Rice is King in Burmah Where the People Get
. ji.. I . 1 x -, . , v., .. ... i - r-'- s
" 7r 1 r UJjj
-'-; -V; $ i .-v m
si i 32S-
BURMESE SCHOOUTefT INDIAN" COOLIES ARE BROUGHT IN BY THE 3HlPL0AiStiBTHL UNLOADING- 5fjS-
GIRLS-w' yjy ggy - .. T. Illir. ,nMir y C4Sis ixne by youttg- girls. v
(CopyriBht, 1310, by Frajik tl. Carpenter.)
OOZOONDOUNO, 1910. (SpJCla)
I Correspondence of Tho Bee.)
I I have Just visited the greatest
rice mill 01 me woria. 11 ii
here at I'oozoondouni?. on th?
Irrawaddy river, below the port
of Kantoon. It beloiiKS to the Uullock
brothem, who own other lare mills and
export thousands of tons of rice every
year. Burma is about the bit rice patch
on ihe boNom of old Mother Earth. The
lower purt of It is a garden devoted to the
cultivation of the crop, and upper Burma
la more than half rice. The country has
altogether rice areas equal to the state of
Ohio, and its annual exports of this grain
are more than 2,000,000,000 pounds. This Is
enough to give every human being on earth
ail the rice ho could eat In one day and
still have enough over to make a pudding
for every man, woman and child, as well
as sprinkle all Ihe brides and grooms of
one year. Kice is the money crop of
Burma. It takes the place of wheat, coin
and cotton with us. The exports sell for
millions, and the people are.jich or poor
aa the rice grows well or ill.
Increasing the Mine t'rop.
The British government appreciates how
much the prosperity of the country depends
upon rice, and it ia doing wonders in in
creasing the crop. It has &u agricultural
department whose efforts In this regard
correspond with those of our department
at home. It is studying seed selection, in
creasing the irrigated territories and mak
ing forecasts showing the possible yield.
It has Its agents in every part of the coun
try, and their reports upon rice are more
accurately made than our reports upon
cotton. During the last five years, in
which a total of 13,000,000 tons was raised
for export, the government forecasts were
only 3,000 tons out of the way. The esti
mates came largely from the local officials.
Burma is a land of villages. Most of the
people live in little settlement of thatched
huts raised upon poles, and they go out
aide to work. Every village has ita head
man, who reports to the government the
number of acres his people will plant. His
figures are sent to the county officials, and
they send their estimate for their district
on to officials of the province, the last
calculations being made at Rangoon.
I do not know what Uncle Sam Is doing
in this line in the Philippines, but I venture
he could learn much from tha British In
Burma.
It arms' BIb Hire Mills.
But come with me and go through this
rice mill at Poozoondoung. The grain is
harvested as paddy. In the field it looks
not unlike wheat or oats, but every ker
nel has a husk on it and this sticks to it
aa though it were glued. When the grain
is ready for shipment to the mills it looks
much like our wheat grains unthrashed,
save that the rice husks have neither
heads nor beards and they stick tight to
the kernels. It takes quite as much work
to get them off as to grind the
thrashed wheat into flour. This is the
work of these rice mills.
The Pooioondoung mill covers aa much
ground aa any of our large flour-grinding
establishments. It has buildings of five
stories, with single rooms aa big aa a
good-slied garden patch. I enteid one
on the ground floor which was packed to
the celling with rice paddy In bags. It
held more than 2,000,000 pounds, and other
rooms of equal size adjoining it were
filled with the cleaned rice awaiting ship
ment. I'nloadlnv the !atlil.
Rice paddy is Drought h.ic troin all
over Burma. It is floated down the
treama to the Irrawaddy river and toward
to Rangoon by steamers In flatboats and
barges. The unloading Is done by Kast
Indian coolies, many of whom are quite
pretty young girls. They are black, lusty
and buxom, bare armed and bare necked,
and often with legs bare to the knees!
Not a few of them wear gold buttons in
their noses and rlnga in their ears. They
have armlets and anklets, and I saw threu
with rings on their toea.
These glrla carry the rice from the
boats to the mills In baskets of fifty
pounds each. They lift the stain to
their heads or shoulders, and carry it up
and down tha banks of the rier over
a plank roadway. Their hours are from
daylight to dark, and their average pay
is less than t cent an hour. I am told
they are uulte as strong as the men, and
that they do better work, although tlwir
waza are lower.
And still they save money at I cents
an hour and most of them make savings
banks of their persons. Nearly every
one I saw had mure or lees jewelry upon
her. I remember a girl of 111 with allver
bracelets covering her arm from wrist to
elbow, and heavy ankleta of silver on each
of hw legs. The lobes and rims at her
ears were pierced with gold rivets, and the
gold ring In her nose was as big around
as a baucer and as thick as a knitting
needle. This ring hung down around her
mouth, atid when olie ate lunch she stuffed
In the rica through the ring. She was a
Kling from southern India, and her hu.
band a straight black, man in a white
cotton wal.il cloth, worked with her.
Harvard Athlete . Illadoa Coollr.
. lu another loom 1 tav the ni.ii handling
U fuiUhud liruducL Th whit rlu
Is bagged up In sacks of 228 pounds.
These are carried by Kast Indian coolies
into the warehouses and are piled up In
stacks. Kach lifts one of these bags to
his shoulders a nd runs up an inclined
roadway. It looks easy, an1 three Harvard
university athletes, who visited the mill
the other day, rather sneered at the
strength of the Hindoos, saying I hat any
good man could curry such a load up a
plank. Thereupon the manager asked one
of them to try It. He did so, getting the
bag on his back without very much
trouble. He was able to make his way
across the room, but when he tried to go
up the incline the weight pulled him over
and he fell with the rice to tho floor.
This sume colh-ge crowd tried to pick
out the broken rice grains in competition
with the Hinduo girls, thinking they
could work guile as last, but had to give
up In despair. The rice is of various
grades, according to the broken grains
in It, and every shipment has to be tested
by counting the number of whole grains
In a fixed quantity. It takes keen eyes to
distinguished the Imperfect kernels, and the
Harvard boys failed In the test.
Polished l.lkeSllver Spoon.
It seems strange to think of polishing
rice like your best sliver spoons. But
that Is what I saw them doing as I went
through this mill. The machinery is the
finest known to the trade. The paddy or
rice in the husks is first winnowed and
then carried to the top story, where It is
passed through grinding stones so care
fully set that they pare off the husk
without breaking the rice. The stones
are of a composition harder ' than Iron,
and they have to be roughened every '
week by skilled Hindoos who understand
how to fix them. After this process the
rice Is again wianowed. It goes through
countless fans and shaking sieves, being
again carried to the top of the mill and
descending by gravity from floor to floor,
shaken, grated and cleaned at every turn.
After the husk Is off, the kernels are
polished. This is done with chamois
skin, the grains being thrown, back and
forth against a roller covered with this
material. The chamois cylinder goe
This
UT in the northwest corner of
1 Nebraska, lies the county of
J I Cherry, one of the largest in
uio uuiiea ciaiea, comprising
the generous area of 8,000 square
miles. With a population of
only about 12,000, this vast domain gives
plenty of room for people to live, grow,
prosper and progress. Women have been
elected to the office of county superintend
ent of schools. Cherry county has taken
the Initiative and is said to' be the first
county in any state of the United States
to select a woman to guard the county
funds and handle the affairs of the office
of county treasurer. The woman bo se
lected and whose title to the office has
been confirmed by the supreme court of
Nebraska is Miss : Gertrude Jordan of
Valentine, who will assume the duties of
the position as soon as the balances can
be struck and the county commissioners
can settle with her predecessor, a man,
which will be within the next ten days.
As treasurer she will handle between $65,000
and $100,000 per annum, this sum being the
tax collections of Cherry county. .
Miss Jordan Is a republican, about 30
years of age and has resided lik Nebraska
ten years. She has served as deputy county
treasurer of Cherry nearly eight years, this
time being almost the entire terms of two
treasurer
Before the end of his term, Treasurer
Eliminating
ETTY stealing, cheap graft It's
not all In Pittsburg."
The had of the firm was
angry.
"Send for that collector," he
said. The collector came.
"Seems to be too much work for you,"
the managing partner said. "Probably you
need help."
The collector believed another man would
be a valuable addition to the force. "H'm,
thought so," the manager said, and then,
read from a slip: " 'March Left store
8:30; went to home at 93476 East Steenth
street; returned to store at U?25; 1:15 went
to Orpheura, etc.'."
Te turned on th now amaad collector.
"Hard work, wasn't UT" he napped.
"Now, do you deBlre to work, help pay the
expense of the detective who trailed you
and make good, or -will you quit Bow?"
"I believe I'd Ilk to work It eut," th
trembling collector replied.
"Well, get a move. on you, then," wa
th parting admonition ' of th manager.
And the collector got It on.
"Cheap graft," the manager resumed.
"Often wonder how some men can stoop
to ueh meanness. Not long ago I observed
that a certain young man had long been
ordering f urnl.ihln, neckties, and such
things by letter and paying for them la
. -'0 . land seonis an El iWado to tlicin. An It
--T'-' '""'" J In now more than half of the population
' " ' j of Rangoon In East Indian, and then' are
' - . , " . 4 1 thousands of Hindoos In every laign town.
, . r : : -1 i -I
M " " " f '" ' ".--""Ti 5 H"'' ' ! Kat Indian Moner ShnrUn.
1" . , . . ' jx ' I , j 0 r"l The invasion is not confined to the lab-
-: . - : (j'K, J J ; J ' j ? 1, . y J '. J oi ins clas.scg. There bio many Indian
M .' 1 . . "';"""""""" i'' 1 J i I t '' tlly! y I i merchants and Chlttleu, or Indian banker.
. '. ' -'"y X III ' : i if II The latter ' do about all the loaning to
THE R1CL!0RT OP
qoo o a o oo oooroaa a oaOO
around at ' the rate of 600 revolutions a
minute, and when the rice flows out from
It It Is. as clean and white as the first
tooth of your baby.
It now falls through a chute into bags
and Is sewn up by Indian girls, when It
is ready for shipment aboard. Much of'
the expert is to England, France, Ger
many and Holland, but a great deal goes
to India, China and other ports of the
far east. The Burmese rice is much bet
ter than that of Hindustan, and it brings
such high prices that the natives ship
Woman Holds Office of County Treasurer
W. P. Armstrong, under whom Miss Jordan been qualified to perform the duties of
was serving her eighth year as deputy, re- county treasurer, on January 6 of the pres
slgned to take up other work. A demo- ent year. Miss Jordan went to the. court
cratic board of county commissioners ap- house to enter upon the duties of the
pointed K. B. Qulble, a democrat, to fill office to which she had been elected, but
the unexpired term, he being a receptive Mr. Qulble refused to turn over the books
aspirant for the democratic nomination. (am1 funda. contending that being a woman
Miss Jordan was retained as deputy until ona not an Cect0r, she was not qualified,
the time of the party primaries last iegailyi to become county treasurer.
August, when her ' nomination by the re- M,SB Jordan at once employed attorneys,
publican party as its candidate for Ihe who filed a petitlon , the sllprcrne court
office forced her to resign, yuible became at L,ncoIn, asking that a writ of mandamus
ine aemocrauc nominee, as me campaiKii
waxed warm. Miss Jordan discovered that
her long term of service in the county court
house and her acquaintance with almost
every voter in Cherry county served her
well in th race. Her personal campaign
was nonetheless thorough, as she attended
every Cherry county gathering, from pknlo
to auction, sale, it being her plan to be
wherever numbers of poeple could be seen
and talked with. Her most energetic cam
paign was made in remote parts of the
county, and to do this she traveled more
than 000 miles on horseback and in a
buggy during September and October, be
sides half as much more by rail.
The result of the campaign conducted by
Miss Jordan was shown at the polls in
November and in the form of a majority
of 242 votes.
Having furnished Cherry county with a
proper and sufficient bond, and, having
Petty Graft
stamps. That seemed queer. I don't care
for business that's crooked, so I investi
gated that customer. Found he worked In
a bank; son of a wealthy father Just cheap
graft. He'd been stealing stamps for a
year.
"We alow our outside men to turn in
daily accounts of money spent for car
fare. Often one man collects it for several
to save making many account. When 1
noticed one of these men charging us
more car fare than I believed he spent I
looked him up. Discovered he'd added a
figure 1 to the 80 or to cents account every
day and so got $L80 or $2 cheap stealing
for a dollar. Cost him his Job.
"Nothing so detestable and so annoying
In buBlnes a this form of dishonesty.
There' stealing going on now in tbla stor
that I don't know bow to touch. Th ques
tion In th mind of employe Is, 'Should
I tell th firm, or Is It any of my busi
ness?' When can get employes to un
derstand that th firm' interests ar their
we'll hav most of th graft controlled.
"If you see a clerk stealing from your
employer, Isn't it your duly to tell hlra?
Wouldn't you report It if you saw a man
putting hi hand into another' pocket on
th street? Ion't you owe that much to
the man who pa your wages or salary?"
Kansas City Star.
TILE OMAHA' SUNDAY HEK: APRIL
"RANGOON" SHOWING-
OOO 0 030 OOOO 0 0 0(300000 OOQo
their own product abroad and eat the
cheaper imported rice which la sold
the markets.
In
, Hindoo Invasion.
Speaking of the coolies in this mill brings
me to the Hlndo. Invasion of Burma. The
Eat Indian coolies are being brought
, ... ilc, , vi...
across me uay ui nengai, a aisiance oi
1,000 miles or more, for less than $1, and by
the mail steamers they can come here from
Calcutta for about 64 cents. In other
issue, compelling Qulble to surrender the
office. After the hearing was had, . the
judges of the supreme court took the ruse
under advisement and on March 2?, handed
down u decision, declaring Miss Jordan's
eligibility and holding that a woman In
Nebraska has a right to hold the office of
county treasurer. Of the seven members of
the supreme bench, six concurred In favor
of a woman's eligibility to hold county of
fice in this state, one dissenting.
Justice, Rosn in writing the majority
opinion, siys: "No constitutional or stat
utory provision Inconsistent with the right
of a woman to hold this office has been
found " He also refers to a legislative en
.MRS GERTRUDE JORDAN. TREASURES. OT C HERRY
CO Vim NEBRASKA '
10, 1910.
- - I,,, M - hi frf
THE LANK.8 .-
O OA OO dOdOO ftF A ei c0 aOQy
words the passage costs them about one-
twelfth cent a mile, at which rate one
could go from New York to Washington
for less than a quarter and from the Atlan
tic to the Mississippi for about a dollar.
The Burmau does not like to work. He
despises money; and when he gets a little
ahead he acquires merit by giving It out
m cnaruy, esiaonsning a arinKing iount
tain or putting a plats of gold on some
Buddhist shrine. The Hindoos, who work
for almost nothing at home, can earn
as much as G a month here, and the
actment that adopts "so much of the com
mon law of England as is applicable and
not Inconsistent with the federal and state
censlitutU n and the statutes of the state."
This law permitted women to hold office
administrative in character, the duties of
which they are competent to discharge.
Justice Letton. concurring separately,
states that "no constitution or statute pre-
venting, women have for many years
creditably occupied official positions in
county affairs in this stale, apparently by
common consent. To Uke the position now
that they are Ineligible, or do not possess
the necessary qualifications, wouid be to
turn back the clock and to say that com
mon experience and common sens yield to
ancient custom in another country."
Justice Fawcett in dissenting (ays that
"ivomen were not. given the right to hold
county office by either the constitution or
tho statute, nnd that if tluir political rights
wer to be extended, it ihould be done by
Ihe legislature p.nd not by Judicial legisla
tion." He further ncds that, "If a woman
can hold the oftlc of county tieasurcr,
she can hold the office of governor of
the state "
Rich from the Crop
the Individual farmers. They lend at from
25 to 40 per cent a year to the Burmese,
taking mortgages on their crops. The
laws here are such that the Hindoos
cannot own land; but the crops can be
mortgaged, and tho Chitty puts his agent
on tho farms to see that ho gets his loan
cut out of the sales.
These Chltties are the queerest bankers
Imaginable. Our Ideal of that profession
is a fat, sleek, well-dressed man who looks
prosperous and has the finest house In tha
town. The ordinary dress of the Hindoo
banker wouid not cost nn American dollar,
and he lives in a hovel. His black skin
Is bare, with the exception of a rag of
thin cotton around the loins, and a calico
jacket which ends at the waist. His
shaved black head is often free of turban
or cap, although he may have ashes
smeared over it to show his caste or re
ligion. The Chltties come from near Mad
ras. Their only idea is to make money
breed, and they save every cent. Some of
them are quite wealthy, all are said to be
honest, and their word is accepted by the
banks for large sums. Home start in Ran
goon as clerks at $12 a month. They will
live on one-third of that amount and loan
the rest out at interest. When they have
accumulated 10,000 rupees or so they go
back home and live economically on the
Interest of their holdings thereafter.
Outside the Hindoos the most 6f the 0UB schools. The American Baptist Mission
banking is done by the British, who have PreS8 is one cf the largest and most flour
four large banks in Rangoon. These are jBhing 0f its kind. It publishes Bibles,
the Hongkong and Shanghai bank, the tracts, religious newspapers and many edu-
charted bank of India, Australia
and
CMn& tne National Bank of
India and
the Bank of the Netherlands. All these
do a general banking and exchange busi
ness, their interest rates varying ac
cording to the season of tho year. They
get from 10 to 17 per cent, receiving the
most at the planting and harvesting of
the erops.
Burms'i Forelan Trade.
The trade here Is almost ultojether In
the hands of Great Britain. The officials
protect the British merchants and favor
them where possible, although the Ger-
mans, Japanese, Belgians and French try
to compete.
As to our trade. It Is small, usually
amounting to less than $1,000,000 a year,
and consisting mostly of machines, canned
goods and kerosene oil. Within tho last
year or so we have established a consu-
'ate at Rangoon, and the man in charge,
Mr- - A. Wakefield, is doing much to
Push American trade. He thinks we should
hve a direct steamship line from hero
to New Yo,k and also beltf,r hanking con-
"ectlons, as well as a wholesale depot,
which should keep our leading exports In
stocK. 'ihe total imports ot tne country u to melIK11.y prayers and hymns of
now amount to something like $36,000,000 Por'Lor(1 Buddha. They are supposed to pray
annum, or wiucn ureal urnain supplies
more than 56 per cent.
Among tho American goods sold arc
tools, pipe fittings, axes, typewriters and
sewing machines. The Burmese of the bet
ter classes wear some American shoes, and
thfw nro heuinnlna to eat canned eno.J 1
nd condensed milk. Thev Hie fond ,,f
milk, but their own cows are used chiefly
as draft animals. They aro importing but
ter, and not a few spread the condensed
milk on bread in its place.
ttnr American Missionaries.
America should have a good trade lu
Burma. Our missionaries have done more
for the people In the way of education
Romance in
HE story cf how a Manchester
T
IN. II.) painter found in the
St. Lawrence river a lump of
grayish substance weighing
thirty-tight pounds, and how
he has discovered that the
euild, fatty stuff is ambergris and
is wprth $M,000, recalls the nearest thing to
romance that ever entered Into the lives of
Glouster and New Bedford whalers, in the
old days when American whalers dared
every sea. It was like u lottery. Once In
a lifetime you might chance on the decay
ing body of a whale, giving off an awful
smell, and Inside that whule would h a
fortune, enough so that you wouid never
have to go to sea as-iln. Charles Ileade, .
far as we remember. Is the only writer to
Introduce ambergris into fiction. In "Love
Me Little, Uw Me Iaiiib," Kavid tells
Miss Fountain how "Ihe skipper stuffed
their noses and cars with cotton Bteeed in
arimatlo vinegir, an. I they limited short
pipes and broached the brig upon the
putrescent monster and grappled to it; and
the skipper Jumped on It and drove hla
spade (sharp steel) in behind the whale's
Side fins." He goes on to relate:
"How the skipper dug a hole in the
whale aa big as a well and four feet deep,
and after a long search gave a shout of
triumph and picked out some stuff that
looked like Gloualer chouae, and when ha
mid civilization than have those r.f hhv
other country. About tho first t'hiisr.i
win k done was tlint of the American II Mi
tlsts. who sent the Uev. Adonirr.m ludsn-,
here in 1SI3. Itov. Judvon nnvle th
first Hui-nese dictionary and gv.ini'Mur
and ho translated the Bible into lh. ver
micular. He ien:alniil hero when hII oiler
foreigners fled at the time of tho fir-t
troubles with England, and later, rturiin;
the British-Burmese war. v. as thrown Into
prison and almost starved. The story of
his sufferings Is one of the most after' -
lug In missionary history. He kept at the
work, however, and did much after thn
British took possession of lower Burma.
dylns in xa. wnue on a sea ioj
'or his health.
Since then the Baptist mission here has
steadily increased. That 'branch of Amer
ican Protestantism seems to have chosen
Burma as Its special field, and it Is now
spending almost a quarter of a million dol
lars per annum upon It. It has a lais
number of missionaries, over 800 native
churches and about 60,000 communicants.
It Is carrying on a number of girls- and
boys' schools, and the Baptist college t
Rangoon, which has more than 1,200 stn
dents, Is about tho most advanced educa
tional Institution in the country. It Is rec
ognized by the British government and n
affiliated with the University of Calcutta.
Nearly all of the students are native Bur
mese and many are Christians. The Instl-ti-tion
Is largely self-supporting. The stu
dents pay for their board and tuition, and
not a few work their way through. Re
cently a manual training; school has been
added, and the course Is such that the
eraduateB are Kven the degree of B. A.
The American Methodists have a mission
here, which was established about thirty
years ago. They are doing considerable
work In Lower Burma and have numer-
cationfU works.
Public School In Burma.
The British government is doing much to
educate the Burmese. It Is establishing
schools of all kinds from kindergarten." to
colleges, and it has now more than 6.0)
public schools, with about 250,000 pupils on
the rolls. In addition, there are almost an
many pupils in other schools, over lit.onO
of the schools being carried on outside the
government.
The public schools have about the same
studies as our schools at home and their
hours are somewhat similar. The students
are interested In athletics and the boys
drill and play foot ball and cricket,
In addition there aro thousands of classes
taught by the monks. Every village has
its monastic school and such boys as do not
go to the other schools attend it. The
Krs dare not como near the monasteries,
for the priest who would touch or talk with
a woman would be defiled. It Is a pait of
the duty of the monks to teach and they
CMarge no tuition. The boys are taught m
read and write, and they learn elementary
arithmetic. They study out loud and c.in-
night and morning, one of their morning
prayers reading as follows:
"How great a favor has tha Ird Bud
dha bestowed uponVme in showing me his
.law, by tho keeping of which I may escape
fholl and secure my salvation. "
At ' cl"-se of ,llPlr schooling many of
the buys go Into the monasteries for a
time, and some stay there all their lives.
Others remain for a while and then come
out and go Into business. They ail learn
to read and write in the schools, and Bur
ma, for this reason. In the point of tho lit
eracy of the men, is far In advance of any
country of Asia,
FRANK G. CARPENTER.
Fisher Lives
had nearly filled Ills basket with this stuff
he slacked the grappling iron and David
hauled him on board; and the tarcas.i
dropped astern, and the captain sung out
for rum and drank a small tumbler ie at,
and would have fainted away, In spile of
his precautions, but for the rum; and how
a heavenly perfume was now on deck
fighting with that horrid odor; and hnv,'
the crew studied It and crept up timidly,
one by one, and how the Gloucester cheese
Is 'a great favorite of yuurs, young ladies;
it was the king of perfumes, amher-gdj;
there is some of It lu all of your richest
wtiiIk; and the knowing skipper had made
100 guineas in the turn of a hand.' "
It Is a matter of record that not far from
the Windward Islands a Yankee t-kippcr In
one of the best old wl.Hling years did cut
out of a whah 130 pounds of ambergris.
. hleh w u.h s ild for C00. Tho price quoted
for many years was i an ounce. Ainbergrs
is often found floating on the sea, particu
larly off the roust of Uiazll and of Mada
gascar. The Bahamas send more than any
other source to market. The stuff is a
secretion of the sperm whale which dies of
the disease producing the perfume matter.
Chemists find It bard to account fur the
fait that the smell of the dead whale
Is so horrible when the substance taken
out is valuable onl as a fcwurca of weot
mem. Brooklyn Eufcin,
