Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 149, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 June 1916 — Queer Things in Marken [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Queer Things in Marken

IF THERE Is one place on earth more conservative than all the rest, that place is the little Dutch island of Marken, in the Zuyder Zee. There are only five hundred inhabitants on the island, and all are, in a measure, related. For centuries no stranger has ever been permitted to settle and live there. So unfriendly are the Markenites even toward tourists that an inn or hotel is not permitted on the island. To stay all night you must bribe an unscrupulous Markenite to let you sleep in his flood attic. The people have an indescribable dialect of their own which staggers even a Dutchman. Although they can reach Amsterdam in less than two hours by gasoline launch, the women never leave the island, and the men leave only on business. Their attitude toward the people of Holland and the inhabitants of any other country is one of antipathy and strict isolation. In addition to being the cleanest people on earth, they are most peaceful. No alien power has ever had any perceptible influence on them. •

Fashions Don’t Change. Fashions of men and women do not change in Marken. They are wearing the same styles today that their greatgrandmothers and great-grandfathers wore. From infants to old women, all dress alike. Women never wear mourning, but add a piece of black material either to the left or the right side of the sleeve, or to some part of the skirt to designate the relationship to the member of the family deceased. Boys and girls are dressed alike until they are six years old, and can be distinguished only by a button on the cap of the boy, and a rose on the cap of the girl. The sixth birthday is a great event in the life of every boy, for it is at this time that he doffs his corset and dress and puts on male garb. The only change that girls make in the mode'of dress is that on the day of marriage corsets are laid aside never to be worn again, and it becomes stylish to wear many underskirts. This gives a hoop-skirt effect.

The men and the boys over six years old habitually wear what Americans would call bloomers, and a loose plain jacket with a couple of gold or silver buttons on the collar. The Markenites are tall, heavy of frame, have eyes of bluish gray, sand colored tyair, conspicuously poor teeth and large lips, which they seldom close. This description applies to both

men and women who, according to our standards, would be called stupid looking. Women’s Ages Uncertain, It Is difficult to tell the age of the women. One little woman, her face a network of wrinkles and most of her teeth n goue, proudly held up a three-weeks-old baby for inspection. It was dressed exactly like her. To one who did not know, she would have been taken for the grandmother, but as matter of fact, she was only twenty-eight years old, and this was her first child.

Their houses are all pretty much alike. There is never more than two rooms downstairs, a dining room which is also kitchen, and a living room and bedroom combined. There is always a fireplace of old blue tiles. From the rafters hang jugs, dried fish and hams. The Markenites are not meat eaters. The ordinary diet Consists of sish — cod or herring—‘dried peas or beans, and cheese. The cheese is ’made of goat milk. The people use the street as a sitting room. Outside the door of each house is a bench, where the housewife knits woolen socks and jackets. Marken has no street lights. The extravagant burn gasoline, others,

candles. The customary hour of retiring is nine o’clock in summer and seven in winter, There are no old maids in Marken. Girls have only one sweetheart. Each suitor is a Markenite. He has to be. A girl could not be married on the island to anyone else. And if she left the island and married she would never be permitted to return. “Are you adept at fishing?” This is the only thing a father asks when a young man is seeking his daughter in marriage. If he can queffl’fy in that respect, personal likings are not considered. Unless engaged a young woman is never seen promenading with a young man. After the announcement of the engagement it is perfectly proper for the couple to walk wherever they choose holding hands —in fact, that is the custom.

There are no secret or broken engagements on that island of queer customs and traditions. The Markenites have an engagement rite. The young man and his affianced sit up all night with a large candle lighted on the table between them. After the house is closed, the parents leave the couple each in a straight uncomfortable chair on either side of the table. Not a word can be spoken until the- candle has burned and gone out. The assumption is that they must be sincerely in love, or they could not endure the ordeal. When the sun has risen, the respective parents drink boiled wine together, and the young man is welcomed into the girl’s family. They are then considered engaged for good and all. The people have married and intermarried for so many years that they are not only becoming degenerate, but there is scarcely a family on the whole island which does not hate at least one member suffering from tuberculosis. They have been able to endure as long as they have because the greater part of their time is spent outdoors in the sunshine. »

ON THE HARKEN GAMAL

THEY WERE BORN CONSERVATIVE

LITTLE MAIDS FROW SCHOOL