Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-07-05

4 cREAr SWAN NUISANCE.
Benares Tired Of Her sacred MONKEYS and
Anxious to be RID Of Them-Tbesr tsssi''-
[London paIly TeIegraph.l

London Daily IeioBfapn.l
A railway company in India has de-
clined to carry ten thousand monkeys.
Most railway companies probably
would. That such an undertaking,
however, should ever have been sug-
gested TO board Of directors is Curl
Gus incident in railway history, yet 1t Is
the fact. The Brahmans Of Benares,
being anxious to get rid Of several thou
sand supcrhuous monkeys, asked the
company to carry them away for them
to a distant spot, but the railway au-
thorities showed no enthusiasm in clos
ing with the offer Of such multitude
of singular passengers. 1t isa matter
Of common knowledge that in Benarcs,
the - City of the Gods" there is very
large and very sacred colony Of mon
keys. Not only have they a temple.
properly furnished with shrines and
priests, specially dedicated to them, but
they are free of all the others besides.
In Benares they can go where they
like, and, although this liberty is quail
fed by certain measure of respectful
opposition when they abuse their
privileges too outrageously, the mon
keys are virtually free of the whole
city, private dwellings and pub
lie buildings. Thus circumstanced, with
every favorable condition for longevity
in individuals and fecundity in the spe-
cies, it is no wonder that the four
handed folk have become redundant.
Even the Brahmans themselves have at
last confessed that there are too many
monkeys in Benares, and are now try
ing to rid themselves Of portions of
the intolerable burden Of sanctity which
such a host of reverend quadrupeds
imposes upon them. The common peo-
pie, in spite Of the sacredness Of the
creatures, have long ago begun to
think that so large a population of idlers
has its unsatisfactory side, and, when
we recollect that monkey will every
day eat and waste as much grain or
fruit as an average Hindu requires for
his weekly sustenance, and that the
mischief in which these creatures pass
their time-haying nothing else, poor
bored divinities, to do-must entail a
substantially appreciable loss upon their
human felow-ctzens, it is not difficult
to sympathize with the ape-ridden men
and women of the Holy City. Without
contributing in any way to the material
welfare of the sacred place, these ami
mails, twenty thousand or so, consti-
tute very serious tax upon the work
ing population and divert from other
charities a vast quantity of good food.
Each handful Of grain which a monkey
wastes would suffice for the meal of a
mendicant fakir. At last, therefore, it
has been decided to take steps to re-
duce the tailed population. The mon
KEY, however, is at all times an intel
ligent person. lie knows as well as
anybody else when he is well off. In
Benares he is especially contented.
Plenty Of good water, unlimited yege-
tables, fruit, and grain; delightful
shady hooks, yerandas, temple corri-
doris, &C., commend themselves to him
as n combination of attractions not to
be easily matched elsewhere. So that
he scouts all suggestions of emigra-
ton. Once or twice the pious
and benevolent old Rajah has in
vited the four-handed hosts to
come across the river from the
city to his Palace of Ramnuggur, and
the priests have actually ferried boat
load after boat-load from one bank OF
the Ganges to the other. But the mon
keys pretended to misunderstood the
arrangement. They affected to think
the trip mere outing-a days picnic.
So, though they allowed themselves to
be taken over in the morning with the
utmost complacency, they always in
sisted on. being brought back again in
the evening. Boats ply in large num-
bers upon the river, and without asking
for permission or offering to pay any
thing, they used to ship themselves as
passengers and return to sleep in the
city.
On another occasion certain lands a
short distance off were specially set
apart by the princely Rajah for their
maintenance, and an immense number of
the animals were respectfully conduct
ed to their new quarters and invited to
settle there. But no; the monkeys
found that there were no sweet-meat
stalls out in the fields, no cake-shops
in the groves, and they courteously yet
firmly declined the Rajah's proilered
hospitality. and came strolling back
into the city at their leisure. They
had tasted the pleasures Of rural life,
and deliberately arrived at the con-
clusion that they preferred those of the
town; so they gave up the corn-iields
and the mango-trees for the cool courts
of the many-templed city and the ba-
zaars where lollipops were always
to be had for the stealing. The pre-
sent effort, however, this Of depOrting
by train to such distance as Saharun-
pore so large a number as 10000, is
by far the most serious that has been
made, and if the four-handed ones
submit to be deported this time,
they must make up their minds for
permanent exile. Railway companies
have no superstitions about Hanuman
they do not worship monkeys. Thus,
unless the animals are prepared to pay
their own return fare, and to travel
back in a respectable and honest man
ner, they will have to bid farewell 10
the beautiful old city where they spent
such happy years, and where thelT
bones will now have no chance Of sacred
ly reposing after death. There is no
chance of their ever finding their way
back.
A SCENE IN THE REICHST4G
The Iron Chancelior's Manner-iis appear
ance and His Impressiveness.