Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (May 29, 1910)
Y TIIE OMAHA SUNDAY 'BEE: MAY 20. 1910. India's Big Railway System Carries Passengers at Half Cent Per Mile T V ' fff : ; ))) V fix i 1- rTM . W, Liiiteap . 4 s . .-. , - -J M ' V a 1 ; . . v i- 1 " i LH THL FNET IN" THEi (Copyright, 1910, by Frank G. Carpenter.) th first track war constructed tna gauga AlCUTTA, May 29. The roaya was the broadest of the world. Jt wasixe India are the atrongcwt link and one-half feet for the principal lines. the chain which blnda It to with narrower gauges for econaary inns. Great Britain, and at the same -t Is now found that it ih airricuu ana ex tlme one of the factors in the pensive to move the traffic over the roads unrest which Is tearing the of different gauges, and' a standard gauge AT.CTT' I jfS I of Ir I V- I ln tn tearing countries apart. I have Just returned from a call upon Mr. Robertson, the viceroy's secretary of commerce and Industry, under which department the railways are man aged. Said he: "One of the striking features of this un rest Just now Is an anti-railroad cruxade carried on by the extremists among the revolutionary agitators. They claim that will be adopted. $ India' HI Railway System. The British have a rlRht Mi be proud of their Indian railways.' The mileage of tha Indian lines now exceeds that of any coun try ln Asia, and1 Is surpassed by only four other countries of the whole world. It amounts to more than 30,000 miles and it has doubled within the last twenty yean. the roads are built with British money for Indla has comparatively far more railways robbing the natives. They say that the than Russia, It has one mile to every sixty dividends and interest go out of India, and sqUare miles of country and to every 10.- that the railways are bad thing for the 000 people. Russia naa only one mile to people, not only In a money way, but on the every 230 square mllea and to every 3,400 ground of Religion. They are using this people. argument to excite the masses, who can The railways here are well built an be Btlrred up only by attacking their re- economically managed. Two-thirds of the llglon and Imperiling their caste. The ex- llr.ts have been constricted by the govern- t rem 1st say that the railroads are breaking ment end the balance, more than 3, MX) mllee, down caste distinction, and that eternal were built by the native states. I do not damnation is sure to follow. They adviso know the exact cost of construction per the people not to patronize them and say mile, but altogether the roads have cost they should be given over to the native more than Jl.LW.OOO.OOO, which Is low in leaders, who could rtgulute the traffic to comparison with those of the United States. "u 1. h 4 A,' -J r f, , A I i it ' I fr EE, MADEHI5 Hill I llIH--aMMHBsMMMMsMHs ' j lnr55Sr'i7T' rfMISSWl i yj t : ., .'ifef,r Vi.s5' MSPt'. -.i-dS I aBSSBMnMMBOnjBnsaaBan ult their faith." India's Greatest Clvlllaer. ' "But are the extremists not rlgt to saying that the railroads are affecting caste prejudices?" I asked. "Yes," replied the secretary. "They are bringing the piple of India together, and, Most of the Indian railways are paying dividends. Their gross earnings are fst approximating $200,000,000 a year, and the traffic is itendlly increasing, both as to passengers and freight. The passengers an nually carried, now number more than 300. 000,000 and the freight amounts to something like 62,000,000 tons. These figures are small ln comparison with those of our railways. lor a tune, at least, putting an castes on but (t mU8t be remembered that we have the same level. When we first began to more than F6ven times the mileage of India build railways the natives demanded that Bni that our capitalization Is more than special cars be furnished for certain castes, thirteen times the cost of the Indian roads. The Hindoos and Mohammedans would not Our railway mileage approximates 800.0CO. It down together, and the Brahmins de- our capital Is over 16. 000,000,000 and our net manded to flock by themselves. After a railroad earnings are more than $00,000,00 time they found that they could not get per annum, the cars, and they then tactlly decided that S caste must be abolished while on the rail- At the Stations, road trains. So the native has apparently But come with me and take a railroad dropped such prejudices when he enters trip across India. We shall start at Cal- the cars, although he assumes them the cutta and go by the East India route. We more rigidly when he leaves. You cannot drive in a gharry, a closed box upon JTy Guide and ITewsbov - This guide 1$.. , one or Tiui-i.QRTr. thieved and you nay elap your hand and ting mission of 10 pet cant tipon all that you and ring without getting as aoffwen It buy. you have a servant he sleeps on the stone floor outside your door and fights with India's Forty Tutevea. the other servants-to get the best for you. The most of these servants are thieves. If you do not watch him he will cheat They make me think of the gang which you right and left and always gets a com- All Baba robbed. I know they rob me. Curious and Romantic Capers of Cupid wheels, hauletd by lean horses and driven by a Hindoo In turban and gown, to the station. The express goes at night and It Is 9 Romauce of Railroad Shop. coast of Ireland, In Harper's for May, Dnuivri! having It. indention Maude Radford Warren tells of some A in the machine shops at Burn sides, 111., when William Bols gerain, Jr., aon of a wealthy Dutch banker of Amsterdam, met Miss Marlon Elizabeth WU bcautiful and the heiress to Imagine what this means until you have , lived a long time ln India and know some M 'thing of the Deonle. Our railway trains i ihnut tha mmt rrn,i. nf th. The exDress Koes at niitht and It Is 9 meroth. and the different castes are all Jammed. P- m- ""en we reach there. The depot millions, came to light with the announce In together. The travel steadily Increases, 'r building covering a block, with ment of their coming marriage by the I and that especially at certain seasons of lon waiting rooms extending out from the bridegroom-to-be at a bachelor dinner t i I ) the year. The people are using the trains "ln- The floors are of stone and they erven Dy mm ai me ia oaue nui, m- .v,. .h-i ni are covered with natives. Men and wo- cago. The wedding Is to be celebrated in J to go to the shrines and our pilgrimage r covered witn natives. trafflo Is enormous. It used to take week and months for the average pilgrim to go to Banares or some other distant aacred i Men and wo- cago. men are sitting and lying about. Here nicago in uctooer. they sprawl out at full length on the flag Both young Boisseran and Miss Wllmeroth and there squat ln groups against the are' heirs to many millions, reports the locality. The man now finds he can get ' llln between the waiting rooms and Chicago Inter-Ocean. He Is a son of there by rail In hours or days. We cater tn train shed. All are wrapped In white Edward Bolsserain, head of the Boisscraln to this element, and do all we can to ao sheets, and as they see me take notes they bunking firm of Amsterdam, Holland, and commodate It. Moreover, we have what pu" tne8 UP around their dark faces to holder of securities In American railroads might be called a heavy social traffic dur- "h'eld tham from the gaze of the heathen valued at many millions. Miss Wllmeroth Ing the wedding season. On many of the foreigner. Some have covered their heads Is a daughter of Charles W. Wllmeroth. a roada the crowds are then so great we can- ,ul ,le "'eeP on the sand. " retired capitalist of Bredford, Ore., and not carry them. We make the rates as Notice this woman near me. She lies worth several millions in her own right Jow as possible, and we have on the whole on lna floor wltn h,r ha on baar- " Tn romance had Its Inception when covered mat oniy tne tnin lace can oe young uoiseeratn was sent to America sten. As I lookka black Hindoo In dirty several years ago to learn railroading with white cotton lies down beside her. He Stuyvesant Ktsh, Jr. The young militan ts her husband. He places his head on aire went to work as a laborer at Burn the bag and la soon fast asleep. sides. Despite the fact that his mother. the lowest passenger fares of the world. The average rate for all passengers Is about two-fifths of a rent per male, and the third-class fares are below that 8tlll It la from the lowest farea that we pay our dlvldenda." amusing marriage customs obtaining there. "The marriages are made by the parents, and frequently the couple never speak to each other alone until after the wedding. " 'But ought a man to choose his own wife?' Darragh Shuan, the fisherman, was asked. " 'Eet you listen to me," said Darragh Shuan, leaning back on his curagh on the beach of InlBhmor. He pointed first to a thin line of green on a plateau of rock, and then to a tiny cottage, lonely against a (fray crag. 'If that field were my father's,' explained Darragh Shuan, 'and If I was thinking of a girl ln that cottage there, and If my father did not like the girl, then he would not give me that field. Then what would I be doing? It has to be.' "It has to be that is the word of the Islands. " 'There Is a girl back from America," said Darragh Shuan, 'and she Is having sixty pounds of her own. She had toM I bava already tad three m my employ wears a costly turban and a Ions gown The aeoond has th poorer classes of the; flurlng this present trip to India. The first belted In at the waist ? pay him 83 cent BxlUaa army offloera or second rank, with 1 almost froze to death at Durjaellng. Ho a day, but of course he has his commls- now and then a soUTler or so, and perhaps ' had not enough muscle to get what I slons. well-to-do-natives, and third class canin v.anted and after I discharged him I found This man will manage our trip. He goea the masses of the people, and as I have , some woolen clothes missing. The second ln advance through the gates, and when already said. It brings the profits. It con- ' was a bluck liar with a turban as big as we reach the cars we find that the best stitutes two-thirds of the traffic, the rate a peck measure. He was partially o'lad ln seats are covered with our pillows and being considerably Ipbs than one-half cent European dress and I got rid of him be- bedding. Every one carries his own sloep- per mile. During the last year more than cause my pajamas and stockings were fast ing conveniences while traveling. The cars 200,000,000 passengers were carried at that , disappearing. There was also a little have leather-covered benches, and the pas- rate, and the trafflo Is increasing greatly trouble as to a gold sovereign which I sengers make their own beds. As a rule from year to year. lost and which he at once picked out of the women have cars to themselves, so that As to the woman passengers, those of the the outside pocket of my overcoat. I now the men can undress and put on their pa- first and second class have cars especially have a tall, fine-looking Aryan with a Jamas as nlghfall comes on. In the morn- for them. A Hindoo lady dare not show swarthy complexion, an enormous black Ing the servants roll up the comforts and her face without losing caste, and no Mo- mustache and a height of six feet. He rugs and pack them away under the seat hammedan woman goes about without hsr or on the racks overhead. head veiled. The ordinary compartment for 1 such people haa windows of blue glasa. n he Trains. which permit the women to look out but ' The Indian cars are comfortable enough through which the men cannot ee In. Tha when not crowded. At other times they women come to the depot ln closed chair are abominable. They are made on the or palanquins. They pull their shawls over English plan, about two-thirds the length their faces as they walk through the sta- of our cars and a little bit wider. Each tions, and at the same time may leave their , car Is divided Into compartments which ankles and calves entirely bare. The ankle j look more like long boxes than anything often have lings of silver and gold on charming wife thrown In. It also gave to the woman a man to run the farm. Mrs. I.o la I'rnctlral, Dying to order Is one of the most sacred customs of the American Indian. Thirty years ano Standing Elk came -to Major James McLaughlin, the outhor of "My Friend, the Indian," and said: "Father, my wife will die today, and she wants a coffin from you." The major asked him what the ailment was, and he replied: "Just nothing, but sho heard the ghosts railing, and must go." Homebody had told her, It turned out, that she was sick, so she had "pained for death" and all her relatives had gathered else. The passnegers sit on leather cushions fuclng each other, with glass windows and glass doors at each side. ' On some of the cars there are lavatories, and on others none. Within the past year the railway board has taken up the question them, and the slippers below may be of gold thread. In some of the compartments; the windows are so fixed that the women cannot see out and upon one train which took me up the Himalaya mountains we had a car covered with canvas as thick aa of adopting now cars, and the Central the tent of a circus. This was filled with India road lias now coaches somewhat Hindoo women going up to Darjeellng. They like ours. Its cars have corridors run- were riding through the finest scenery of nlng along one side of them from end to the world, but for all that they might as end. Into the corridors open two berth wcl1 have been tied up ln leather bags and compartments which are fitted with elec- Bent on as mail. trie fans, electrlo lights and bells. There are servants' compartments connected with the cars. At euch end of the car Is a bath room with a big tub sunk In the floor, and one can have a wash while he goes fly- about to bemoan her and incidentally to Ing over the country at twenty-five miles divide her property as soon as she waa an hour. dead. There was no use in the major argu ing about it, so he had the coffin made. In many cases those "painted for death" are actually bullied into dying, but Mr. Standing Elk was still too vigorous. K'n- I say twenty-five mllea That is rather fast for India Many of the trains do not make twenty miles and some not over fifteen per hour, while a fast ex press now and then covers thirty or so. The Ants Knt the Ties. On of the greatest enemies of the rail road In India is the white ant. This Insect eats the tioa, the telegraph poles and every thing wooden. It chews up the posts at the stations, and If a pile of timber Is left unprotected It will soon be carried away or so hollowed out that it drops to pieces on touching. I have traveled thous ands of mllea over India, and I have yet to e many telegraph poles other than those, made of galvanized Iron The most com- the priest, and wc are all knowing it, that ally In despair she carried the coffin Into Everything here is run after oriental meth- montpole Is a tuba three or four Inches In she will go ba.-k next month if no one the house on her own shoulders, and sev wishes to marry her, Mouriccn Michael cral years later the major saw It still Bawn will be asking her it his great- standing on end In her house. Shelves had uncle, who Is dying, leaves him his cot- been fitted Into it and It was doing duty T.h.?, !T rln"! A traln llc?ile,d How deTc"-eV" woman f "bl firth, tag, ;nd neld. But 'th, old llian lnay not a CUDboard. Government Ownership. During my talk with Mr. Robertson I learned somthlng of the plan of the gov ernment to take over the railroads. A large number of th lines have been built and controlled by the state, but others were constructed by private parties and not a few by companies with government guar antees or subsidies. The government ha now taken possession of all the lines, and Is paying for them by a series of Install- re to run about forty year. price has bcn fixed at tho ues of the roads, to which ttu interest for forty yea,, has been added. VvU'hl amount has been divided up Into an imal paynv.-nts for which notes have been given. The notes have a market value, and are bought and sold on the exchange. Mr. and the third-class passnegers push their born Lady Cecilia Henrietta Nugent of way through. Some carry baggage upon West Health, Ireland, the young man as- thelr heads. Other have bags and bundles soclated with the workman of the machlna on shoulder and backs. All the men are shops on an equal plane, sharing their barefooted and all wear turbans, cap or labors and living ln comparative poverty handkerchiefs covering their heads. Their In a little hotel in the railroad town. Is paying for th ynts which arc plid selling prl V. ilmated values bodies are half wrapped in white sheets, and the thin legs are naked. The poor benighted Hindoo, .He does the best he kin do: He Is outcast from first to last. Fur pants ha make his skin do. Mixed with this motley crowd are Mo hammedans ln gowns. Parsses with hats like Inverted coal scuttles, native and lirit lsli soldiers, and the servants of civil of ficials in livery. It Is one of the strangest ciods to be found , any her, and the white clothing so predominate that In tins ligm is aeeiua giiutlike and ghastly. Indian Valets. We sit down a moment in the station. die before the steamer sails.' "Darragh Shuan said this gravely. "The most desirable consort 1 a man or girt returned from America, for they al ways have money. About twenty-five per cent of the population go to America, and One day Miss Wllmeroth was being taken most of them come back, for they love through the big shops with a party of their Islands so dearly that they only go friends. At a forge the workman-million- away, as It were, ln order to stay In them, aire was welding iron. Miss Wllmeroth Many of those who return die of con- ods, which means that tomorrow or the diameter, and about ten feet In height Thl day after will do as well as today. ha8 lron bracket with zlass Insulator. which the wire are fastened. In other Ta Animal Kate. places the pole are made of Iron rail. Ilk It la Interesting to watch the trafflo on those used for th road, two of such rail these India trains. You now and then being fastened together by Iron bar a foot pass freight car filled with camels, wide. In some of th station the fences . i..., i.v.. .1.1 i,. . You may see tiger in cages or baby are of iron rail, and now and then on So she made herself one out of trip, of and carloads of ponies. There see, fence of .ton. posts with barbed wire i rj siui;. irujiiB itiicu w i in nit) i;reu vuc The Internal Feminine in rnf f mm trmiiita cans. blnrtlnr these peculiar "stays" together with wrappings humped cattle and on tho passenger trains of cheesecloth. special arrangement for dogs. The dog So far the story Is all rlsht. But when rate la U cents for every fifty miles the Indiana liars go ahead and tell us of travel. No dogs can be taken Into the that a thunderstorm came up and the light- cars except with the consent of the pas- paused In admiration of the athletic figure. ' sumption, but many more regain whatever nlng struck the child and melted one of her sengers, and then only on double fare BoUserain also saw her and between thcin l'uHh they have lost and marry, revert there passed one look. Young Bolsserain '" to their old ways, with no regret for Rqber'.son tells me that the railway ought while our servant buy the tickets, check tocay at least S per cent per annum. Dur- the baggage and secure our seat ,in the Ir.g certain year they have paid almost train, ln India everybody who la anybody didn't forget. In a short time he was "promoted" to the vice president' office. Then he sought an introduction. Ho finished his work ln the shops shortly afterwards, engaged in a brokerage business for himself at 115 Adams street, Chicago, and went to live at the home of E. U Pollock. Z322 Pralria avenue, formerly vice president of the Rock Island system, who is a close friend hi father. per cent and their receipts are steadily travels with a servant In fact it Is almost of incrruBiiii,. niil'wiuta tor an ciigivniimn or American The railways arc managed by a railway to got along without one, and In figuring When Miss Wllmeroth and her mother de board subordinate to the government of up your railway fare you must add to c,ded lo B to Europe, he followed. On India and represented In the viceroy's cabl- the fare of the clas by which you travel, ooard the ocean liner they became be net by the ecretary of commerce an. I in- a third-class fare for your servant This trothed, and then went to Amsterdam to . dustry. This board controls all railway servant speak English. He acts as your-aln hi father' consent. This obtained, scatters. It lays out new lines and builds interpreter, sees to th hiring and paying they came back to America to lay plan jlein. It settles disputes a to transports- of your cab, and wait upon you at th for the wedding. Id regulates the price and tho traf- hotels. In many places you will get nothing iujlt Is now considering th standardising to eat If you have , servant Your bed How Tncy Marry la Aran. ' of Ui gauge of th different roada When 1 not mad, your boot are uot blacked, In tier article on th Aran Islands, off th the civilisation they have cast behind." Cupid Wlae a Homestead. Herbert Warner, a young man at Kins ley, Kan., used Cupid the other day to outwit the government when a homestead was at stake. Warner bought out a set tler on a government claim, but soon there after found that he had used up his own homestead lights and 'could not proceed with the transaction further. Rather than abandon the claim to a irangex, he turned it over lo Mabel Slttle, tin slays, we want nothing to do with It. for th dog. Horses are carried at 6 cents A bolt of lightning that would toop so low as to wreck the beloved master piece of an Innocent and aspiring child put Itself outside the pale of decent con sideration. Cleveland Plain Dealer. a mile when .hey go by freight train, and return ticket are Issued for polo ponle at 18 cunt per mile the round trip, two attendant being carried free with very carload. Calves, sheep and goats. If sent aingl, must pay double dog rates, and small deer cost the same. Wild anl- Apropos of J. Plerpont Morgan's Immense mals In cage are charged 12 cent per Point of View. resources, as mown in nis recent prorier of $100,000,000, wherewith to build more New York subways, a broker said: "Mr. Morgan' wealth causes him to look at money In a large way. Once, at the Metropolitan club, in Fifth avenue, I told Iso of Kinsley, and went with her to of the death of a mutual friend. Dodge City to help her file the claim. After she had made her filing Warner suggested matrimony. She consented. They went straightway to the probate Judge's office, where the license was pro cuied aud the ceremony performed. Thus Warner secured a right to the cluuu in spite of government law, with a Mr. Morgan H.OOO.OIO, I How much did he leave asked. " 'A matter of 5,000.000 or believe," said I. "Mr. Morgan's eyebrows lifted. " 'How deceptive circumstances some times are," he said. "1 always supposed him quite comfortably well off. York iTesr mile per truck, and camels are at the same rate per carload, but only four can be put in one car. Full-grown elephants are transported by special agreement, and elephant calves not more than four and one-half feet high are charged ( cents per mile. Railway Employe. The general Idea at horn Is that th British hold all th office of East India. This is not a Many good place are In th hands of th native although the most Im portant one still go to th British. There are altogether more than 600,000 Hlpdoo and other East Indian employed on the railroads. They are th laborer who build the road, and at th same time many of them have Important position In connec tion with th trafflo. There ore Indian station agent and Indian brakemen, with now and than an Indian engineer. Not a few of th conductor are native, and nearly all th telegraph clerk are Hindoo or other East Indians, who have graduated ln the government sohools. Altogether thtr are about 7,000 Europeans and lOOUu Euras ians employed. Tho engineers receive good wages, the best of them getting 11.500 per annum. Other officials are on the whole poorly paid, and the laborers work for a few cents a day. The employes on the Passenger Traffic. in traveling over inaia l nave touna the roads have a much worse time than those cars universally well filled. Every train ha who do similar work In our country. Th Its first, second and third classes. The first hat Is terrible, and It Is not uncommon is made up of British officials, Americans r0r eneineers to die of anonlexv uhil. New '"d well-to-do Englishmen, with now and handling a train. tiitn a rajah, or sum high native ofticlal FRANK G. CARPET' ' ' ' ' .