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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1901)
Traveling by Rail in the Dutch East Indies AOS, Java, Sept. fi (Special M Correspondence (if Tho Hon.) Hallways In .lava' Yes, lniti dreds of miles of tln-iii' I have Just crossed tin- Island on a trunk lino as long tin from lloHtoti to I'lliiburg ami I write those notes nt the million of MaiiM. about tin If way between Soerbaya anil ll.itavla. Tho Dutch of tho ImlleH have ten times riH much rall roail ax wo have In tho riilllpiilnes. Their mails ere the best of their kind, and, nl though they are almost on the equator, that ,-ed hot bell t.liout Mother lOarlh'H walat. i ti- y are built to Btay. TIiIh Ih olio of tho most uiountalnoiiR landH In the world, whero It never raliiH but It pours, but novcrtho Ickh the toadbeds nnd embankmentx nro such that th'-y withstand the tropical tor rents. In many plueis tho bankH nro walled with HintieH noil In others thoy nro criss crossed bv lines of stones two foot wide. There ate many culverts nnd nlso stonu drains, plastered and whltowaslipil so thnt they form while lines running down tho green banks. This Is Irrigated hind. I-'or thousands of years before tho Dutch eamo tho Javanese had torracnl tho mountains and carried tho water In nipieilucts from one hill to the other. In tho railroads tho Irrigation sys tem had to be preserved and In places tho water Is now carried high over the tracks Sometimes there are waterways above nun below tho mads and not Infrequently you pass n ureal tank In which tho water lit syphoned from one side of tho track to tho other. Ono of the railroad dlUlcultlca hero Is keeping down tho vegetation. Tho road beds must be kept perfectly clean and tho grass on I be embankments Is shaved like n lawn The tracks are ballaBted with rock and the ballast protected by little walls of cobblestones rour Inches high, which I (Mia a nutter outside the lino. Ill VIIIM'NC TrilllMt II) N. Not only tho trunk lines, but also tho tramways of Java are well built. There are a number of steam tramways now being constructed nnd many such tiro doing qulto well. I went over the one from DJokJa to Mngclung a short tlmo ago with Its civil engineer This was Mr J !' Van lletlien olllces and tclcphuucs. The ticket agents nro often Chinese. They nro tho cashiers of tho country and handle tho greater pnri of the change. Tho cars are llrst, second and third-class, the natives generally taking tho latter. Tho fares nre low and the third-class tickets mako up tho largest part of tho receipts of tho road. They amount to about $6,000,000 a year, Hvery largo station bns Its first nnd second-crass waiting rooms, and each has a restaurant, where you con get a fair meal for from fiO to 75 cents. Ilefore you reach the meal stntlons tho conductor telegraphs abend and orders your dinner, or you can have him telegraph for n dinner to be brought to you on the train. Such meals are sorved In sets of porcelain boxes, which rest one over the other, a half dozen boxes comprising an ordinary train luncheon I.OfOMOTIVK A.N'I) CAIt. JAVA ItAII.ItOAD bufa, lying there on his back, his fat ab domen shaking like Jelly under Us expans.. if white linen. The oilier threo Dutchmen weru smoking and dialling. They spouo Uuglish and 1 found Iheiii good fellows. The lotupartincnt beyond this was for the second-class pabsuiigers. Hole were half u dozen Chluesu dressed In white duck, all gorgeous with rings and scarfpius. Hach bud u black iiueuo, In which was braided red slik, tucked Inside his Jacket. All had gold watehchultis aud carried caiies. Theio were also some of tho poorer Dutch, Includ ing it couple of tsoiuen, who wore sarongs and slippers in Javuuesu style, uud a pretty gill with beautiful eyes aud a rav ishing smllo uud u face so dark thul you could tell she hud liutlvu blood in her. Tho third-cluss curs had plain wooden benches. Thoy were crowded wilh natives, women aud men, packed in us close us sardines. Hurt-ton teil ( noil lie I urn. From time tu time tho conductor came in fur tho tickets, lie moved about like a ghost, opeuiug tho door without uolse. lie wus in his bure feel and as ho walked he made no sound. Ills costume was u calico sarong, or bug, which reached from his waist to his ankles, a navy blue Jacket uud u lurbuu, over which he wore a cup, lie put his huud to tils forehead us ho eulered our cur uud again ruised It In salututloii as lie examined each ticket. There were bare footed porters at every stutlou uud bare footed cabmen ready to drive us to our hotel. Their charge is equal to 20 cents of our money, thu hotel carriages ehurge twice us much. There wero no uowabojb on tho trains uud nothing was sold while the curs were In motion. Tho latest Dutch dallies are to ho had at thu stations, aud they are also ou Ulo In every depot reading room. Triilenl (iiirfleu. My trip acrosB the Island has given mo a good Idea of tho couutry. I cannot dcscrlbo Its beauties. There Is no land Uko It on tho faco of tho globe. I have visited the picturesque parts of India and the valley of tho Nile In tho winter when overythlm; Is tho greenest of green, but 1 linvo never seen anything llko Java. If you will Im agine a garden as big as tho state of New York nnd ns beautifully hi pt as Central park you might have a faint Idea of It. Hut you must add volcanic mi.uutaius green to their tops, which nre lest In the clouds; you must put in feathery bainbi-os, groves if ccci auuts aud orchards ef bananas nnd vust meudows ou which buffaloes and ponies are feeding. You must terrace the hills with rice Holds, mine covered with tlu golden grain ready for harvest and otheis with emerald sprouts on the silvery face of the waters. Now one of the mountains has 10,000 Bteps of this nature- and now you shoot out of the rice into great tea planta tions, into groves uf red quinine and ou Into woods us blue as tho lltuo ltldge of Vir ginia. Among tho bununn trees nro little bam boo piny houses, the homes of the natives. You cross ningulllcent roads spotted with coolies, bare to the waist, trotting along with lask'ts fastened to the ends of pules which rest n their shoulders. Some of tho poles have ends turned up like bows. They are borne by men who are carrying rice in from thu Ileitis. Other men have loads of goods which they are taking from one town to another. There nro women thus loudeil us well ns tho men, nnd near DJokJa I saw hundreds of young girls currying burdens In bags ou their backs, I, mill of White mill (irei-n. I havo spoken of the railroad suit Una b lug white. Iinled, all Java Is tf the whitest of whites and the greenest of greens. Tln Dutch go wild over white wash, not only In Holland, but ull over tho world. Kverythlng they havo built hero Is coated with newly slaked lime. Tho villas of tho cities nio dead white, wlih columns In front of them tho color of l'.irlan marble Tho bridge aro white, the fence along the roads, whether they b made of bamboo llshing poles or of heavier wood nro covered with whitewash and the Biimo may be said of tho drains and the culverts, tho warehouses, tho factories nnd especially the vast sugar factories, which cover ncreB nnd which have white smokoHtncks leaning out In their tnowy puilty against tho blue sky. White, In deed, Is so much tho fashion that tho pcopln whitewash as we clean house a new coat Is put on everything onco nnd often twice every yenr The rainy season covers every- over tho emell of lime fills nt'nrt'tlilMf- la llmtt rnntf.fl lltali and the buildings put on their wh mer dresses. some oi mo noicis gscp uhltcwnshers busy nil tho yenr round, as do nlso tho larger property owners. The white even extends to thu clothing of the foreigners. The Dutch olllclnls dress In white duck. They wenr tho white canvas shoes and white helmets, nnd even tho mill tnry otllcers wenr white. In the lllce 1'leliN. Tho chief crop of Java Is rice. In my trip ncross the Island I have never been mi' cf sight of rice fields. The rice grows on every hillside nnd In every valley. It must havo tnter and tho Irrigation works which have been built to supply this uro tin- quailed In nny part of the world. Tin soil of Jnvn Is n volcnnlc mud. It Is as ilch as guano, It Is of such n nature that tt can easily he made Into walls which will hold back the Hooded patches. Tho larger canals aro stone wnlled, well built, with ninny locks, but the water drips from field to field ns tho little mud em bankments nro opened by the people. In many places I snw the people nt work. Hero they were planting nnd there harvest ing tho rice. The- lands are plowed nnd tvecded by tho men, but the planting nnd reaping nro dono by the women. The rlio Is set out plnnt by plant In tho Hooded fields, tho women wndlng through the mud up to their knees ns they plant. Much o.' tho farming Is on shares, a man nnd his wife ngreelng to plant and harvest n patch for oue-llflh of the crop. Sometimes n number of peoplo will Jo n together and take several rice fields. I see crowds at work In the rlpo grain. The men and women nro working together, and especially the young men nnd young women. I am told that harvesting tlmo Is the chief court ing time, and that the boys and their sweethearts usually become engaged while cutting rice. The work Is not at all hard, for each stalk of rlco Is cut separately with n lltto knlfo which Is held In the fingers. The stnlks nre put together In sheaves not much bigger around than a man's leg ami In this shape they nre taken homo nnd threshed out nt leisure. At the beginning of tho rice harvest the people havo picnics nnd feasts. They erect temples In tho fields to the goddess of tho harvest, Kach temple U abeut ns big ns a pigeon house, nnd the offerings cons st of n ,llal. f ft.., It .....1 l.ltc n t enno nnd cooked rice. As tho grnln ripens shelters nre erected on poles In the fields nnd children or grown-ups nre stntloncd In them to watch the crop or to scaro off the birds. Some times strings nro stretched from one part of the field to tho other nnd by these scare crows nro manipulated so Hint the boy In tho shelter can frighten the rlco birds n hnlf mile nway. (iiivei'iiiiient Walt-lien tliv Itlee. Tho rlco lands supply tho food of tho na tives and tho Dutch government watches them very carefully. It Insists that all contracts made shall not Interfero with their cultivation and It provides that they shall bo taken enre of for tho people. Tho government nlds in their Irrigation and tt Is duo to It largely thnt Java, with thu thickest papulation perhaps on tho fnco of tho globe, does not havo famines, Tho natives nro lnzy nnd shiftless. Were they not proteetcd the Chinese or other cnpltnllsts would corner tho rlco and It would be for sale at high prices. As It Is (Continued on Klghth l'age.) m SC0FIELD CUMK&SUITCO. WOMKN IIUIjMNO ltll'12. vnn den Ilorg, n young man who was edu cated nt thu l.ohlgh unlvorslty nnd who grnduoted there In 1895. He Is n relative of Lord Van lletlien van den llerg, tho Dutch resident governor at llamlong. Ills road Is about forty-eight tulles long and It pays ou account of the heavy shipments of tobacco uud sugar from tho plantations through which It runs. Tho tram Is built ou high embankments throughout most of Its course. It has some steep grades nnd It Is crossed above and below by drains nnd nrtlllclnl waterways. 1 was Interested In the protection of (lie bridges by huge crates Hindu of bamboo lllled with stones. If you will Imagine a bamboo basket as big as n railroad car, lllled with boulders of vnrlous sizes, thrown Into a nt renin above a brldgo to break the Moid, you may get an Idea of such protect I n. Haskets of this kind nro of all bIzcs. 'liny mo used to hold up tho embankments and to prevent washings and to Btrengthen nil sorts of wnterways. At the Hid limit Station. The stations are better kept hero thnn In tho United Stales. They nro well built, being inndo i f stone and stucco, covered with whitewash and roofed with red tiles, Hvery station has a home for tho station master. It has n lnwn nnd garden nbout It and palm trees and tropical (lowers. Many of tho stations hnvo postotllccs con nected with them and all have telegraph Kach box contains some hot soup, meat or n vcgetublo, nnd theso with fruit form tho menu. A servant brings tho food Into tho train nnd wnlts upon you whllo you ent, leaving you nt tho next station, to go back on another train with the d.shes. A i-run Jnvn by Hall. My ticket from Hntavla to Soerbaya coat mo 39 guldens, nil nverngo of about cents per mile. This wns llrst-cbus. Hnd I taken second-clnBs I could havo gone for 2 cents nnd thlrd-clnss for six-tenths of 1 cent a mile, l had n servant with mo nud I sent him thlrd-clnsa. I paid extra hng gngo on nil ovor slxty-Blx pounds, nt the rn to of 3 cents n pound, nnd my imggngo cost almost as much as my ticket. Let mo glvo you a picture of the first class compartment which I had from Soer bayn to Maos. It wns about as wldo ns our cars at homo, but not more than ton fet In length. It was In fnct n little room nbout CxlO, wnlled with glnss nt tho sides and entered by n door nt tho rear. It hnd four Bents nt tho corners and two arm chain, of mahogany nnd wicker. Tho com piirtmont contained also a lenthor sofa, which could bo put up or down nt will, nnd a tnhlo a foot wide nnd four feet long, upon which wo nto our luncheon. My fellow pas sengers wero four portly Dutchmen clnd In white duck. One of them monopolized the A New Departure MADE T0 MliASURl: Ladies' Fine Tailored Garments Wo art' plt'itsi'tl , to aniioiiiici' (hat wo havo iipoiicil in ('(Miut'cl ion willi our Cloak, Suit and Fur Business A Ladies' Tailoring Department and aro proparotl to tako orders for ladios' Suits, Skirts, tlaokots, Capos ami Cloaks mado to ,uioasuro by ox port moil tailors ami perfectly tit toil to your form. Wo have a largo assort itiont of the most fashionable fabrics to select from ami will make them up in any stylo desired at reasonable prices. We also soil our suit in?; materials by the yard at much less than usual tailors' prices. May wo, not have the pleasure of showing you what we can do? O. K, Scot ield Cloak and Suit Co. I5IO DOUCLAS STREET