Morning journal and courier., 1884-04-09

/ Elephant Business-Beauttful Burmese
WOmen.
PENANG, Straits Settlement, Feb. 8.
To the Editor OF the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
Recently an occurrence took place In Sin
i eapore which affords a characteristic glimpse
of prison life in these English settlements.
As not unfrequently happens, one of the
wardens took occasion to browbeat and bully
the prisoners unnecessarily. The latter,
who were at that time exclusively Chinese,
resented, and would always hold up theiz
little fingers when he approached, to signify
their utter contempt for him, just as they
| would hold up their thumbs when anyone
passed for whom they had great respect, to
signify in their sigu-vernacular that he was
number one.'' At length it was decided
that they must draw lots to murder this OBJ
noxious attendant. They did SO and the
choice fell upon mild, inoffensive fellow.
The latter was averse to perform this task.
but had too much honor to refuse. Accord
| ingly he repaired to thesprison blacksmith
shop and there forged knife for himself
With this he struck one night at the attend
ant, who was passing by. The blow would
undoubtedly have pierced the mans heart
had it not been that the knife was badly tenn
pered and doubled upon itself. The assassin
/ was given two additional years to his SEN
| tence.
made the acquaintance en- voyage here
from Singapore of a young English police
man whom had frequently heard spoken of
as the most efficient officer in the Singapore
service Christian man of strict integrity,
ant lv fra vpha are
vices. I expressed my surprise at seeing him
on board and asked him how he came to
leave the service, whereupon he told the fol
lowing story: 81 am dishonorsbly dis
charged. It happened in this wise: One
night coolie came into the station terribly
cut about the head and shoulders. He gave
the name of the man Who had wounded him
to Henshaw, a comrsde of mine, who was
then on duty. As Henshaw did not know
much about the locality In question he came
to me for assistance / was in bed, as it was
not my watch but [ consented out OF q
false benevolenca to go along and point out
the place. I did not take my baton, for
anticipated no emergency and simply went
along to act as guide. The man who had
committed the assault proved to be China
man who lived in large house. I was be-
hind Henshaw when he entered, and before
word had been passed, saw the Chinaman
bringing down heavy club with tremendous
energy upon Hsnshaw's head I sprang to
my companions relief and succeeded in
warding off the blow so that it only manned
his arm. In SO doing I brought pair of
handouts, which was carrying. into quite
close contact with the Chinaman's neck
The Chinaman was less injursd than was
Henshaw, and had been the aggressor
Nevertheless, was conscious that in inter-
fering with the handouts had technically of
Tended; and knowing the way things are
done here, I did not feel altogether easy
That night several offers were made by diff
ferent persons to bribe Henshaw and myself
from pushing the ease-substantial offers
OF course We refused them. The next morn
ing the case came off. The Chinaman whom
Re had arrested with much trouble was
fined thirty-tive dollars without imprison
ment, notwithstanding that q case was
proved against him in having abused the
coolis, and that several witnesses testified
that Henshaw would have been killed but for
my interference. I was peremptorily dis
charged for having offended against the rules
of the service. Henshaw was SO indignant
that he Immediately deserted without draw
ing his back pay, which renders hiH liable
now to arrest and imprisonment. And does
the gentle reader wonder at this sequence of
events as I did when the story was told to
me? -Four words make everything clear.
The Chinaman was rich. One of the richest
in all Singapore.
We reached Penang at noon of a scorch
ingly hot day. The first view of the island
was toward the south end, where we saw the
lepsr hospital, prettily embowered in a grove
of cocoanuts. AS We neared the port we
we're met by sampans filed with natives of
India, who were propelling their craft by
means of oars consisting of long Timber
poles, which terminated in circular disks
about six inches in diameter and looked
good deal like spoons or long-handled Tennis
bats. Il was too hot to think of going
ashore until toward niehtfall, when I on
gagged a sampan and made my frst-and last
inspection of the Prince of Wales Island
Landing at stone jetty, was promptly be-
siegsd by guides, fruit venders AM money
changers The latter class of personages I
patronized to the extent of getting all my
spare Straits Settlements charge converted
into rupees and annas, the established money
of India. I was allowed one rupee for forty
five cents, which was giving the dealer g
considerable 'squeeze." On passed through
groups of dark skinned natives who were
shaving each others heads and armpits, and
struck down the main avenue of the city,
which abuts SO close upon the sea beach that
the rog of homesteads to the right hand
facing the street open in the rear upon the
shore.
These homes of the Europeans in Penang
are most charming to look at. Each airily
constructed bungalow is hedged about By
iuxuriRnt tropical foliage and possesses In
front a generous and beautifully green lawn
The avenue is finely gravelled, kept wet by
natives who draw water from substantial hy-
drants, and illuminated at night by po werful
oil lamps. Yet there is something lacking to
make the place interesting to me- It is The
element of activity. terrible silence seems
to rest upon and brood over the city. Only
in the edge of the evening is there any ap-
proximation to Hveliness, and then the ac-
tivity only takes the form of twilight ride
about the town.
The cocoauut is pre- eminently the tree of
Penang The whole island is covered with
them. They grow wild, they edorn private
lawns, they are planted by the wayside, and
there vast plantations of them In the
dense shadows cast by these cocoanut trees
are built the huts of the natives This
houses are built on piles and the a.cent is
made by means of ladder. This arrange
nent permits the best ventilation, and at the
same time keeps out venomous reptiles which
may be proWling about. AS O testimonial to
the isolated civilization which is sometimes
encountered among these igaoFant natives.
may mention that in the course of a ramble
of four of five miles into the country 1 ran
across a native hut from which proceeded
the strains of a good-toaed organ Nut
megs, pimeuto and bread fruit were encoun-
tered in great profusion during the same in |
land walk.
The Chinese seem to flourish like the |
green bay tree here. In their own native |
and most natives prefer the amenities of /
comparative poverty to the prosecutions of /
wealth. Here il is different, and many of L
the handsomsst houses belong to Cinnamon. |
The evidences of Celestial wealth abound on
every hand. There great business blocks
that belong to Chinese owners. looked
into one Chinese home, the drawing-room of
which would do credit to sthe handsomest
street In your city. A central chandelier of
eight lamps depended from this ceiling, and
az it Was night all the lamps were lighted.
The remarkable part of it is that here the
Chinese live almost altogether in foreign
style. They do not discard their pigtail of
But they have their homes
fitted mp in European style, and have their
private carriages just as the foreigners do.
The way people ride here is peculiar to the
climate. The smaller vehicles have two
seats, back 20 back. Upon the forward one
the proprietor rides and drives, while upon
the back one a servant kneels and holds an
umbrella over his masters head. These ve-
hicles are tHo.wheeled. Then there are
larger vehicles much like our open barouch-
es, In which the aristoeratic foreign residents
take their nightly drive. Every night it may
Al. q H. 1L.s- 1