, 1884-08-10
midas BABY WINDOWS.
Eighty Thousand Infant Girls Berefs,
Of Husbands.
some Interesting Facts and Note
worthy Comments-A Burmese
GentIoman's Chat with
n Reporter.


A little man with long black hair done
up in Langtry fashion. an olive complex
ion and a beardless face. threw himself
gracefully into a cushioned chair at the
Gait house and pulled c~ontendedly
al u very mean cigar. His dull
brown eyes. behind a pair Of pebble spec
tacles. wandered dreamily about the room,
and finally rested on a buxom chamber
maid just outside the door. The little
man was Sau-ah-brah. or Mr.. Abraham,
as he calls himself In English. He was ar
rayed in a Prince Albert coat, and called
attention TO the fact that he wore no lew
elry and was unmarried.
Mr.. Abraham was born In Burmah,
India. in 1850, and at the age Of 20 sailed
for America, where he has since pursued
his studies al Browns university. Newton
Theological seminary and Jefferson Medi-
cal college. He holds a certificate as a
graduate OF medicine. and expects shortly
TO return TO his native lind and set himself
up in a doctors shop. His manner u
graceful, easy and polite, and his CONVEX
sation IL full OF general intelligence. He
speaks English f~iuently, and takes great
delight in describing the manners and Gus
toms of his people. he said there were
many interesting things about his country
which few Americans knew or understood.
Il have heard. - said Sau-ah-brnh, with
u sul BItuIc AT l4G CuAIlDeIuAlQ near Inc
door, that there were 4 great many wild
ows in this country. In my country Their
are to-day 80, 200 widows from 3 TO 5 years
Of age, and although very young they will
never be married. In India as o as q
child Is born a match Is made by the
parents. II the boy dies the girl becomes
p widow md must 20 In mourning for her
Intended as long rs she lives.
Sau-ah orah said that the Burmese in
their conversation used categorical SEN
fences limos exclusively. and rounded an
argument with comparisons and parallels.
The language. he said, was monosyllabic,
and allowed no play on words. The only
conveyance for humor were anecdotes, and
hese were often dry and uninteresting
an fact. T" he said. ~the people in India
vigorously observe the adage, Never speak
unless spoken to- and this precludes Cos
sip and nirthful words. II a man were to
perpetrate a willful joke there he would
be lucky TO escape unhanged. Our favorite
diversions are cock fighting, bull-races and
p~rize-ighting. l saw Sullivan last winter
and. as big and ugly as he is, l half wished
that the champion pugilist Of India would
come to America and lay the Bostonian
out. | believe that any Burmese prize
fighter can do this. Going 10 u theatre in
India and attending one in America Is
very different. In India the shows are ail
free. The curtain rolls up at o o'clock at
night and never comes down until 8 the
mex morning. IL usually requires seven
nights to present a drama. People gener-
ally take their beds with them and 90 to
sleep between the acts. The favorite play
In India is the presentation of the exploits
of some god.
Sau-nh-brah congratulated the American
barter on his success In mixing drinks.
"The national beverage in our country ~
he said, "is palm milk. A few
people drink distilled rice water, but
n very few. never saw an
intoxicated man in India. and the
women there never think Of tickling their
dainty palates with anything but pure
water and the simplest Of food. Burmese
women. as Il rule. are very religious and
know nothing about flirting. They would
scorn TO make a mash, and feel insulted
II n stranger looks at them.
"If America was properly named, y on
tinued the Burmese humorist, at would
be called the country of shams. II has
often been insisted by people who pre-
tended to be my friends that / should re-
main longer at their house, and the fact
was that they were anxious to see me go,
and would have called a patrol wagon had
! dared to linger. The funniest experience
l ever had was while on shipboard COM
ing TO America. One Of the passengers
became seasick. The next day | saw him
and in broken English inquired how he
felt. He replied, 'Hunkidori.' / under
stood n little English, and concluded tina
'Hunkidor' was some fearful disease. l
went about the steamer telling the passen
gers that the sick man had the Hunkidori
and was about to die"