St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1860-03-08
NEW ENGLAND WINTERS.
BY 4 CIIlNkMAS.

ilcN. u. VI. 'dHSOOII, tile converted
Brahmin, has published in the Boston
Transcript the following interesting
account Of his personal experiences
from change Of climate:
BosroH, Jan. 9, 1860.
Mr.. EDITOR Wherever | go, the
first thing | am asked is my impress
sion Of the winter How do You
bear our New England winter, sir?"
Does not the weather affect your
health ?" etc, are the inquiries Of my
friends. | answer, | would say |
bear the cold as we'll as anybody
and like the American winter it is
so full of new and amusing scenes
to me. The skating, sleighing, SHOWS,
quecr-IooklnG caps, tippcts, &c, are
all novelties to me.
Before coming to this country had
heard about the western wintcr-of
water frozen 50 hard that heavy teams
easily passed over it-of the ground
covered with snow several feet deep.
These accounts | believed in part, but
the rest sounded to me like a grand
mothers story. OF course ! saw ice
in Calcutta, imported from Boston, but
was puzzled to know how water could
be So hard 10y freeing. This was
very natural pcrplcXity, because
had no idea of the thing at all. When
told the ladies' here that the Hiuduos
boil simple milk SO hard that they
make dolls, flowers, &c, out of it to
adorn their tables, they hardly believed
it until | did the experiment before
their eyes. They by their own hands
made flowers of different shape and
size, which, by half an hour, became
hard as rock.
AS it was year before last May
came to this country, | 1cnluircd of my
friends how soon the snow would fall
and the water freeze. used to look
through the windows early in the
morning TO see if there was any snow
on the ground In September | no.
ticcd something white on the ground.
| rushed out in cCstacy and told my
friends about it. Can you imagine my
disappointment when they told me il
was mere frost In Boston saw the
first snow Astomished, | stood to
watch the flakes falling from the sky.
+" Father" said |, " thus thy blessings
fall upon Us, abundantly and impair
tally, upon the good and the evil
alike | wished very much that my
Bcngalcc friends could see such a
sight and finding it was impossible,
thought Of some way to send them
little relic Of the white mud made
a solid, heavy SNOWFALL, which seemed
so durable in the open air, that
hoped to send it to India by the first
opportunity. | took it to Mr.. Ms
and carcfally put it on the mantle
piece. Need | tell you the result =?
1t is well known to you all.
In my letters to Bengal | described
the leading features Of an American
winter, but could not write anything
about freezing ; hoped to do it by and
by, after had some experience of it.
Would you smile, Mr.. Editor, when |
say really wished to freeze little,
just to know what the sensation was ?
but the Indian heat was SO much in
Inc that no such thing has occurred
yet. ldarc say there will be some
chance this winter for me to under
stand freezing. You remember the
cold days you had last January
rode then several miles i'll the country
in an open sleigh, without q scarf or
anything to cover MY ears.
The second winter is said to be
more trying to tropical man than the
first. There is sone truth in the as
sertion, but not q great deal. Last
winter did not have an overcoat un-
til Christmas this season | wore it
in October ; | did not wear gloves
most of the time this winter, besides
the mittens, put my hands in my
pockets. This is not for the cold,
though; | fear have learned Yam
kce habit. Last Monday rode sew
entcen miles in an open sleigh, and
did not suffer more than my compan-
ions. My health is, on the whole, bet
ter in this country. My friends tell
me to eat meat, even If it is very
little. and to drink some warm drink,
but l cannot do so. l never ate any
meat, or used any drink but that
which comes out of the bosom of our
mother earth.
Now and then | wish to be in India
to see the land smile, the flowers
bloom, and the birds sing in these
months. On the late Christmas, your
churches were decorated with leaves
only-therc were hardly any flowers
there. In Calcutta, you could cover
the churchyard with few dollars
worth of flowers you could entertain
a party of twenty ladies and gentle
men for instance, with fourteen kinds
of fruit at the expense of two dollars.
Contrasts like these create Il bit of
inconsistencies in me, but | cover it up
with the garment Of duty, and so on
in my way rejoicing, singing and
praising the glory of the Most High.
/