Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-08-06
AN APE-RIDDEN CITY.
Benares Tired of Her Sacred Monkeys and
Anxious To BE Rid of Them.

Benares Tired of Her Sacred Monkeys and
Anxious To BE Rid of Them.
A railroad company in India has de-
clined to carry ten thousand monkeys.
Most railroad companies probably
would. That such an undertaking.
however, should ever have been sug-
gested to Board of Directors is a curl
Gus incident in railroad history, yet it
is a fact The Brahmans of Benares,
anxious to get rid of several thousand
superffuous monkeys, asked the COM
pany to carry them away for them to a
distant spot. but the railroad authori-
ties showed no enthusiasm in closing
with the offer of such a multitude of
singular passengers. 1t is matter of
common knowledge that in Benares,
the City of the Gods" there is very
sacred colony of monkeys. Not only
have they temple. properly furnished
with shrines and priests. specially ded-
icated to them, but they are free of all
the others besides. In Benares they
can go where they like. and. although
this liberty is qualified by a certain
measure of respectful opposition when
they abuse Their privileges too out
V,
free of the whole city, private
dwellings and public buildings. Thus
circumstanced. with every favorable
condition for longevity in individuals
and fecunditv in the species. it is no
wonder that the four-handed folk have
become redundant Even the Brah-
mans themselves have at last confessed
that there are too many monkeys in
Benares, and are now trying to rid
themselves of a portion of the intol-
cradle burden of sanctity which such
host of reverend quadrupeds imposes
upon them. The common people, 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 a monkey will every
day eat and waste as much grain or
fruit as an average Hindu requires
for his weekly sustanance, and the
mischief in which these creatures
pass their time-having nothing else.
poor, bored divinit:es, to do-must
entail a substantially appreciate loss
upon Their human fellow citizens, it is
not d .tficult 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 animals, twenty
thousand or so. constitute very Sc
rious tax upon the working population
and divert from other charities vast
quantity of good food. Each handful
of grain which monkey wastes would
sutfce for the meal of a mendicant IA
kir. At last, therefore, it has been de-
cided to take steps to reduce the tailed
population. The monkey. however, is
at all times an intelligent person.
He knows as we'll as any body else
when he is well off. In Benares he is
especially contented. Plenty of good
water, unlimited vegetables, fruit and
grain, delightfully."- shady hooks. We
randas. temple corridors. ETC.. COM
mend themselves to him as combina
ton of attractions not to be easily
matched elsewhere, so that he scouts
all suggestions of emigration. Once
or twice the pious and benevolent old
Rajah has invited the four-handed
hosts to come across the river from the
city TO his Palace of Ramnuggur, and
the priests have actually ferried boat