The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1882-10-25
COFFEE PLANTERS.
The People With Whom Merchants Deni iu
Southern India.

When l entered the great circle of nearly
two hundred men, women and children,
looking as solemn as might be, with the fate
full day book in one hand and huge bag of
copper aud silver coins in the other, having
the half-caste clerk at my elbow to interpret,
was conscious that all eyes were upon me
and my smallest motion was being watched
in deep silence by the assembled coolies.
Determined to get into practice as soon as
possible, instead of letting the half-caste call
over the names, / determined to do it my
self, and, shooting out the bag of money
into glittering heap on the rough wooden
table in front of me, plunged at once into
the long columns of outlandish names,
which filled ten or twelve folio pages of the
day book. ++* When began calling tho
fearful and wonderful Tamil and Canarese
names there was general litter around the
circle, and three or four men answered at
once, my pronunciation being so shaky that
they could not distinguish whose name it
was. However, suppressed the giggling,
and having obtained silence in the court
forged slowly ahead, every now and then
making some mistake which set the natives
smiling, but getting slowly into the way of
the pronunciation, and running up the sums
and counting out the change like booking
clerk. Often a coolie would conclude he
had not got the right amount, and open
discussion which had to cut short and
fifty per cent of them thought their rupees
were bad, so that from all sides rose the
sound of money being clinked upon the rock
to test its ring Each native as he came up
salamed and held out both his hands, edge
TO edge, to receive the overlooking bounty
Of the sahib. Poor people! The strongest
man among them, who had worked in the
rain and the sun all the week. only took six
times five annas-about equal to 3s Id
and on this, of course, many had to support
wife and children too i'll OR weak to toll.
Then, again, the women-some of them
mothers, with small brown fragments of
humanity slnng upon their backs-got three
annas day, and the most they could earn
was little more than 2s. week Even
the little children came up, ducked their
small shaven heads in comcal homage
to the great sahib, and held out very small
brown hands for the price which those same
hands were supposed to have earned, at the
rate of a penny day. Last of all, the mails
tries receive pay at the rate of six or eight
annas per diem, and then the horse boys,
cooks, sweepers and hangers on of all sorts.
When these were satisfied, there was still
small crowd of non-contents who came up
and complained that their money was bad.
would change it; which always did when
possible, as, if q poor fellow earned one
rupee and CHANGED to get paid with bad,
Interchangeable coin, there was nothing but
starvation for him during the next week.
Others thought there was a mistake some
where-always to their disadvantages
their names had. TO be hunted, and the
amount of money given compared with that
entered in the book. 1t was hopeless to
please them all, but on going over the ac-
counts during the course of the next even
ing, was well satisfied to find there waA
only an error of few annas--happly too
much given out, not too little."-IAe Hour.