking of him, and was evi
dently proud of the fact of her ap
proaching wedding. Sassafras says It
Is really a love-match, and that such
matches are common In Uganda. These
people are the most civilized of this
continent. They are polite and full of
good nature. In many respecte" they
remind me of the Japanese.
Girls and boys go around hand-in-hand,
and there seems to be consider
able affection between the young men
and young women. It used to be that
a man could have as many wives as he
pleased. King Mutsea had hta hun
dreds, and until lately every chief had
his harem. After the country was con
verted to Christianity, slavery was
practically abolished, and now the rule
of one wife prevails, except among the
Mohammedan believers, who are each
allowed to have four.
There is no seclusion of women in
this part of Africa, and the boys and
girls play together. If two fall in love,
the girl takes the young man and In
troduces him to her aunt, and in due
time he Is presented to her father and
mother. They examine him carefully,
and if they like him, consent to the
marriage. The price is then paid, and
the man gets his girl. The marriages
take place In church, and after that the
two go to themselves. All marriages
are registered, and If there Is any dis
pute between the two this registration
entitles them to have it settled by the
courts. Divorces are not infrequent,
and the common complaint of a woman
a auck affairs ia that bar husband's
love has cooled, or that he Is making
goo-goo eyes at some other woman.
There is considerable complaint
throughout the country at the fixed rate
for wives. Parents say that it is not
Just that a man should pay as much for
an ugly girl as for a beautiful one, and
that the questions of age. Intelligence
and family ought to be worth consider
able. The grooms say the same. This
was different in the past, and even now
I believe a chief pays more for his wife
than a common man and that according
to his rank. If he Is of the lowest
order, the sum Is $5, If of the second
grade, about $10, and of the highest
of all he Is expected to give a little
over $13 and a live cow.
The Poor Uganda Mother-ln-Law.
Among the queer customs are those
regarding mothers-in-law. The wife's
mother seems to be even more unpopu
lar here than at home, and she has no
rights that her son-in-law is bound to
respect. She cannot speak to her daugh
ter's husband without he first speaks
to her, and if she should meet him ac
cidentally she must turn aside and cov
er her head. In case she has not enough
clothes on at that time for the purpose,
she may sit down by the side of the
road and cower her eyes and face with
her hands until he passes. The wife's
mother dare not enter her daughter's
house without a special Invitation, and
she is not supposed to stay long when
she comes. If she wants to see her
daughter she sneaks up to within 50
feet of the house and waits until the
girl happens to come outside. The two
then have their talk together, and If
the mother-in-law wants to greet her
son-in-law still Inside the hut she
may yell out, "How are you?" The
man, if he Is in a good humor, may re
spond with "All right, mamma," but It
would be infra dig for his to look out.
Widows.
Sassafras tells me that many of the
women I see here who have let their
hair grow are widows, and that on this
account they have hair. The average
married woman shaves frequently, and
the heads of the marriageable girls are
usually as clean as a billiard ball. A
widow to show her grief Is not sup
posed to cut her hair until two months
after the death of her husband, and if
she Is overwhelmed with despair she
may let her hair grow for five or six
months. I have already written of how
the widows of Kings are supposed to
spend the rest of their lives watching
in the tombs of their husbands, and how
scores of women are now doing that
for some of the passed-away Kings of
Uganda.
As to the children, I see little black,
babies everywhere, and there are nu
merous boys dressed in bark cloth and
little girls almost naked. I am told
however, that this is a land of small
families. The average man and his
wife do not have as many children as
among the rich ot Europe and the
United States. The woman who bears
several children is the exception rather
than th rule, and many of the families
have none. Indeed, the birth of a sec
ond son is always an occasion for pride
and rejoicing. The fact is announced
with drums, and the drumming may be
kept up for a month outside the hut
This is a sign that there Is Joy within
and that the couple's friends should
come in and drink some banana beer to
the health of the new arrival. The
mother who has a second son is entitled
to a new dress for having brought this
honor to the family. This dress is of
terra cotta bark cloth, and its ordinary
cost is about S3 cents.
I like the looks of these babies Thev
are bright little brown things, good
natured and full of smiles. The mothers
fasten them to their bare backs Inside
their bark cloth gowns while workine in
the fields and the little ones bob up and
down as mamma wields the hoe. Some
times they are tied inside goat skins and
thus carried. The men often go along
with their babies astride their hips and
I occasionally see one with a pickaninny
riding on his shoulders. They seem fond
of their children and proud of them.
Uganda Houses.
These Uganda people live happy. They
are always laughing and smiling, and the
men and women go along hand in hand
They have comfortable homes from an
African standpoint. They live in villages
scattered over the country, but each vil
lage covers a great territory and every
hut has Its garden about it. In which
grow bananas, sweet potatoes and other
vegetables. As a rule the banana trees
shade the huts, and one often walks quite
a distance through a banana plantation
before he gets to the house.
The bouses axe of different sizes. Some,
4.
1 AV 4,
A DCZ&AR. V72F TZD JiEJi BABY
such as those of the chiefs, are of great
extent and are most elaborately made.
Out In the country they are more like
huts, and they look much like little hay
stacks about 12 feet in diameter and 12
feet in height, except that each has a
sort of brim which extends out and
shades the door. The huts are made of
reeds with thatched roofs, the latter being
upheld by poles. Every hut has several
rooms, which are divided by walls of
matting and bark cloth. Even the poor
est house has two apartments, one at the
front and the other In the rear. In the
rear apartment are bunks around the
wall upon which the people sleep. Such
huts have but little furniture; two or
three stools, a half dozen earthenware
pots and some wicker or grass basins
constitute an outfit for beginning married
life, and if In addition a woman can have
a hoe or so and a scythe she is full ready
to assume her part of the contract.
What They Eat.
As to food, the chief staple is the ba
nana. There are many varieties of these
In Uganda, and they are more important
to that country than wheat and corn are
to ours. The banana, which serves as
the chief food, is much longer than any
that comes into our markets. It is a sort
of plaintain. It Is eaten green, the fruit
being first peeled and then cooked with
WHY LANDLORDS BAR THE CHILDREN
Sound-Proof Walls and Floors to Resist Noisy Youngsters.
w
HAT would this world be with
out children?" demanded a
homeseeker of a man he had
fixed upon as a landlord. The landlord
admitted that "it wouldn't be much."
"Think of the dreariness of it!" pur
sued the homeseeker. , The landlord
thought.
"The little cherubs make heaven In a
house!" continued the homeseeker, warm
ing to his subject. That wasn't exactly
what some tenants had told him, the
landlord recollected, but the difference
was only one of name. He Implied as
much.
"You were once a child yourself?" re
minded the homeseeker. The landlord al
lowed that he must have been, but he
looked as though he doubted it.
"My children are angels," the home
seeker asserted.
"That's what they all say, but -" be
gan the landlord.
"When can you have the flat ready
for us?" concluded the homeseeker.
"It's cost me a lot of money, tons of
worry and some good tenants to get rid
of the children I've had." announced the
landlord, "and I've said to myself that
I'll never take any more."
His tone did not admit of argument.
Even the touching picture whlchT the
homeseeker drew of gurgling little angels
excluded from the rights of home by in
human tyrants did not move him. He
had heard it all before. There had been
a time when he had yielded to such
eloquence. That was before his janitors
took to ringing him up frenziedly that
they might show him to what a state
his well ordered houses could be brought
by a little expenditure of energy on the
part of tots whom he could almost put
Into his pocket.
He remembered a morning when he
hurried into a hall to see his gold satin
wall panels covered all over with sig
natures that were useless upon checks,
scarcely decipherable upon picture post
cards, and yet considered, highly orna
mental upoa brocaded satin as afforduuc
a little water In an earthenware
It steams away the flesh softens and
soon becomes a solid mass of mush.
When done U is taken off the fire and
turned out upon some fresh banana
leaves. These serve as a tablecloth. The
family now gathers around and gets
ready for the meal. Each first washes
his hands and gives them a shake to
get oft the superfluous water. The father
then takes a knife and divides the pile
of banan pulp into as many divisions as
there are members at the board. In the
meantime a bowl of soup or fish gravy
has been placed inside the ring. This is
used in common. Each persons takes up
a handful of banana mush and kneads
It into a ball Just big enough for one
bite. He then dips the ball into the soup,
and with a wonderful sleight of band
conveys it to his mouth without dropping
a bit of the grease. By the time the ba
nana mush Is all eaten the soup bowl Is
empty.
These people also have Indian corn,
peas, beans and sweet potatoes. They
raise chickens, sheep and goats, and oc
casionally have meat. They do not seem
fond of eggs, and the women are not al
lowed to eat them after they are mar
ried. They are not permitted to eat
chicken or mutton, such viands being
reserved for the men of the family. They
may, however, eat beef or, veal.
an effect of chlaro-oscuro hitherto lack
ing. The Janitor showed him that the
charcoal and pencil drawings applied to
marble stairs were far from decorative,
and that balustrades and hall furniture,
while they might serve to test the sharp
ness of pocketknlfe blades, were never
the better for it. He recalled, with bit
terness, missing a large Irregular square
of costly brocade from a hanging and
discovering, after diligent search, that
little Alice had made of it an Afghan
for her dolly's carriage.
"Wasn't it just too cunning for her to
think of that?" the young mother asked
him. "But, of course, I am sorry about
your curtain," she added In a tone he
felt to be one of heartless indifference.
"Perhaps it can be patched. Alice has
the piece; she has only fringed the
edges."
"Patched!" he choked on the word.
He gazed at the fluffy blue and gold
creature Alice called "Muvver" and
realized that he couldn't say anything
that she would understand for. if she
did. would listen to without offense.-
Sometimes he is wrought upon to tell
of a little boy a merry youngster, full
of innocent fun who had lost sundry
tenants for him and embroiled several
families in violent quarrels before the
mystery of the cause of their feuds was
revealed.
"It happened once when I was handy,"
he said, "and I went right to the flat
where I was sure it came from. The
maid looked Innocent when she let me in.
The parlor bay window was open to ad
mit Icy breezes, and a little boy was on
the sofa doubled up with laughter. He
seemed so tickled that I began to laugh,
too.
" 'What's the Joke, sonny?' I asked.
" 'Oh, ha! ha! ha! ha;' he gasped. 'I
filled the paper bag with water and when
the lady got under the window "I dropped
it on her head he! he! he! an' It went
pop! an' she said "Ouch!" Oh, ho! ho!
ho! he squirmed in ecstasy.
"I thought for a minute of laying him
pot., A I P
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3 JTl
The Baganda have fish from Lake Vic
toria and from their numerous streams.
They eat locusts and are especially fond
of white ants. The ants are caught by
smoking their hills about nightfall and
trapping them as they come out. They
are eaten both raw and cooked. I see
them for sale in the markets. One can
buy a handful or so for 2 cents, and a
great lot for a rupee. The ants are
wrapped up In banana leaves when taken
away.
These people are now making sugar
from cane. They are growing tomatoes
and 20 different kinds of peas and beans.
Thev use mnnv rnrrffl an fond nnd also a
green vegetable much like Bpinach. I
over my knee, and then I thought better
of it. His father was the one to wield
the slipper. If I had been his father!
"And all that time the Joneses had ac
cused the Smiths of throwing palls of
water over their glad rags, and the
Smiths had claimed that the Joneses or
the Blacks had been responsible, and
serving maids had been reduced to tears
and tantrums and neighbors to suspicious
enemies, all for the amusement of one
little cherub, scarcely out of his frocks!"
"Why don't landlords want children for
tenants?" repeated a house-owner after
me. "Young man, I am just going to see
a complaining tenant. You may come
with me."
He threw open the door of an apartment-house
with Indignant emphasis and
pointed an accusing finger down the hall.
Baby carriages and go-carts were lined up
In the corridor. Some had pink and blue
umbrellas and some no umbrellas at all.
Dinkey, woolly and furry and lacy things
hung from them. -They contained little
frilled pllowsi Teddy bears, rag dolls and
an occasional bottle.
"A sale?" I ventured.
"Sale nothing!" he returned, heatedly.
"Babies! I've either got to get rid of
some of those or lose one or two of my
best tenants. They say their nerves won't
stand the screaming and that they must
have some sleep at night. And then just
look at my halls."
"You keep your rugs very fresh con
sidering," I remarked.
"No wonder they are fresh," he assent
ed, irritably. "I am continually buying
new ones. Last Fourth of July there were
holes enough burned in my hall rugs to
make sieves of them, and you ought to
have seen my entrance and the sidewalks!
Anybody would think the place was a fort
In a state of active defense. It was a hol
iday, and prospective tenants came to see
It, but they did not come nearer than the
corner they saw more than they wanted
to from there. Patriotism ia all very well
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see little fields of tobacco here and there.
The soil is as red as that of Cuba and
the plants grow' without much cultiva
tion. The tobacco Is used for smoking
and is consumed by both men and
women. They "gather coffee from the
wild trees and chew the pulp, but
so far have not learned to use it as a
drink.
A Netv Market In Africa.
Since the British have taken possession
of Uganda they have Introduced many
kinds of food which are becoming popu
lar, and they are gradually creating a
market here for European goods. Some
of the natives are now using tea, and
in its place, but It has no place in a de
cent apartment-house."
"Why won't I take children in my
apartment-houses?" echoed an agent. "A
burnt child dreads the fire. I took ten
ants with children once. For one thing,
tenants don't like board of health signs
pasted in the entrance halls posters pro
claiming diphtheria or scarlet fever or
measles or some of the things children
are continually picking up on the fly.
They don't even try to make those post
ers artistic.
"Then, too, children have no apprecia
tion of values. Their Inquiring minds
move them to unscrew, pull down and
pry up everything In the way of fixtures,
ornaments, gas logs, tiles and parquetry
that their ingenious fingers can get at.
It never occurs to them that, throwing
hard objects "at chandeliers and windows
will cause anything to break, and they
have no superstition whatever about
smashing of wall mirrors. They don't
have to live down the seven years' hoo
doo. "Along with the bump of destructive
ness there exists in them a well devel
oped passion for making a noise. Some
apartment houses are built with 'dead
ened' bricks In walls and under floors
to render them Impervious to sound.
Builders had In mind pianos and family
Jars, kitchen scraps and such things.
Nothing renders the racket of hearty
children impenetrable. Actually, to Judge
from sounds proceeding from places
where they were romping you'd think the
children were ripping up the floors,
throwing around the furniture and swing
ing from the chandeliers. How they do
It? Search me!
"One old couple used to come shuffling
over to the next house, not taking time
to put on hat or wrap, to find out who or
how many had been killed, whether a
chimney had fallen down or a wall fallen
out, only to discover that it was only the
children going downstairs!
"Of course, tenants who aren't deaf and
haven't any children of their won com
plain. A whole family precipitated them
selves Into the elevator to escape from
their apartment under the roof, declar
ing that a tornado was ripping off tne
Iron sheeting and scattering around the
slates and chimneys. The janitor ven
tured to the scene of the disturbance and
Jams and biscuits are gradually coming
Into demand. This Is, of course, among
the wealthier people and especially amonf
the chiefs, who buy these things to serve
at their teas or dinner parties. Another -article
which is becoming common is the
umbrella. Both women and men use it,
and I often see a crowd of a dozen or
so well-to-do natives going along with
umbrellas in their hands.
Within the past few years the mission
aries have taught many of the Bagando
to write and a demand for writing paper
has been created. The people want cot
ton goods and, as I have said before,
they especially like our American sheet
ing. Little stores are now springing up
In the more thickly populated centers,
and there are a score or so of such es
tablishments here and at Entebbe.
A New Civilization.
Indeed, the British are gradually mak
ing a new nation of Baganda. Only a
few years ago these people were warring
with their neighbors and enslaving the
tribes about. Mutesa had a large army '
and his predecessors had. many wars.
Justice was then practically unknown
and human life was of no account. The
people had no incentive to work. They
lived upon the bananas which they grew
in their gardens, they made their clothes
from the bark of the fig tree and their
houses came from the cane of the
swamps nearby.
To a large extent such conditions pre
vail today, but the people want bigger
houses and better houses. They are be
ginning to use kerosene and the huts of
the chiefs are lighted by lamps. - Soma
now have little patches of carpet and not
a few are buying furniture. Our shoes
and stockings are beginning to be worn,
and the desire for all foreign things Is
becoming an incentive to work. So far
this movement is Blow, and the low
wages .amounting to only 4 or 5 cents a
day at the best, are not very sitmulat
Ing. As time goes on this will changa
and there will some day be a good' work
ing population In this rich and fertile)
country.
Few Concessions Given.
So far It has' been the government's
policy to grant nut few concessions for
the exploitation of Uganda. The lands
are held by the natives and also by the
English government. Some of the chiefs
own large tracts. The native Prime Min
ister, for Instance, has about 100 square
miles of land; he owns 1000 head of cat
tle and his Income Is over $5000 a year.
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1
. -'V.'
Other chiefs have smaller tracts and thai
King himself has a considerable property.
All forests over two miles square are
supposed to belong to the English crown..
The timber Is especially valuable and the
rubber possibilities are great. At pres
ent the British government is planting
rubber trees along the principal roads.
There are such all the way from Kam
pala to Entebbe, a distance of 23 miles.
The trees are carefully set -out and are'
guarded by fences of wicker or cane.
Those who work the roads cultivate these
trees and they are now growing luxu
riantly. They will probably yield a con
siderable revenuo to the government
within a few years to come.
Kampala, Uganda.
reported that all the children In the house
were on the roof with a dog teaching him
to Jump as high as they themselves could.
"Childless tenants assert that If chil
dren could be kept out of the halls and
their noise confined to their own do
mains life might be endurable. Parents
say these cavillers are heartless. At all
events the liberty of the halls is seldom
denied to children. On a rainy day they
make a sort of endless chain on the stair
case and scurry from floor to floor when
they hear pursuing hall attendants com
ing to stop their noisy play. Sometimes
they make friends with these hall boys,
and then the entrance hall is selected for
romps, with an occasional dash out Into
the rain. It never appears to occur to
parents that elevator and telephone op
erators are not all trained in manners
and morals as associates for growing
children, who invariably pick up every
thing they hear."
When landlords endure children as
tenants janitors are prone to make par
ents feel that their little' ones are merely
endured, and it is with great reluctance
that they bring from basement regions
childish vehicles of various kinds which
must be stored there between the hours
of usage. A child is made to feel early
in life that the apartment dwe..ing has
troubles all its own. irst comes ttie
"shooing" off that favorite playground
the front steps after which life for tha
strenuous child becomes an almost con
tinual wrangle.
A few landlords, pitying t..s little ones
driven out of most first-class apartment
houses In Gotham, are constructing houses
especially for families with children.
Walls and floors are being so thoroughly
deadened that It Is promised the noisiest
children may play to their hearts' content
without fear of interruption from an irate
neighbor. Of course, this costs money.
Doubtless pater-familias will find that it
comes just as high as ever to house his
olive branches.
The ancient cliff dwellers best solved
the '"milles-in-flats problem. Their apart
ments were hewn in solid rock. Children
can make a good deal of racket In a
rock-hewn chamber without an echo of
it piercing to the ears of the sleeping
infant of the flat above. New York
Tribune.