Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1885-07-04
INDIA
Bishop B1wman on the County Of Aryan
Notwithstanding Personal Exps-
riences Among the People Of Hindus-

N opening MS 4OCLuEC on the SUD-
iect of India, recently. at the Union
Methodist church. Bishop Bowman
said he was there to talk about one of
the Oldest and most interesting coun-
tries on the face of the earth. A
country about half as large as the
United States and containing a pOpu-
lation Of from 200, 600, 600 to $50, OOO,-
600 souls. That portion of India
known as the plains of Hindustan ly-
ing along the banks of the celebrated
river Gauges reminded him Of the fer
tilc Mississippi river. AS he travelled
four thousand miles by railroad while
in India, he had a good opportunity to
learn much concerning the nature Of
its soil and climate and the character
eff its people The most numerous
people of the country were not its
original inhabitants. The latter re-
sembled very closely the North Amer
lean Indians. While at Bombay, the
bishop said he visited what is known
as the Elephantine caYe-an under
ground temple heWn out of the solid
rock. This temple, which IS located a
few miles from Bombay, he found won
derfullY interesting for many reasons.
1t was place of worship similar in
many respects to other Oriental tenn
pies, with a solid stone floor. stone
walls covered with artistic inscrip-
tiOns most artistically carved, and
stone pillars extending from the floor
to a ceiling of stone, the area of the
place being about 80 feet square.
Concerning this wonderful work of
antiquity we had no historical infOr-
nation that gave US satisfactory
| clue to its origin. No race in India
/ claimed to have built it; neither did
! any religious class undertake to clear
/ up the mystery that shrouded its ORR
/ gin. AS long ago as the second cent
ury Of Christ the temple was in exist
ence in its present abandoned cOndi-
/ ton, and historians at that time ap-
| pear to have been as much in the dark
| concerning the earlier history as the
! people of later times. From what he
! had read and from other information
! he had obtained concerning the tenn
| pie he had adopted the theory
| that it must have been built by
the Philippians Of Arabia two thou
/ sand or twenty-five hundred years
! before Christ. This theory was great
/ IY strengthened by the fact that tenn
| pies of a similar character were to be
/ found in Arabia, and by other circum-
stances of no less important charac-
| ter. In,many of the cities of India ne
! found buildings that surpassed in mag
/ nlhcence any structure he had ever
/ seen in America or Europe. If his
] hearers could imagine all the parks in
| their city merged into one large park,
! with fine drives eXteRding through it
| and handsome residences scattered
/ over it, they would be able TO form
| some idea of the enhancing beauty of
the southern portion of the city of
! Bombay where the English residents
= III H.. ! \
/ northern portion of the city was occu-
| pied by the MOhammedans and Par
/ sees, and the northeastern portion by
I the native masses, who lived like so
many cattle. Some of the streets in
| the latter section were so narrow that
! it was impossible to traverse them with
! a vehicle drawn by a horse, and, as
/ the residents slept on them ct night,
| it was difficult to traverse them after
/ dark, even as a pedestrian. Some of
/ the cottages in which The people lived
| in this quarter of the city were not
more than twenty feet square. AS
| small as they were, a single cottage
! was often made to serve as the abode
/ Of six generations of one family. AS
! girls married and went to house keep
! ing at the age Of y, it was quite easy
! to find grandmOthers 26 years OF age,
/ = - C
/ and great great-grandmOthers 90 years
of age. The bishop, when he reflect
/ ed that India contained a population
! of 200, 600, 600 people, was astOnished
/ to ind that large sections of the cOun-
/ try had not been placed under cultiva-
/ ton. All that country not under Gull
/ tiVatiOn, without regard to the vegeta-
/ ton 1t nOurished, was called q Jungle.
/ AS tho Indians superstitiOusly refused
/ TO kill animals, their iungles served as
/ the lurking-place of MANY wild beasts
! that prOWled about their villages. At
/ places he found an open, uninhabited
/ country between villages twenty miles
/ apart. In Lucknow he was awakened
! one night by a loud noise. Getting
! up and looking from the window
/ of his room, he noticed q pack of Jack
/ ais were prOwling about the house. He
4 was surprised TO lind that the Parsees
/ denied they wOrshiped the sun and
/ fire. They claimed that they worship
/ ed Sod, and simply used the sun and
/ FIRE TO assist them in elevating their
/ thoughts while engaged in religious
/ devOtiOns. AS a rule the Parsees were
I an intelligent and progressive people
/ as compared with some OF the other
! tribes Of India. They dispose Of their
! dead in peculiar manner. They
could not be prevailed upon to either
bury or burn the remains of their de-
/ ceased friends or relatives. When a
! Parsee died his body was placed on a
/ high tower supplied with inches for
/ the purpose. There the body was al
/ lowed to remain until it was destroyed
/ by the elements of nature or carried
away by vultures. The people had a
peculiar superstition that no one after
his body was placed on the tower could
/ return theFefrOm. One day he noticed
the people Of Bombay were in q great
I " excited state Of mind. On asking
the cause OF the commotion. he was