Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-06-07
yIIrIoNs on oRN.vFNrs

eHO9 Ii COucbTucblola Ildt mlIllOnS were
expended to furnish material which could
not be crystallized from the sweat of the
downtrodden people. One Is almost lost
IN amazement that men, though kings,
could be so reckless in extravaganza, and
can account for il only by recalling the
fact that in their veins flowed the blood
OF Ghenges Khan Timur, whose visions OF
splendor were as boupdless as the vast
steppes IN which they were born, and
luxurlOusness was IN reverse proportion
to the poverty OF their past. They were
ike beggars mounted upon winged
steeds.
We have tried &c move as IeisureIy as
was compatible with what we had to do
within a given period, but so thick are
these relics of past grandeur that they
have been constantly crowding upon Us,
and are still so crowding our memories
that l would not hazard the attempt TO
tell you of them were I not reminded of
Shaks peaIe's advics to the traveller.
Think Of thy friends when happily thou
seest some noteworthy object II thy
hands and wish them partaking of thine
happiness" The admonltion l remem-
Der, though doubtless misquote. I wish
TO make you partakers of my pleasure.
But first of the land over which the
mogul ruled.
CHANGING SCENE.
We found the same fiat country which /
mentioned in my last, and the same pro-
auctions, except as they gradually chang
ed from those of the torrid zone to those
of of the more emperate as we moved
northerly; rice became scarcer, until it
disappeared entirely and wheat more and
more took its place, and other small grain
and seeds replaced the sugar cane, which
IS grown even as far north as we now are,
but rathsr for fodder and for being eaten
green than for grinding. It seems to be
the favorlte sweet OF all Indian people,
and sticks of it are everywhere seen in the
hands OF men, women, and children, who
bite it off as they walk, and up further
north it is peeled and cut into short bits
and sold like candy. Near the city where
elephants are used its leaves are their
principal food. Large areas appeared
planted in wheat after we left Delhi, till
on reaching the Pun ab country it is seen
in broad expanses. This is rot, however,
because of large farms, for there are no
such things in Iudia, but there being nc
distinct demarkation between the lands
Of different owners, many fields app ear as
one.
SAVED WHEAT CROP.
At Delhi We had our first rain since
leaving the neighborhood Of the equator.
1t continued for three days and it has
turned out that it extended over all north
ern India. Our shrewd men on Chicago
change, have no doubt, heard of it i'm
mediateiy, for it saved the wheat crop of
this great competition of our wide prair-
les. There had been no rain since Octo-
Der, and there was good reason for fear
that the spring harvest would be total
failure. We noticed the change immedi-
ately, even from the railway windows.
There will now be good yield. There
are two crops a year here, one sown in
October and harvested in early spring;
the other in May and harvested IN August.
A CARELESS PEOPLE.
Our farmers need never fear India for
good wheat. These people are too sloven-
ly In their manner of cleaning 1t ever tC
send good article to England, and, as
the commissioner (governor) of this dis
trict told me, they will not change their
habits. They hand-weed the fields, so
that no foreign seeds mix with the wheat,
but they clean it in the ground, and the
middlemen throw in dirt and coarse sand
to increase the weight. 1 have examined
quite a quantity here in bags in the
bazaar, and found it shamefully dirty.
One seller wanted me to buy. I told him
l was from Chicago III America. He in
nocently assured me no would make his
bags tight so that [ could take it home
with me. By the way, 7 will explain that
in handwriting fields everything is saved:
what is pulled up15 necessary food for
cattle. Another thing will ultimately tell
against India as wheat country. Man
ure is carefully picked up and dried for
fuel. The land needs it and cannot get
it. Trees are scarce; leaves coarse grass,
and excrement of cattle kee p the natives
in fuel. These people are poor beyond
any others | have ever seen, and will not
become we'll enough off to become land
improvers. They are not lazy-they
work hard, but keep themselves poor by
the ceremonies which their very religion
seems to make necessary when their chill
dren marry. This hardly seems credible,
but I am informed by intelligent people
that they save almost exclusively for
this purpose, and cover themselves with
debt and mortgages when savings prove
nadee qaiut.
MISERABLE HOMES.
It is painful to look into the huts of
the farmers and laborers. They are
merely mud walled pens, and lack every
thing for comfort. Here, tonight, [ am
shivering in the house before wood fire,
yet am well clad. These people have
little more than light, cotton cloth, and
fre-pleces and chimn eys are unknown in
the native house. They wrap up their
head and vital parts of the body, leaving
the legs nearly bare, and rarely cover the
feet at all. They squat before their
little huts around mere skilletful of fire,
and few put a small pot of Goals under
their cotton covering and drawing this
about them, husband the scanty heat.
The pay of cab or cart driver is from 4
to rupees a month. rupee is at pre-
sent rate of exchange 81 cents of our
money. Out of this he has to clothe and
feed himself. We give our English-speak
ing servant rupee and anas day
for food. An ana is worth 2I cents.
Thus he gets his food, even while travel
ing with US, for cents day. But his
wages are quite princely. The pay of
the laborer on the construction of rail
roads is 3 anas a day. That, too, be
tween this and Lahore, where there is
frost nearly every night in December to
February. 1t will console our trades
unions that eight hours is days labor.
STRANGE VILLAGES.
One can scarcely realize, when passing
through much of this country, that it is
thickly peopled. One sees large areas of
cultivated lands. but apparently no houses.
But every now and then, half hidden