Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-08-04
1ailS = eagle
OLD CUSTOMS In CHINA.
REFORMS WHICH HAVE BEEN AC-
COMPLISHED By THE ENGLISH.
Superstitions That the Natives Still Cling
to in Spite of Outside Pressure-The
Suppression of Suicide-kidnapping of
Misunderstanding Wives.


Mountaineering Wives.
The people of India have stubbornly
resisted the changes that have gradually
taken place since the establishment of Eng
lish domination in that country. But there
is every reason to hope that western civil
ization will make itself effectively felt there
in the future i correspondent writes that
slavery and infanticide, the two greatest
curses o. the country, have been suppressed
as far as a government of half a dozen Eu
ropeans, unaided in the least by public
opinion. has been able to effect it. Infanti.
eide, he says, though probably still common
among the higher castles, is not now carried
on as a recognized privilege sanctioned by
law and usage If husband sells his wife
tits not done In the open market, as it was
down to 1896. Widows are no longer put
up at auction by the heirs and relatives of
their deceased husbands An elder brother
has no longer such power in his family that
he can sell his own sisters or younger broth
ers into slavery to pay his debts-at least he
can not do SO openly. A whole race, the
Dums, We're until this century held as
slaves and could be bought like SO many
cattle, That is no longer the case What
kumaon used to he like we can in some
dition of NeIal, a condition to which be-
lieve Kumaon would return after ten years
Of native rule.
UsAGES OF THE PEASANTRY.
The English have done what they could,
but custom has been too strong for them in
many directions; the marriage of children
is just as common as formerly, the rule Of
the BrahInan ,Ust as hard, the condition of
women just low. Certain usages of the
peasantry still remain but lutte shorn of
their original barbarity. The kalatari game
was introduced from Nepal, but the same
custom prevails in many cities of western
Asia, at Shiraz, for instance. On an annual
festival the crowd divided into two parties
and mimic battle was fought with sings.
Many were in jured by the stones, and all
the prisoners We're sacrificed to Devi kali.
Mr.. Colvin, resident at kathmandu was in
jured while watching this sport" remon-
STRANGE were made with the Gurkha gov
ernmen., and accordingly the people now
pelt bowider instead OF each other. But
in Juma, Doti, and the Rail- valley, be-
lieve the kalatari is still practiced, and at
Jhula met a man who had lost an eye on
such ccasion.
A singular custom is the basti or rope
festival. Every little group of Kumaoni
villages has its own family of badis or pro-
fessional acrobats and rope dancers They
are low, despised caste, they own no land
and have no agricultural duties 1t is be-
heved that grain sown by badi will not
terminate, and that if he drives the plow
the oxen will fall down in the furrow
and die. 4 badi is the chief actor
in tie Last ceremony. When the crops
are endangered by long drought, when
the foot and mouth disease breaks out
among the cattle, when an unavenged muir
der brings a curse on the field where it was
committed, when a man eating tiger infests
the jungle, the wrath of the gods is averted
in the following manner: A rope of great
length and strength is stretched slantingly
from the top Of the ridge or precipice to the
bottom of the valley below. On this is
placed wooden saddle grooved underneath
and the badi bestrides it at the top of the
cliff, balanced by two heavy bags of sand
tied to his feet and speeds whining down
the long descent Formerly if he lost his
equilibrium and fell, the peasants made
rush at him and chopped him into small
pieces with their knives; nowadays he
merely forfeits his pay. This is very con-
siderable for kumaon-he gets a rupee 40
cents for every fifty yards of rope, and the
rope is sometimes 5000 feet along. 1t is
then united and cut into small lengths,
which are scattered over the fields The
basti is now performed chiefly in Carnival,
but the village lads are still maintained at
the public expense throughout Kumaon, and
near Khati l was shown a precipice where
the rope had formerly been stretched 1t
could not have been less than 800 or 600
feet high.
THE SUPPRESSION OF SUICIDE
&c fhoh host IL,
done in Carnival is the suppression of suicide
at kidarnath, where crowds used to gather
on festa occasions to see men Jump over the
cliff and die in honor of silva In these
days they devote themselves there less
publicly: they wander around in the snow
above the lofty shrine at the source of the
Ganges till they sink exhausted by cold and
fatigue, and the sleep they think will bring
them to the blessed abodes of Kailasa falls
upon them. Suicide by leaping over preci-
pleas is still common in India and one
mountain-Girnar, in kathiawar,-is par
ticularly celebrated for the frequency of
these acts. Their suppression at kidanarth
was a triumph of English sagacity. The
temple Brahmans were told that if such
things occurred in future they would he
held responsible. 1t was in fact, the ex-
hortations of the priests, the music, the
garlands, the rapt admiration of the as
sembled crowds that drove the poor fanatics
to the fatal leap
The women of Nepal are greatly desired
as wives because they work well and don't
mind being thrashed Perhaps like the Kir-
giz women they regard it as a proof of af-
lection. The law, however, forbids them to
marry outside of their own country So
the young kumaunis form Kidnapping COM
pany limited, and the way in which they
conduct business Is this: They hire ped
dler to 80 about among the Nepalese vii
lagos just beyond the Kali, and while he
peddles lie tells the women extraordinary
les about the delights of Kamaon and in
duces mum er OF them to agree to run
away-girls who have not been sought in
marriage, wives unhappy in theirs, and
widows forbidden by Hindoo law to con-
tract another. But the only bridge over
the Kali is guarded at both ends by sol |
diers, and the river is swift and hard to |
cross SO some dark night the shareholders |
meet and with courage worthy, as the |
books say, of better cause, they form a |
line across the roaring water and pass the |
women over Then they pick out the ones |
they like best, the nuptual knot is tied dit |
orally, an important feature of the mar
riage is the knotting together of the cloth |
ing of the bride and bridegroom by some
Gretna Green Brahman on the Kumaon |
side OF the stream and the daring kidnaper |
has the satisfaction Of getting a wife with
out paying price for her, an advantage |
thoroughly appreciated IN india-Cor
New York Tribune
The Preparation of School Dinners
In preparing school dinners, omit the pies
md k.ac Il bar l.,
business of studying and teaching that rem
ders the system unable to cope with these
delicacles; put up instead Of bread. graham
gems, johnnycake, crackers, any kind of |
meat, canned or fresh fruit, rice buildings /
baked in a small basin, baked apples, celery.
onions, eggs, pot cheese, cornstarch custard.
egg custard pickles or cheese occasionally.