Queer Features of Calcutta, Gateway of India; City
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. JLIjCUTTA-KSpsclal Correapond-
fcl
ence of The Bee.) I am la Cal
cutta, the eastern catew'ay of
the empire of India, the front
doorotcp of thb- home of one-
fifth of mankind. It le a turbu
lent ruth and Is likely to allr up the
world. The British have kupt thie country
dead quiet for the last fifty yean. They
have Inclosed it In a network of railroudu,
watered its deaertai with irrigating canals,
lowered Us taxes and made two blades of
grass grow where one grew before. They
have brought order out of chaos and peace
out of dlKCord. They have begun to make
men out of those who, when they took
hold of the country a few generations ago,
were but little better than beasts. They
have given them schools and stirred them
up to think and plan for themselves, and
now the Indians are ready to bite the hands
that have helped them. This la one phase
of the great unrest which I have come to
describe.
The World of India.
Do you know what India la? The coun
try appals me. It Is so big, so varied, and,
withal, so strange. If you could lift Hin
dustani up and lay It upon North America,
with one end at Seattle, it would reach as
far east as Montreal and Its lower apex
;would be wedged Into the Panama canal.
From north to south India is as long as
from the middle of Hudson bay to the
Gulf of Mexico, and from east "to west It
measures 2,500 miles.
The land la one of extremes. The Hima
layas on the north are covered with per
petual snows, and the Icy wastes about
Mount Everest are colder than the frozen
chambers ef the Buddhist hell. The plains
below lie In the tropics, and they are some
times as hot as the burning deserts of
Australia, where Mark Twain says they
feed the hens ice to keep them from laying
boiled eggs.
India Is the wettest land upon earth and
the driest. It has' provinces, such as Blka-
ner, where it does not rain for thirteen his carriage and every carriage has its liv
months In succession and other places eried coachmen and footmen. The coach-
. 11. i,uu.. ... w. -
calltles in the Hlma ayes where six feet
Df water have been known to fall in the
space of twelve months.
Tne country is one 01 great oesena aim
and
mighty rivers, of soils which have been
cultivated since the dawn of history and
of wabtes which the plow of man has
never turned. Physically speaking, it ls a
world.
The People Swsurm.
It Is also a world from the standpoint of
humanity. It ls one of the most crowded
parts of the globe. It has three times as
many people as the Uulted States and
farming localities where there are more
than one man to the acre.
Altogether India has more towns and
villages than there are people in Boston,
Baltimore or St. Louis, and it has cities
of large size the names of which we hardly
know. The greater Calcutta, Including the
suburbs and nearby towns, ls as large as
greater Chicago. Bombay is bigger than
Boston, and Madras equals Cleveland in
sum. The population is rapidly glowing.
It has increased 60,000,000 within the i.-'t
thirty years, and ls now S0O.O0O.0U0 all told.
, India is not like China, In that It Is made
up of one race of the same color and fea
tures, with the same language, religion
and customs. It is composed of a score of
nationalities and of so many religions and
castes that they can hardly be numbered.
There are tribes here which look like our
American Indians, others which resemble
Chinese, scattering places where the people
nave Diue eyes ana Drown nu, ana many
localities where their skins are as black
as a negro's. There are more races in
Hindustan than on the continent of Europe,
and as to tonguee there are something Ukj
700 different dialects, and languages are
spoken by millions which are not under
stood by the others.
A Land of Many Gods.
- As to religions, India has more strange
gods than any continent upon earth. There
Is no place where the faith of the people
so varies and none where man's belief
means more to himself and bis family.
The religions are so strange that a book as
big as a 1 Bible might be written about
them and not tell it all. India has 00,000,000
Hindoos divided up Into castes, many of
which number millions. It has more Mo
hammedans than the sultan of Turkey has
subjects, and about v.OOO.OOO Buddhists.
In addition to this there are several mil
lion Sikhs, more than 1.000,000 Jains and In
the neighborhood of 100,000 Parsees, who be
lieve In the faith of Zoroaster worshiping
fire. There are among the aborigines of
the backwoods nature worshipers known
as Annnlsts, to the number of 8,000,000 and
more. They believe In spirits and witch
craft and offer bloody sacrifices to their
devil-like gods. There are also 18,000 Jews
and J, 000. 000 Christians of various sects. It
surprises me to find so many Christians la
India. They are mostly Roman Catholics
and Nestorians, although there are Metho
dists, Baptists, Presbyterians and othe
branches of the Protestant faith. I see that
Bishop Thoburn says that there are now
about 1.000.000 native Protestant Christians
and that the Christian population has In
creased MO, 000 In the space of ten years.
Our missionaries are alive and they are
doing great good.
A t'ltr of Palaooe.
Calcutta is one of tfc Wef seats of the
aaa
unrest I do not wonder at It There la
no place where the difference of condi
tions l more pronounced. These Hindoos
are among the poorest peoples on earth.
Among them are millions who always go to
bed hungry, and In the slums here are 'peo
ple who count their bites to see whether
tl ey will have enough forjhe morning. At
the same time Calcutta has Its fashionable
residence quarters, the homes of the Brit
ish, where money flows like the Ganges
and- fortunes are spent' In one season.
I wish I could show you the better parti
of Calcutta. It is a city of palaces, with
Immense parks and wide pen spaces. It
covers about as much ground as Chicago
In proportion To Its size, running along the
Hooghly with the great suburb on the op
posite bank. The city has lakes and lawns,
botanical and zoological gardens, and a
public park known as the Maiden, which
runs through the fashionable quarter. At
the beginning of this is the palace of the
viceroy, a mansion as snowy as newly
slacked lime, and several miles beyond it,
at th6 opposite end, is the big house of the
lieutenant general of Bengal. Both are
surrounded by beautiful grounds, and the
latter nas a banyan tree surpassed only by it is almost Impossible to get rooms. An
that In the zoological park of which, per- American admiral who came here last week
haps, you have heard. failed to do so, and had to go to a cheap
The Maiden is bordered with club houses boarding house, where he is now living,
and mansions. The most fashionable 1 Kot in only by cabling In advance from
homes of Calcutta look out upon It and It Burma. There are several big hotels In
forms the social heart of the city. It has Calcutta. They are rambling three-story
a race track with" a two-mile course In buHdlnss, which cover acres, and have all
which now and then polo matches are Bort of Inconveniences. My room, for In
played, and also tennis courts and grounds "t"08. ls locked with a padlock which
for - cricket and golf. The band always Bn"s wIth spring. There Is only one key
plays there of an evening and the people t0 tne P110011- and when, I left this after- .
come forth and drive about in handsome
turnouts. The viceroy and Lady MlntO may
sometimes be seen in their carriages with
their retinue and with native soldiers as
outriders. There are other officials and
also rajahs with coaohmen and footmen
In livery. There are Europeans, Parsees
and many Eurasians.- Every one rides in
" u.u..., uc.r,uea mau wun turoan
and gown; he is always barefooted. The
footman either stands on the step behind
the carriage or squats down there and
noias on. xne latter position is precarious
and I often wonder why the man Is not
Jolted out in going over a gutter or rut In
the ' road.' In addition to such turnouts
there are many automobiles. There are
W In the city and the most I have seen
are touring cars which at home would cost
several thousand dollars apiece and which
go like the wind. Do you wonder that the
hungry Hindoo whose lean shanks have to
fly. to get out of the way is mad when he
contrasts his condition with that - of the
man In the car?
The Palaces and the Black Hole.
He feels the same when he compares his
hovel to the mansions on the Maiden and
the big government buildings of the British
officials. The mansion where Lord Mlnto
holtU fortn 4 of aboul ,am ftg9 tne
White HOU..B t wui.in.in.. it i. tur
more magnificent and its surroundings have
ten times the style. West of it is the town
hall, a Doric building which was finished
under the instructions of this viceroy's
grandfather in 1813, and near that the mag
nificent buildings of the high courts, which
compare in sise with those of our goveru-
ment departments at Washington. Another
fine structure ls the postofflce, which faces
the lake in Dalhousle Square. I went
through it today, and as 1 came out I
stopped, at the corner and read on a tablet
tlle i0ifOWng;
The marble ' tablet below this spot was
placed here by
Lord Cursuii, viceroy and governor
general of India, in lKul.
to 'mark the site of the prison in Old
Fort William, known as tne tilack Hole,
in which 146 British inhabitants of Cal
cutta were confined on the night of
tne 20th, June 176tt, and from
which only twvnty-tnree
carae out alive.
The pavement marks the exact dimen
sions of the' prison and near tt is an obe
lisk erected by one of the survivors.
The Black Hole la a monument of one of
the most terrible tragedies of the Unrest of
India YA years ago. The nabob, or native
ruler, ordered the Incarceration of these
vlctims and then drank himself off to sleep.
The 146 British who were thrown in were
largely officials. They were driven at the
point of the sword Into a dungeon twenty
feci square. It was In the beat of the
tropical summer, and the airholes were
small. In a short time they gasped for
breath. They cried for mercy and tried to
break down the door. Then they offered
bribes to their Jailers, but tho only answer
was that the nabob was asleep, and he
would be angry If awakened. The dying
then fought for places at the windows, and
raved and prayed and swore, while their
Jailers held lights at the bars and laughed.
When the day broke, the nabob, having
slept off bis spell, ordered the door to be
opened. Of the 1M all but twenty-three
were dead, and the living were so far gone
that they were barely able to stagger from
the charnel bouse. Today that tragedy Is
remembered with horror. '
And still how closely the sublime tramples
upon the heels of the. ridiculous! Only last
week a traveler was talking with the viceroy
about the sights of Calcutta, when his ex
cellency asked him If he had seen the fa
mous Black Hole. "Indeed, I have," ie
plied the visitor. "I am living in it. It
was room 10i at the Orand hotel."
it
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I can sympathize with, that visitor, for
I live In the same hotel. It Is said to be
the best In town, but it-has numerous
black holes. Just now It Is crowded, and
,oml,""!U "ue me room. 1
could not get It until I reported to the
manager, and the servants then had to
climb up the walls and through the window
to open the door. I have an electric bell,
supposedly to call the hotel servants. I
have rung It again and again, and one day
I propped my umbrella against the button
and left It there for an hour. I could hear
the bell ringing, but there was no response.
so in selr-derense I have had to hire a per-
aonal servant of my own to lie on the floor
outalds the door at night, and to wait upon
me during the daytime. I am paying him
Just S3 cents a day, and he feeds himself.
. .
Hlrlnsr a Servant. :
1 hired this servant two days after I
landed n Calcutta. Indeed, I was forced
to d0 ,0 not only on account of my need
of him, but rather of his need for me.
Tfce moment our ship came to anchor in
'
Some Choice
Why He Wouldn't Shoot.
DEPUTATION of three soldiers
A
once came to the late Dr. Lueger
to make some kind of a request
in tholr behalf. The burgomaster
of Vienna turned to one of the
soldiers with the following In-
fry
Quy: "What would you do if the kaiser
commanded JOu to shoot the burgomaster T
would -hoot him." said the soldier,
"Sol-Lexclalmed lr. Lueger. and what Is
your religion?"
"I am a Protestant."
Dr. Lueger spoke to the second soldier.
"What would you do if the kaiser com
manded you to shoot the burgomaster?"
"Then 1 would shoot him," said the sol
dier. "And what is your religion?"
'I am a Catholic."
The burgomaster turned to the, third sol-
dier. '
"Would you have Bhot me if the kaiser
commanded you to do so?"
"No," said the soldier.
"And what ls your religion?"
"1 am a Jew," he answered. i
"What!" exclaimed the burgomaster. "Do
you not know that I am the greatest antl-
Semite In Austria? Tell me, why would
you not have shot me?"..
"Because 1 have no rifle; I am the drum
mer of the regiment.'V-Jewish Chronicle.
A C'oitflon.
Lord Kitchener had determined to avoid
all public functions during his trip across
the country. He yielded, however, to the In-
slBtent demand that he attend a banquet In
honor of Rear Admiral Sebree In San Fran-
Cisco. In a modest after-dinner speech he
praised the career of the admiral
Because it in a naval banquet the talk
naturally, turned to the sea and sailors.
"Sailors, as a class," said Lord Kitch
ener, "have a very keen sense of humor. I
remember a story of a sailor. Just back
from a nix months' cruise. The young man
had beenxelebratlng his return to land all
eveninsr In various public houses. Emerg
ing from the last bar, a little unsteady but
. . . . . , . t i
very Jovial, he aancea aiong me street
waving a bottle of stout.
" 'For a sailor,' he said to his companions,
'It ls disgraceful what I am gohig to say,
fcut .it Is the truth I have a horror of
water.' "San Francisco Call.
They Do It.
'The teacher of one of the classes In a
school In the suburbs of Cleveland had
been training her pupils in anticipation of
a visit from the school commissioner," said
Qeoige 8. Wells of Pittsburg at the
Bhoream. "At last be came In and the
classes were called out to show their at
tainments. '
"The arithmetic class was the first called,
and In order W make a good Inipreasiua
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the harbor a score of would-be servants
rushed, aboard and attached themselves-
to the passengers.- Qf these two settled'
upon me as their prey,, and each deter
mined to outdo the other. I supposed them
servants of the Grand hotel, and handed
over my bag. As soon as I was settled
each claimed that he had brought my bag
gage, and that this was an Implied agree-.'
ment to take him as my boy. Both had
sheaves of letters of introduction, and each.,
seemed equally good. . One w as, , straight,?,
dark-faced Hindoo of thirty, and the other
a turbanned Mohammedan of forty or so.
The Hindoo's name was Nund Lai, and the
-follower of the. prophet called himself Wall
Mohammed. I took a day to decide, dur
ing which time each dogged my foot
steps. I could not ask for anything, but
both Jumped to get It, and when I at
tempted to sljp out to inquire about them
I found both on guard, ready to follow me.
If I asked the hours of meals the two
answered In concert, and if I wanted hot
water they started on the dead run to
get it. Indeed, I have been much in the
same position as the man, who was adopted
by a dog, except that I was adopted by ..
two dogs, and both stuck to me. I have
settled the matter by paying Nund Lai
tl.00 and by appointing Wall Mohammed
my valet.
From Harms to India.
I came here from Rangoon on a Brit
ish India steamer. The ship was one of
i,000 tons, with English officers and Hin
Selections from the Story
the teacher put the first question to Johnny
Smith, the star piipil.
" "Johnny, if coal is selling at $6 a ton
a.nd you pay the coal dealer how many
tons of coal will he bring you?'
" 'Three,' was the prompt reply from
Johnny.
- "The teacher, much embarrassed, said,
'Why, Johnny, that isn't right.'
" 'Oh, I know it ain't, but they do It,
anyhow.' "Washington Post.
The Touch Effective.
"The young wife of a Philadelphia man,
who is not especially sweet-tempered, one
day approached her lord, touching the mat
ter of 100 or bo," said George F. Bender of
Philadelphia.
" 'I'd like to let you have it, my dear,'
began the husband, 'but the fact is, 1
haven't that amount to spare, Inasmuch
as 1 must take up a note for )200 this after
noon.' ' '
'"'Oh, very well, James,', said the wife
with calmnebs. "If you think the man who
holds the note can make things any hotter
for you than I can, why do as you say."
ghe got the money." Philadelphia Times,
a
A Persistent taller.
"I lunched with Winston Churchill In
London," said a Journalist, "during his re
markable campaign. This brilliant young
cabinet minister, with his American blood
through his mother and his ducal blood
through his father, praised American Jour
dualists. "He gave me an example of our perse
verance. Not less than forty-seven Ameri
can correspondents called on him at the
Board of Trade offices for an interview
one week on the. American tariff, and as
none of them had sufficiently good cre
dentials he refused to see them.
"Finally a correspondent came with a
letter from Mr. Lloyd-tleorge, and him
-Mr. Churchill saw gladly. .
" 'Do you know,' he said
nan, 'that 1 have refused
to the young
to see forty
on this very
seven of your compatriots
uujovi.
" 'I ought to know it,' the correspondent
answered, 'for I'm the whole forty
seven.' "Philadelphia Bulletin.
Where the Battoas Were Foaad.
The wife of a clergyman of a certain sub
urban parish was mending clothes the other
day when a visitor was announced. The
hostess went on with her sewing, for the
caller was a well-known pa'rlshoner. After
while Uie visitor glanced toward the sew
ing table and exclaimed;
"Why, there are some buttons exactly
like some my husband had . on his lust
winter suit. Thty are an odd kind of but
ton, too. Where did you get them?"
The clergyman's wife smiled roguishly.
3, 1910.
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doo sailor waff w mm The oabtnet
arda were ' dark-f aea,; hea Ijeasdad men
of forty, who wore black velvet caps, white
gowns, which reached to their knees and
tight white cotton drawers below which
their black bare feet showed. The dinner
waiters wore white Bengalese hats with
bands of blue ribbon, and their gowns were
belted in at the waist with blue ropes as
"In the collection basket," she answered,
quietly, "1 found a good many of the same
kind. I am saving them up for possible
use." Baltimore American.
Worse Thaa Pessimism.
Andrew Carnegie, at a dinner in Wash
ington, deplored the world's excessive
armaments.
"All tlnse billions wasted on battleships,"
he Bald, "are 'declared to do good In pro
viding work, in creating prosperity. That is
a shallow and false optimism.
"ThAt, In fact, reminds me of the man
who said, when his wages were cut down:
" 'Well, there's one comfort. When I'm
laid up sick I won't lose as mut-h money
as I used to.' "Detroit Free Press.
J
"I nele He" Praises a Dot-tor.
Speaker Cannon at a dinner In Washing
ton, praised a Washington physician.
"The doctor has a neat way," he said, "of
hitting oft a case."
"There was a Kentucklan from the blue
grass region, you know who called to be
treated for a red nose. ,
" 'Doctuh,' the Kentucklan said, 'what
shall I take, suh, to remove the redness of
mah nose?" j
" 'Take nothing especially between
meals," the doctor answered." St. Louis
Ulobe-Dcmocrat.
In MouxuTii sr.
Robert Goelet, during the Easier parade
in Fifth avenue, stood In conversation with
a group of friends, when a lady In a beau
tiful gown passed.
"Why, there goes Mrs. X," said a young
matron. "She was gray last year, and
now her hair Is as black as Jet!"
Mr. Goelet, buttoning his smart morn
ing coat, answered with a smile:
"Well, you know, she has recently be
come a widow."
Mooatrr vTiTsfluead r Wit.
Billy Stecher, a well known horseman and.
politician, who lives at Riverside, N. J., told
a little story at' the Turngemelnde hail at
that place the other evening which demon
strates that you can't back' a real estate
boomer Into a corner and. keep htm there.
Some time ago, Billy said, a friend of his
went to California on a Joy Jaunt, and
hardly had his hoofs landed on the station
platform of one ef the towns in the south
ern section of the state before a real estate
boomer began to chirp to him about the
beauty .of the earth, the glory of the clouds
and the health-giving Ingredients of the
ozone. On the latter he was particularly
strong, and told how doctors who had gone
out there had starved to death, while the
undertakers were compelled to grow oranges
to supply their daily bread.
For two hours the California man pumped
it iato the easterner, and la the meantime
of Palace
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Tax
AT THE c5UTE,Mll5i
KToRE THAU V2 OF
TLC Product gobs to
THE. United cStaie
tUtds M -waist.- It
bo aff the way
hj tbs Ssjr of Bengal.- aad the air of th
salon was kept cool by a punkah, a long
soreen so hung from the ceiling that it
could be drawn back and forth. A black
Malay did the work Jerking the rope twelve
pulls with one hand and then changing and
making twelve pulls with the other. The
dishes were washed In a bucket on deck,
Teller's Pack
the New Jersey party noticed that the real
estate boomer had Just about as sneezy a
cold In the head as one could collide with
In fhe height of hay fever time.
"The climate may be all right," remarked
the easterner, as the boomer was starting
on the third hour, "but It doesn't appear to
agree with you."
"You bet it does," replied the boomer.
"What ls the matter with me?"
"How about that cold in your head?"
attked the easterner.
"That was my own darn carelessness,"
was the ready rejoinder of the boomer. "I
was walking along the road and thought
lessly stopped too quickly under a palm tree.
The sudden change from sunshine to shade
was too much for me." Philadelphia Tele
graph. Heroines lu Pirate trews.
Women have succeeded in passing them
selves off as man not infreqnetly, but, so
xar bs is Known, mere nave been but two
women plrates-Anno Bonney , and Mary
Read- who were captured something over
a century ago in the Carrlbean sea, charged
with having "piratical intentions." n was
not known at the the time that they were
not men, and accordingly they were sen-
.vi.vu v i)v uvam jii uiH IJld I.I.t' I g e lit' T-
any meieu out 10 gentlemen ot their pro
fession, when they confesed their sex and
they were in due course punished less se
verely. The woman bonney was the daughter of a
Carolina planter, who had disowned her by
reason of her marriage with a Bailor. Even
at that time Anne had a predilection for
man's attire. Inasmuch at the hour of her
elopement she employed it for the pur-pose
of evading her angry parent. Eventually
she shipped with her husband and shared
in his piratical adventures. Among her
shipmates, who were ignorant of her sex
and also of her relation to the captain,
Anne attained a reputation for courage.
Now, curious as it may seem, the ship
whereon this female pirate practiced the
arts of the freebooter was one day boarded
by several strangers, among them another
lady pirate of the name of Mary Read.
It followed that the woman became
fast friends, though at first each wus
Ignorant of the sex of the other. The dis
covery that each was a woman came about
through the declaration on the part of
Mary of a romantic attachment for the
Bonney person.
Shortly after the two women met they be
came widows, and naturally enough cast
their lots together In a buccaneer crew.
Both were admired for the courage they
evinced In their unusual calling, and both
were greatly loved by their seamen. Mary
Read was an expert swordswoman and
fought more than one duel. She died In
prison. Anne Bonney was in due time re-
stored to her faimly.-ilarper'a .Weekly,
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the plates being- swabbed off wttbt 1fasli
en the end of the stick, and wiped by a
Malay as dirty as the Indian, who did
the cooking.
We were several days on the Bay of t
Bengal. The water was indigo until w1
reached the mouths of the Ganges. These
extend for a hundred miles up and down
the coast and they vomit forth so much
silt that it turns the ocean to gruel. I
took a bath when we reached the pilot
brig, about a hundred miles from Cal
cutta, and upon draining the tub my foot
prints were as plain In the mud as those
which frightened Robinson Crusoe on his
desert Island.
The silt of the Ganges ls as great as that
of the Nile. It ls said to be five times
as much as that of the Mississippi and
Missouri, amountlius. to hundreds of mil
ions of tons every year. It builds up great
bars along the shore and makes the work
of piloting the ships dangerous to an ex- A
treme.
A Hlah-1'ald Monopoly.
The pilots of Calcutta are a close cor
poration. There are only fifty-two of them
and they monopolize the Ganges, or, rather,
the Hooghly, for it is on the Hooghly
branch of the delta that the ships go up to
the city. The trade of the river amounts
to more than $100,000,000 a year, and there
is a procession of boats always going up
and coming down. The men receive various
wages, the best getting as high as $700
per month. To belong to this association
one must have a first mate's certificate
and must have passed through his appren-
tioeshlp. He spends five years at low wages
learning the river, and then graduates In
tho full rank of pilot. The Hooghly cannot
'be navigated at night and the ships go In
witn tno tWc,. Ag ,ne )atter rse there
,8 orten a ,)ore whlch reacnes as much as
Bevell feet g0 that tlle rlhk8 ar, .rC(lt
Millions In Jot.
As we coasted the shores of the Hooghly
we passed Jungles Infested with tigers. The
land Is low and malarious and wild beasts
roam It at will. A little further up the
bouses begin and palm trees are frequent.
The population grows more and more dense,
and then comes a region of mighty Jute
mills, on each side of the stream tall
smokestacks vomit black volumes Into the
sky and near them are enormous britk
structures where the rough bugging for
all 11. an kind Is made. Calcutta ships vaxt
quantities of Jute to the United Stales,
and much of our cotton crop Is baled in
cloth made here on the banks of the
Hooghly. A few years ago we were taking
more titan CO per tent of the product a
today the thousands of Hindoos work I
11 h
this fiber are dependent upon us for their
wages. There aro now two score Jute mills
In India and the Jute annually produced
is worth about $x0,(Xi0,000. There are cotton
factories here and there' between the Jute
weaving establishments and mills of this
kind line the Hooghly all the way to Cal
cutta. The stream Is rilled with shipping. Ocean
steamers heavily loaded are going In and
out with the tide. The trade of Calcutta
is worth hundreds of millions and a large
part of the commerce of the empire nasses
this way. Its total foreign trade thue
greatest of any country of Asia, thef
ports and exports now amounting to m.ii
than $1,300,000,000 and growing more every.
". 'KAKK G. CAiU'KNTEH. , j
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