Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 87, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 July 1898 — WINNING A WIFE IN GREECE. [ARTICLE]

WINNING A WIFE IN GREECE.

IpoDicr Gatherer* Ennagr la Snbniiueou* Content* for Her Hand. In many of the Greek inlands diving for sponges forms a considerable part of the occupation of the inhabitants. A visitor to this unfrequented region describes the following rather startling custom. He says: “Himia, which is a little island directly opposite Rhodes, is worthy of notice on account of the singular method by whteh tbe Greek inhabitants of the island get their living. On the bottom of the sen in this locality the common spongy is found in greater abundance than in any other part of the Mediterranean. The natives make it a trade to gather these, and their income lrom this source is far from contemptible; their Moods are always in demand among who use an incredible ntimlier afrsponges in the ablutions prescribed Mohammedan ritual. A girl in fhte island is not permitted to marry gufll "he has brought up a certain nufnhprof sponges and given proof of her sß&by taking them from a certain dei%). But in certain of these islands thsb custom is reversed. The father of a marriageable daughter bestows her on the best direr among her suitors, ije who can stay longest in the water and bring up the biggest cargo of sponges marries the maid.**